It's too late for video games to "never be art"

Roger Ebert is old. He has been in the movie criticism industry for as long as I can remember (though that's not saying much), and is quite the legend, having spent his whole life watching and reviewing movies. And apparently doing that qualifies you to review other things.

What I am referring to, of course, is Ebert's statement that "video games can never be art." First of all, I would like to point out that Ebert has likely never played a video game in his life. And no, Wii sports doesn't count. It seems a little silly for a critic to judge something that he has never tried. It would be like me saying that food can't be art, because I've never been to that fancy a restaurant, or even if I said that movies can't be art though I've never seen one. However, since Ebert seems to have appointed himself as the end-all critic for everything, I'll ignore this fact and proceed.

First off, I'd like to say- what is the critic exactly? Well, let's see. We have art critics, theatre critics, movie critics, food critics, and books critics, all of which can be considered art. Oh, and then there are video game critics too. And don't try to say that they aren't real critics- both Gamespot and IGN (the 2 main review sites) are in the 200s for the most visited websites. Rottentomatoes, the one movie-review site to rule them all, is in the 700s.

Now, here's the real reason I think video games are art:

If something is made
Artfully of art, does that
Make it art itself?

Really, look at all the work that goes into video games. It's an entire collaborative team, with as many parts as a movie production. First of all, you have the artists who make art which is used to model the games. These people graduate from places like RISD and the Art Institute of Chicago. They are as much real artists as any. Don't believe me? Here's some decent concept art, and here's some screens of a game I think is truly art, in visuals and everything else.

Then, there's the music that goes into games by professional musicians. These musicians graduate from places like Berklee and the Yale Conservatory. Just, instead of going on to some orchestra or band, they go on to a career that will actually support themselves. Berklee has a video game music club with over 300 students in it, almost 10% of the school's entire base. Music from games is played in symphony orchestras around the world along with works of classical masters, whose artistry cannot be denied. Here's one such occurrence.

Even still, there's plot and screenwriting. If movies can be turned into art by their dialogue, can't video games? For instance, the game Advent Rising was written by Orson Scott Card- and I'd consider anything by him to be a step up from most movies. Then, there are also actors- if you can consider acting an art. Voice actors like you'd find in any animated movie can also be found in video games. Oh, and there are also cut-scenes and animated dialogue like in those movies. The game Mass Effect is pretty much all cut-scenes and dialogue. So if you were take those cut-scenes and make a movie out of them, that would be art, but they aren't in the context of the game? I think not.

When you properly combine the aforementioned properties along with quality gameplay, I fail to see how it could not be considered art. Look at Okami, look at Katamari Damacy. At Psychonauts, Shadow of the Colossus, Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Video games can be art, Ebert- you've been too busy not playing them to notice.

Sorry for the length of the post, but I had points that I needed to make.