Can Video Games be Art?

As I may or may not have mentioned, as a part of my University course on Media Production I am wanting to look into the discussion over whether video games can be seen, or more specifically "classed" as ART?

As I've started this blog dedicated to gaming, I feel that it's more than fitting to post any of my findings, as well as using it as a way of documenting my own theories (no matter how loose they may be).

So, best kick this off with a short, simple point.


1)
Art cannot survive without an audience, breading a culture of followers, creating inner circles and communities within the medium- not so much unlike the Gaming community.
At a rough guess, I'd say there is more information and sites dedicated towards gaming rather than art. And those that are solely for art (whether that be paintings, music or film) video games can have a large impact.

Originality it was games that were influenced by art, but as time progressed art began being influenced by video games. Things like this can range once again from paintings or "Fan-Art", musical pieces or even in cinema (although cinema often becomes more of a business, trying to make money rather than simply an expression of art.)

As time progressed since "Pong" hit the arcade, games had to rapidly develop new methods to expand, making game developers constantly need to "think outside the box", to be as creative as they could and push their limitations to the very edge.

Although games are more often than not viewed in the same way as cinema- mass production of a product to entertain masses- it still holds similar properties to more "Art House" cinema. Certain niches grow trough the market, and with it bubbles of inavitive creativity are able to grow. (RANDOM NOTE: If you type "inavitive" into google, the top sites, in fact the majority of sites are about video games)




-So. There's my first, mildly informative/mainly opiniated rant on the subject "Can Video Games be Art?". I hope it wasn't too painful for any readers out there. If anyone wants to expess any of their opinions on the matter, feel free to write whats on your brains below (it'll actually help!)