Video game is a form of art according to institutional, aesthetic, historical, expressive and representational theories of art. Video games combine the elements of music and narrative fiction. The designers are deeply concerned about aesthetic condition of the images in game similar to the novelists, animators, art directors for film and theater production. Developing the environments in the game require intensive efforts in creating level maps, set details, complexity of visual textures and lighting. From set designs to lighting techniques, video games draw upon the variety of aesthetic experience from the two overlapping art forms to create rich and vibrant visuals (Smuts, 2005).
The Artist
Hironobu Sakaguchi made it to the list of the greatest video game makers of all time. He is the creator of the worldwide game phenomenon "Final Fantasy". He was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hame of Fame because of the wide success of his epic role-playing game. Final Fantasy is considered one of the best-selling video game franchise of all time. The game series have sold over 100 million units by 2010 and still selling. Sakaguchi's creation had introduced standard features being used today by most of RPG developers. Apart from his Final Fantasy portfolio, he also developed other successful games namely kingdom hearts and Blue Dragaon (Julian, 2011).
Hironobu Sakaguchi is a 49 year old game giant based in Tokyo Japan. His works include Highway Star, The Bouncer, Super Mario RPG and Legend of the Seven Stars. Sakaguchi is currently the Chairman of Anchor and he was the author and story writer of the aforementioned games. He also formed the Mystwalker in 2004 together with the support from Microsoft Game Studios, which produced the Blue Dragon in 2006 and the Last Odyssey the following year (Dumitrescu, 2010). However, his crowning achievement is the Final Fantasy Series including the last installment entitled Final Finatasy: The Last Story, which is considered the most crucial part of the Final Fantasy series. Sakaguchi was born in Hitachi, Ibraki, Japan in 1962. After dropping out of electrical engineering course in Yokohama National University, he later joined the game developing company Square. Square in on the verge of bankruptcy, in order to save the company Sakaguchi together with Square co-founder Masafumi Miyamoto pulled in all the remaining funds to develop the company's "final" game to be entitled "fantasy". Ironically, the game eventually entitled "Final Fantasy" and it gained juggernaut worldwide success (Fanning, 2010).
The Artistry in Final Fantasy Video Game
The thing that makes the game to stand out are the graphics and visual effects. Final Fantasy has set the standard for graphics in video game as its visual elements became the fundamental model for game developers until today. The game features unknown worlds, landscapes and pre-rendered backgrounds that exhibit artistic skills in terms of integrating lighting elements, color tone, contrast and blending. The making of a video game visual is similar to making a live motion picture movie in which the artists are basically tasked to sketch the scene sequences in a story board. Final Fantasy also went through the same process, the characters, set backgrounds, costumes, environment, monsters, maps and icons were all created based on concept art. The game itself is a showcase of aesthetic experience that represents a legitimate art medium. The characters in the game also possess several aesthetic elements in their costumes, spells, and weapons that were all made with strict creativity and details.
Final Fantasy's artistic elements are not only limited to set design, visual effects and overall aesthetics, it also represents other forms art. The game has incorporated elements of architecture and sculpture as seen from the design of the buildings, caves, cities and other infrastructures found in the game. Music is another major form of art employed in the game, which creates a more cinematic feel to the game. Theme songs and musical scores were also prevalent in the cut-scene portions of the game, incorporating music to the game that gave it a dramatic element and accentuated the character's emotions and acting. The story depicted by the game on the other hand is a representation of its narrative arts in writing and literature, which can also be seen in the cut-scenes portion of the game.
Interpretation
Creating video games does not only rely on algorithm and program codes. In order to build the environment and visual aesthetics of the game such as Final Fantasy. The artist still have to use loads of imagination and incorporate that to the technical elements of art. It is difficult to see and admire the game without the elegance and the creator's artistry (Murphy, 2010). Moreover, Final Fantasy does not only represent an interactive experience to the players, but also showcase of artistic designs observed in the game environments. The lighting elements, use of color, realistic characters and effects can only be put together by a true artist such as Hironobu Sakaguchi. One of the main characteristics of art is to convey meaning, experience and emotion. The video game was able to deliver those elements based on the artistically created visuals that moves according to the player's actions, thus making the game an interactive art.
Hand-outs
Video Game as Art
Video game is a form of art according to institutional, aesthetic, historical, expressive and representational theories of art. Video games combine the elements of music and narrative fiction. The designers are deeply concerned about aesthetic condition of the images in game similar to the novelists, animators, art directors for film and theater production. Developing the environments in the game require intensive efforts in creating level maps, set details, complexity of visual textures and lighting. From set designs to lighting techniques, video games draw upon the variety of aesthetic experience from the two overlapping art forms to create rich and vibrant visuals (Smuts, 2005).
More About The Artist and the Video Game
Hironobu Sakaguchi is a Tokyo based game developer and the brains behind the worldwide game phenomenon Final Fantasy. The game that was born out of the company's verge of death. The game became Square's life saver because of the lucrative franchise that it was able to acquire until today. After the release of Final Fantasy IV for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sakaguchi was promoted to Executive Vice President of Square (Fanning , 2010). He was noted for his idea of blurring the elements of film animation and video game by creating cut-scenes thoughout the game. This technique have driven the storyline, which further engaged the player in the game (Fanning , 2010, p. 2). Sakaguchi continued to contribute to the succeeding releases of the Final Fantasy series serving the roles of concept designer and executive producer.
Final Fantasy is a Role-playing game created by Hironubo Sakaguchi, developed and published by Square Enix. It was first released in December 18, 1987 and currently holds a record sales of more than 100 million units. The game was also turned into a franchise series, which as of today holds a total of twelve sequels following the first release. The game is an example of an interactive art, which encompasses a mix of different art forms. The game features unknown worlds, landscapes and pre-rendered backgrounds that exhibit artistic skills in terms of integrating lighting elements, color tone, contrast and blending. The characters in the game also possess several aesthetic elements in their costumes, spells, and weapons that were all made with utmost creativity and details. Final Fantasy's artistic elements are not only limited to set design, visual effects and overall aesthetics, it also represents other forms art. The game has incorporated elements of architecture and sculpture as seen from the design of the buildings, caves, cities and other infrastructures found in the game. The musical scores were also prevalent in the cut-scene portions of the game, incorporating music to the game that gave it a dramatic element . The story depicted by the game on the other hand is a representation of its narrative arts in writing and literature, which can also be seen in the cut-scenes portion of the game.
Here's a video about the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJPbozRomX4
References
Fanning, T. (2010). Fantasizing of Finality: Hironobu Sakaguchi and an Ultimate Dream. Videogame Icon Essay.
Julian (2011, April 13). 10 Most Successful Video Game Creators of All Time | Business Pundit. Business Pundit. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from http://www.businesspundit.com/10-most-successful-video-game-creators-of-all-time/
Murphy, S. (2010, September 20). CultureLab: Can video games be art? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/09/can-video-games-be-art.html
Smuts , A. (2005, November 2). Are Video Games Art? Contemporary Aesthetics. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from http://www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=299
