How BioShock Impacted the Concept of Games as Art

gamerant.com:

In 2007, 2K Games stunned players with its monumental release, BioShock, and its immersive atmosphere, enthralling story, and gripping gameplay. Blowing away audiences that were waiting to crucify the so-called «revolutionary» project, BioShock is often-cited as a representation of video games seriously being considered as an artistic medium.

Since the early 1980s, the characterization of video games as a form of art has been a controversial debate. Notable figures of established media acknowledge the presence of artistic elements such as story, graphic art, and music may be present in a game, yet refuse to go as far as saying that video games are a form of artwork. While video games have since been legally protected as creative works by the Supreme Court of the United States as of 2011, various critics in this debate continue to bring the legitimacy of video games as art into question.

BioShock 4's Open World Might Sacrifice One of the Best Parts of the Original Game

The first question of games as works of art can be traced back to 1982, when courts in the United States examined whether video games should be guaranteed protection for free speech under the First Amendment. The fear of video games prompting a potential for violence and the addictive nature of video games, a debate that has persisted to the present day, led to these court cases. The majority of these cases in the early days of video games declined to grant protection under the First Amendment, with comparisons to them being no more expressive than pinball and board or card games.

Despite this, the mid-1980s saw artists able to be more intricate in art development, with 2D characters and more shape being included. The rise of side-scrollers, such as the