I am an artist. Art, to me, is an experience that stirs emotion. An image or sound that ultimately exists to incite thought and emotional conflict. Personally, I don't think that someone who does not play videogames has any right in the world to pass judgment unto something they will never understand, just as someone who does not appreciate art would not have anything meaningful to say about a painting or sculptor that exists for artistic purposes. The ultimate truth is that a video game, whether meant to be considered "artistic" or not, is compromised of many forms of art, which in turn should make the product a piece of art, right? That seems to not be the case, especially with games like Gears of War or Grand Theft Auto which do have amazing writing, beautiful art, moving musical scores, but are not meant by the creator to be a form of art, or does it? There are so many variables to consider. The fact that there is so much conflict proves to me that videogames are doing something that is stirring the perception of what we consider art, which proves to me that video games for the most parts are pieces of art. I hate it when people compare books, movies, and videogames. It's bound to happen when discussing this subject, but people have forgotten that movies, books, paintings, sculpting, photography, most of those are thousands of years old. They've had the time to cement themselves into the art world, more than that to actually invent the concept of artistic expression. videogames are a few decades old and are still evolving, and will forever evolve and become better. A book made last week is the same as a book made a thousand years ago. Finally, Beauty, and in my opinion art, is in the eye of the beholder. And just because the creator does not intend for something to be looked at as a piece of art does not mean that someone can't be inspired by that creation. Much like the urinal exhibition. It changed people's perception of art, while more rational people saw it as a urinal on a pedestal. whether you see videogames as a form of art, or a way of entertaining yourself for a few hours is up to the gamer. And i guess I'm done now.