Quote Originally Posted by Roto13 View Post
Games are art in the same way that movies are art. Most aren't very good from an artistic standpoint, but some are. Like Killer 7.
Indeed. There are plenty of unbelievably crap games out there, with little to no artistic or creative merit, but that's true of other 'artistic' genres as well.
As an example, I watched the film Kung Pow: Enter the Fist the other day. If someone was arguing that 'motion pictures are not art', then this would be extremely effective supporting evidence. However, it doesn't change the fact that movies like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Matrix exist as well. Similarly, there are some sculptors who make sculptures out of poo. Quite literally, their works are piles of crap. Nonetheless, sculpture remains a recognised and respected artistic medium.

When Roger Ebert declares video games incapable of being art, he's coming from a biased and self-serving perspective. Chances are he's never played a video game, and is only responding to stereotypical preconceptions; he's likely influenced by all the atrocious game-based movies he's reviewed in his time.

The idea of video games having depth, literary quality, and basically anything other than gratuitous violence is still largely unknown to the general masses. I'd guess that accessibility is a problem. Anyone can watch a movie, but to play a game requires time, effort and expense - something people won't commit to on a whim. Besides, for every Metal Gear Solid and Shadow of the Colossus, there are at least a couple hundred games like Blast Force Omega Max: Ultimate Incendiary or Total Bikini Wrasslin Jamboree' Custard Edition.