Games and Art

What makes it a game?

 

A game can be defined as a form of play usually involving some form of competitiveness, where there are rules, requirements of certain skills, and a certain level of focus or involvement. This week, I chose to play Call of Duty Zombies on my old, fourth generation, Ipod touch. When analyzing Call of Duty Zombies in terms of a game, there are far more characteristics that make this an actual game beyond the fact that it is a video game, and can be found in the Apple Store of your Iphone. First of all, the intentions behind the creation of this game was literally for it to be played. In this game, you are a soldier who is stranded in a military base. For some strange reason, you are in the middle of what seems to be a zombie apocalypse where endless waves of zombies are trying to kill you and eat your brains.

 

“A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements.” – Anonyous

 

Competitiveness, Rules, and Skills

The main goal of this game is pretty straight forward: kill the zombies in order to survive. Considering that competitiveness is a requirement for a game itself, Call of Duty Zombies requires its players to be fairly competitive when it comes to playing the game. First of all, you are started off with some of the most basic weapons: a pistol (which takes about three shots to actually kill one single zombie), a hunting knife, and a couple of stick grenades. Keep in mind there is only one of you, and literally infinite waves of zombies. Unless, of course, you were playing in multiplayer mode. As you move forward through the waves of zombies, they become stronger, which pretty much leaves you no other choice but to upgrade your weapons. You can upgrade your weapons by either doing something they call “pack a punch,” which increases the power of your ammunition, or literally just buying stronger weapons. These weapons are purchased with money, or points, which are accumulated by killing zombies, repairing the barricades the zombies have broken, or using a special cheat code which gives you all the money you can ever need. Nevertheless, after upgrading the weapons to the fullest potential, the zombies still continue to increase in strength which pretty much leaves you back where you started. Even when playing in multiplayer mode, this game is not much easier despite having multiple people shooting at a mob of zombies.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj_1O323pHTAhWmjVQKHcQbBBEQuAIIJzAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ddha4drF5EmQ&usg=AFQjCNFqgXMKCtTB0ND1iZlHTyj5kAa8AQ&sig2=3Al26MTdLpGMziGZrd7HCA&bvm=bv.152174688,d.cGw

“Zombies, originally known as Nazi Zombies, is a game mode appearing in Treyarch games that first appeared in Call of Duty: World at War. It became highly popular upon the game’s release, and returned in its sequels Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Black Ops II and again in Call of Duty: Black Ops III.” – Anonymous

 

What is Art?

 

Art can be defined in the dictionary as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, including, but not limited to, painting, music, literature, and dance. Another translation stated art was “producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” In general, art categorizes a broad area of creations, objects, and actions within multiple cultures and societies.

“The Supreme Court ruled last June that video games should be considered an art form, as deserving of First Amendment safeguards as “the protected books, plays and movies that preceded them.” Chris Melissinos reached that opinion some 30 years earlier, as a teenager plugging away at King’s Quest on a neighbor’s PC.” – Anonymous

From game to Art

Based on prior knowledge of what art is and potentially can be, we see these different forms of art within the game itself. First of all, beginning with the visual, Call of Duty Zombies does an excellent job with the choice of colors, animation, and overall design. Although the color scheme of the game is pretty dark on the map I played, I can still tell the detail, and professionalism that was needed in order to depict these images in the game and have come to life.The designers did their best effort in order to make this game as real as possible and recreate a simulation of the real world. Not only did they make it look realistic, but feel as well. This game also falls  under art because of the use of instruments and different sound tracks in the background music. Although these elements may go unrecognized commonly, they contribute dramatically to the overall feel of the game.

“Video games offer artists a previously unprecedented method of communicating with and engaging audiences.” – Anonymous

 

Links:

callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/Zombies_(Treyarch)

 

http://www.digitaltrends.com › Gaming