ICO

By Matt | October 12, 2006

ICO for the Playstation 2 is one of my all time favorite games and I suddenly felt compelled to write about it and share that with you. If you have played ICO I would be very happy if you wrote a comment and shared your thoughts on the game be them positive or negative.

To me, ICO is a masterpiece and is proof that games can in fact be true works of art – more than just high scores and beating the next level (which is what a lot of people view games to be ). I’m sure that you all have games that you consider to be art and I would like you to share which ones you consider to be art. ICO is not the only game I consider to be a masterpiece but it is the one that truly stands out in my mind due to its artistic direction and the impression it left me with.

This of course leads to the bigger issue of games being art. Do you think games can be and in some cases are true works of art or do you think that they will always fall short of great works of literature or film?

Topics: Art & Design | Comments

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Crateman

I do think of some videogames as artistic work. I have had plenty discussion with a lot of people about the theme and I've seen both sides. Some people, although they love videogames and are true gamers, doesn't think of videogames as artistic. However, i've also known people who share my point if view.

You can give a videogame the value that you want. Like a movie: some are just fun, others are bad, and others have that artistic feeling. I don't know why people think that a videogame can't be artistic just because it's a videogame.

Billza

ICO is one of the best, and you can call anything "art", really; It's subjective. The food I just sculpted into a Tickle Me Elmo doll is a work of art.

cipha

For me especially the games of "Final Fantasy"-series are true pieces of art. I think "Final Fantasy IX" is the main representative here.

I also appreciated the pc-game "Blade Runner" very much; today I still have the sound and dialogs in my mind.

What about "Zone of the Enders 2"? It is quite exotic and truly a piece of art.

Remember "Silent Hill 1"? Great piece of software.

Gilgamesh

Yeah i also think that you can call Ico a piece of art .. It has such depth even when the gameplay and everything is stripped down. Though i personaly think that Shadow of the Colossus is far better than Ico. But i love them both .. i want SCEI to make one more game like them but better ^^. Lastly i want to say that i am a FF-fan but i wouldn't say that the only FF-games witch could be called art is FFVI or FFVII .. But thats what i think.

disc

Ico is one of the first in what I hope is a long list of games that try to achieve something more with the stories and interaction.

To the little nuances as Yorda (the woman) is distracted by birds and almost acting catatonic, not being able to move by her own volition unless you the protagonist helps her.

There is a deep understanding of the videogame medium in these game creators, this is beyond the mere linear storytelling of movies and books. Here the player starts to feel protective of the woman.

In my opinion there has been no better game and there probably wont be for years to come if the current state of the industry is a sign of things with Clover Studio closing and others struggling to create and sell original content that also goes beyond and really thinks what the medium lets you do.

disc

I have to disagree with the above commenters regarding Final Fantasy. They are not really in the same league as Ico, they are not utilising the tricks that they could do. All they really do is tell a very 'linear' kind of story where they explain a relationship to you. It's the same with most RPG, the exception being MMORPGs where you build relationships with 'real' people.

Ico creates a relationship between the player and Yorda and the castle they are trying to flee from. To make the player take hold of Yorda and help her climb is one of the little things that is something Final Fantasy can never do.

Geekstyle

"Ico" and "Shadow of the Collosus" are both prime examples of game design as art that draws you into a very deep world where language is not necessary to tell a story. It's beautiful games like these that really make publishers stand out and the developers really should be able to highlight their own brand with a name (think the late Clover from Capcom) so consumers can choose a product from that publisher based on the developers. Knowing a team that made a previous game that was loved is a sure way to help the sells of a new game that you have released.

staff

I've still never finished the game, but it was fantastic.

ShadowColossi

I liked Ico a lot, but I think Shadow of the Colossus was better. When it comes to art, games are just like movies. They aren't art, but they CAN be. But most of them aren't. I think Ico/SoTC WAS art however and I would like to see more games like it. But the reason there aren't more like it is because while, when it comes to art, games are like movies, the game INDUSTRY isn't like Hollywood. And thank God for that. No one TRIES to MAKE art like they do in the movie industry. Art can't be forced and they do that ALL the time with movies. Every year the Oscars are packed with that kind of glossed over trash. In the video game industry art just sort of happens, no one expected Ico or SoTC, the creators weren't TRYING to be artistic like they do in Hollywood, it just happened due to the collaboration of creative people who had an idea. And that's all art really is.

ShadowColossi

...Oh, and Final Fantasy is NOT art.

ICO Fan

yes, you are right, ICO is one of the best titles ever. Shadow of the Collosus is good, but not as much as ICO.

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