Video Games as an Art Form

Video games are a form of fine art, where emotions are expressed through multiple mediums. Rather than simply presenting the user with events and allowing them to interpret it by themselves, video games make the user feel as if they are experiencing the world for themselves. In this way, players have a much stronger connection with their environment. But, like every art form, ther are many different elements that come together in the final product.

First and foremost is the story. The story is such a key element because it is what motivates the player to actually play the game. The story is what pulls the user into your fictional world and drives the action of the game forward. The story is what unifies all of the elements under a single purpose. Just as in a book, the story of a video game has a distinct plot. Some games gently ease in the conflict, while others throw you straight into the action. A satisfying story will, in the end, resolve the conflict. An example of a game with great storytelling is Half-Life. Half-Life told the entire story from a first person perspective in a seamless manner. You always have full control of Gordon Freeman, and the story flows smoothly without any discontinuities. Another game with superb storytelling is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This story involved complex myths about gods and demons, and a struggle for an artifact of ultimate power. It really sucks you into the fantasy world.

Half-Life

Another key element is the design of a game. These are reoccurring elements that the player will eventually gets used to. This involves controls, camera and movement schemes, power ups, health, etc. These are important because they effect the feel of the game. Game with terrible cameras and controls, such as superman 64 will seem very akward and not be fun. The design should also compliment the art style. For example, it is unsuitable to have hovering rotating hearts as health pickups in a modern tactical shooter. Just as it is unsuitible to have tactical shooter elements in a cartoon like game. People should also feel like they have natural movement of their character. Super Mario 64 introduced an innovative new 3rd person camera which was intuitive to use. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has outstanding game design, with a perfect cartoony, yet dark style that was easy to use and understand.

Super Mario 64

Finally, we come to the presentation of the game. This category in itself has multiple topics, which I will discuss. First, there is the sound. Great music and great sound effects make a good game ten times better. Music can help establish the mood and ambience, while sound is another way to provide sensory feedback to the player. An example of a game with great mood establishing music is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Presentation also includes visual art. This is independant of processing power. Art is how a level stands out. It determines if it's just another kids drawing or a masterfully crafted sculpture, or painting. Art gives a level it's theme and feel, as well as compliments the story. Once again, I will bring up Ocarina of Time as an example. Metroid Prime also has amazing art. Finally, presentation also includes graphicall effects. Combined with good art, this is an indispensable tool for bringing the player into your world. An example of a game with graphics effects is Crysis.

Crysis

id software

Only one company can claim to have truly ridden the whole ride: id software. From 1988, till the present day, id software has been at the head of gaming, setting numerous industry technical standards.

Commander Keen:
We begin with Commander Keen, id software's first revolutionary game:

This game pioneered the use of smooth side scrolling on a PC. It was also the first to use an advanced graphics card.

Wolfenstein 3D:

Wolfenstein 3D is the grandfather of the entire FPS genre. With this game, id singlehandedly paved the path for generations to come. There's a reason why literally every FPS since then featured Nazi's as the enemy. In the technical area, Wolfenstein 3D pioneered smooth scrolling, pseudo 3D, ray casting. Unlike many games at the time, Wolfenstein 3D could run on virtually any computer without graphics enhancements.

Doom (id tech 1):

All right... You knew this was coming. Meet Doom, the first game using the id tech engine. Ever heard of it? It's only like one of the most used game engines of all time! Doom set numerous graphics standards, with it's use of high quality textures, and atmospheric lighting.

But Doom gave us one thing that we will never forget. BSP: Binary space partitioning. BSP is used in every freaking engine today. The Source engine, Unreal engine, Torque, Cryengine, you name it. It is the single most common method used for geometry, due to it's super fast rendering and collision detection. Thank you Doom!

Quake:

What is Quake? Quake is the difference between Wolfenstein 3D and Halo. Quake is the modern FPS. Improving on id tech 1, the quake engine gave us total ultimate pownage! Oh my god, you can look up and down! Oh my god, I can play death matches against people all over the world! Oh my god, it's a light map! Quake is awesome.

Quake 2 (id tech 2):

Now, we see the next iteration of id tech! Quake 2 supported hardware accelerated rendering, as well as sported multiple networking enhancements.

Quake 3 Arena (id tech 3):

Oh yes... Id tech 3. This is engine is probably the most popular of the id tech series, being used in 100's of games, including the almost as famous Call of Duty. Quake 3 boasted superior networking, fast paced game play, high resolution textures, and even some shader support.

Doom 3 (id tech 4):

Now, most of the previous title look kind of lame compared to modern standards. But Doom 3 set the bar so high, that it still has yet to be broken. Doom 3 gave us modern graphics, complete with shadow mapping, advanced lighting effects, and numerous other technical improvements. Doom completely revolutionized how we create stunning effects, pioneering the use of various optimization and shader techniques to produce amazing results. Id tech 4 has been used in numerous game including Quake 4, Enemy territory Quake wars, and many of the more recent Call of Duty games.

Rage/Doom4 (id tech 5)

Id tech 5 is id's upcoming engine, and it is expected to continue the amazing trend that id has established.

Cousins of id tech:

Many games have utilized id tech, or use a modified version of it:

Half Life (GoldSrc)

Call of Duty

Medal of Honor Allied Assault

Jedi Academy

Prey