Second Life: Freya Ophelia

After reading “Video Games and Online Worlds as Art” I get the impression that the author is simply impatient. Video games clearly have the potential to be recognized and critiqued as art…just give it some time. The author himself even states: “we're still basically in the Stone Age as far as designing interactive experiences goes.” I think it’s safe to draw a comparison between the evolution of film vs the evolution of video games. In the late 19th century Lumiere’s “Arrival of the Train” was not instantly critiqued as art. In fact, it took decades for the true artistic potential of film to be realized and discussed. But in this current day I think we can all agree that film has earned its place in the art world, complete with a common language for discourse. I believe video games will, with time, meet the same fate. Most video game critics did not grow up playing in online worlds. In fact, older generations face problems understanding virtual space. When the generations that grew up with video games and online worlds become the critics, I doubt there will be any debate on weather video games should be considered art.