The aesthetic view of digital games: Following the concept of Heidegger’s art theory

Abstract

The general perception of digital games is negative because of their various disturbances. In fact, gamesare valuable tools by which producers express their intention sregarding the design of commercial goods or artwork. Many people believe that digital games should never be accepted as art forms, even though many artists use this technology in diverse ways. Others who recognize the artistic merit in digital games present their reasons sensibly. In this paper, we approached this subject through the concept of art as a language, and we found logical reasons for acknowledging games as art forms according to the phenomenological view. Based on Heidegger’s art theory, art is construed as poetry; thus, we focused on this concept. Languages are distinguishable by the use of ordinary words in general conversations and artistic words in poetry. The major point is that games could be considered as poetic expressions; therefore, they are referred to aspoetic games. First, core features of poetic art were extracted based on Heidegger. Second, some linguistic factors were listed based on thesensorium commonly used during game playing. A basis to evaluate poetic games was designed for these two aspects. In addition, the standpoints are supported by analyzed examples. Thus, the study indicates that understanding games theoretically or academically will contribute to cultural development. © Research India Publications.