The Art of Video Games

Then too there is the cartoon cut-out style art of Parappa the Rapper - a rarity in that it was also financially successful - or the purposefully abstract looking polygons of the bizarre We Love Katamari.

Like most of its artistic peers, Katamrari was a game that used music in just an iconoclastic manner as its graphics.

But however worthy these games may be, their rarity is proof alone of their commercial failure.

They’re the equivalent of art house cinema, with more successful developers paying lip service to their quality while their financial overlords ensure they’re never foolish enough to try anything too similar themselves.

Ultimately, the greatest influence the visual art of video games has on both its own products and the wider world is the 2D artwork of older retro games.

The simple 2D graphics of such classics as Space Invaders, Pac-man and Super Mario Bros not only still stand up today but have become pop culture icons.

Full Throttle

Although it’s a talent on the edge of extinction, the artwork seen in later era 2D titles such as LucasArts’ Full Throttle, beat ‘em-up Street Fighter III or SNK’s Metal Slug series features a blend of technical, artistic and interactive design that is completely unique to video games.

The worry is that it is a distinctiveness that is being lost as the race for photorealism reaches its final stages.

The abstract designs of old may have been in large part made out of necessity, but they do a much better job than the majority of modern games in proving that games can inspire art, not just copy reality.