Are games art? The Interactive Canvas is making the case! Kickstarter campaign

Are games art? Roger Ebert, the late film critic, made big waves in the video game community when he said that games weren't art and never would be. He then expounded on that quote later with an article and said, "Let me just say that no video gamer now living will survive long enough to experience the medium as an art form."

He wrote that in 2010, and like I have disagreed with many critics before him, I disagree with his opinion on this topic as well. That's why when my good friends from DigitallyDownloaded launched a new Kickstarter campaign pertaining to this very topic, it became my first Kickstarter campaign to ever back!

Their Kickstarter campaign is titled, Interactive Canvas; Gaming Artists, and you can find it HERE (the last three links should get you to the page!).

What is the Interactive Canvas all about? In short, "The Interactive Canvas is a book that champions the idea that games have artistic merit, and interviews the people that make them". Watch this video to get a better idea of what will be included in the book:

If you're now curious, but haven't already clicked over, here are just some of the artists that will be involved with the book:

• American McGee, Spicy Horse; American McGee's Alice, Alice Returns
• Jonathan Blow; Braid, The Witness
• Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, CD Projekt Red; The Witcher series
• Hidetaka Suehiro (aka SWERY65), ACCESS Games; Deadly Premonition
• Ed Key; Proteus
• Michael Samyn and Auriea Harvey, Tale Of Tales; The Path, Luxuria Superbia
• Dan Pinchbeck, The Chinese Room; Dear Esther, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs
• Guillaume Provost, Compulsion Games; Contrast
• Thomas Johansson, Henrik Fåhraeus, and Johan Andersson, Paradox Development Studio; Crusader Kings II, Europa Universalis IV
• Nic Watt, Nnooo; escapeVektor
• Tamara Schembri and Peter Budziszewski, ToyBox Studios; Flowmo
• Neil Rennison, Tin Man Games; Gamebook Adventures, Fighting Fantasy gamebooks on iOS and Android
• Mike Bithell; Thomas Was Alone

And, if you missed the references, the Interactive Canvas is referred to not once, not twice, not three times, but FOUR times as a "coffee table-style" book, or publication. With the amount of content they are planning for the Interactive Canvas, it seems like a perfect book to flip through while you are enjoying your morning cups of coffee!

Again, you can watch the video above to hear the idea behind it, and visit its Kickstarter page directly to get involved and back the project. Also, if you have any questions about the project, you can contact Matt from DigitallyDownloaded directly, by emailing him at: matts(@)digitallydownloaded.net.