Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

This post probably should've gone up before E3, but I forgot after watching GTTV. Well, anyway once again the famed movie critic Roger Ebert once again decided to trash the gaming industry by saying that games are not, and never will, be art. In this month's issue of Gameinformer, Ken Levine (creator of Bioshock) sounded off on this, and if you haven't read what he wrote you need too, it is a great defense of the gaming industry. As for if games can be art, I completely disagree with Ebert, games can be art. In my opinion art is something in which the creator pours all of his effort, time, and heart into something that turns out to be great. Games are completely in. Some games are art in their graphics and style, such as Shadow of the Colossus. Some are art in their stories, such as Metal Gear Solid and Mass Effect. Others are art in their different approaches to gameplay and some change the way you see something. I mean, seriously Mr. Ebert, if you deny that a story as great as Metal Gear's or Mass Effect's isn't art, then I can't imagine that anything else in your view is art. Art isn't just paint on a canvas or words on a page. Art is the work of a talented creator. Games certainly fall into this category, and give up Mr. Ebert, games aren't just something kids play anymore. They are being recognized as art and as a serious medium. We have evolved, and we have shown that we are to be taken seriously. So drop your argument Mr. Ebert. We're tired of it.

-Smith