ubiquitous idea

Over the last few weeks/months there has been rising furor over topic of Games Being Art, or Are Games Art?

Question that comes 1st to my mind is why does it matter if it can be classified as art? Why is that important? No one ever seems to discuss that. Does being classified as Art give game some sort of dignity they currently lack?

I think most of this need of gamers to want to declare their favorite form of entertainment declared as being Art comes from the desire to either to stop recent spam of "Game are Bad for children, Please think of the Children" politics that always seems to make great news, OR some how vast majority of us gamer aren't comfortable declaring ourselves as such.

I think latter is major reason for this push for games to be recognized as Art. Former works as distraction from the real objective, its Magicians slight of hand style trick. The need to feel that they won't be ridiculed when they say "Yes, i play games fun." I do understand that feel though, I've felt it myself at times. But thankfully times are changing, and gamer nation numbers are growing exponentially. Lately I've not shied away from admitting my love for this hobby. That removal is help by the fact so many people young and old now play. They ALL can find some entertainment value from same things we find entertainment value in. While it might not be the same type of games, and they may not care about who the developers are and who the publishers are, they still enjoy the form. And Frankly when was the last time you knew who the team behind a particular TV show or Movie were.

I personally, feel no rush to describe games as Art, Art is a passive form of entertainment. As such you can only Look at it, or Listen to it, or Read it and then remark of what that makes you feel like with regards to the Subject. Where as games have 3rd VERY crucial element, Interaction. Without Interaction, a game might as well be just another movie, or book, or song. None of the traditional media/entertainment form allow for Interaction, AND most certainly NONE make the audience a Major element/force/driver of the events with in a story. You are the story, you are the audience, you are in effect exploring what you are based on how you play. Granted not all games give that sort of depth, or capabilities. Neither do all Movies, Books and Songs make you think. Vast majority of Art is just mindless garbage. I suppose in that sense Games are Art, quite a few games are just Shovel ware, push on to us, those smart enough know how to avoid such traps, rest fall to perish.

But for other instances, I don't believe they should be contained within such a limited container called Art. No games are not Art, they are Better. They need a super container term for which escapes me. But I do know they are Much Better than just plain old Art