What they are: The age-old question: are games art?
Why you care: It's fun to put on your Prof. Layton top hat and rant against fear-mongering politicians and fun-hating mothers. Not to mention, it’s a chance to talk about Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, the one where you play as the kid with horns and Castle Crashers. Once you’re done explaining, people will know how worthwhile your hobby is.
Why we don’t: Because, c'mon guys, games are art.
And, yes, there are people who don't think so. But those people are snooty, they aren’t reading our site and we don't care what they think.
Pictures are art, writing is art and music is art, and you're going to have a tough time finding arguments against those. But just in case, here’s a ridiculous analogy: Pablo Picasso, J.D. Salinger and The Beatles are all artists. Putting them all together would make one incredibly talented man with twelve arms and no skills capable of landing him a job that pays more than $30k a year. But he sure as heck would be an artist.
Obviously, many games suck too much to count as art. The existence of NASCAR 09 doesn't mean that racing games can’t be artistic any more than Nickelback proves music isn’t art (though they’re a big step in that direction). They just prove you need to buy some new music.
