Can videogames be considered art?

 Have you ever played a videogame that stood out for something different than its playability? Like the way it looked, or the story it told. With the massive growth of the videogame industry in the last few decades, the amount and variety of the contents found in these works have seen a notable increase of quality in every possible area. For this reason, some have argued that videogames are a new way of making art, or even that they are a new fine art. 

The first point I would like to make is that my experience with videogames has shown me many different narrative and visual expressions that it would be an insult not to consider them a new alternative way to show literature, music and visual arts. The first example that comes to mind is Nier Automata, the story surrounding this game is filled with philosophical concepts that tie the characters and the world perfectly. In my opinion, this is a clear display of literature. 

Following the previous argument, I will admit that even though I think games can portray art, that does not mean I consider every game a work of art. This is because the spirit of a videogame is to be fun to play, not every work needs to have strong artistic expressions. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of "Mario Bros." once said: "The obvious objective of videogames is to entertain people by surprising them with new experiences".  

In conclusion, videogames can be considered works of art; however, it depends on the contents of it. Not every game is art because artistic expressions are not essential to the concept of videogames.