[font="Times New Roman"][size="4"]Ah, the art question. I haven't come to any conclusions myself about it yet, but here's some thoughts:

[/font][font="Times New Roman"][size="4"]Video games distinguish themselves from other media principally because they "push back" against the user. That is, in order to progress the story (the phrase "such as it is" comes snidely to mind for nearly all video games), the players must meet a series of challenges. For that reason, traditional story telling methods are obviously incompatible unless we modify them to some extent. Why do I say that they're incompatible? Because the entire concept of pacing goes out the window in a video game (due to the fact that players will inevitably play through sections multiple times). It doesn't have to be this way, but that's the route that most games take. What are the alternatives? Either make your game so easy that players hardly ever die (the approach of a lot of modern games) or else adopt storytelling conventions that are totally unlike those of film or literature. Unfortunately, as I play through the "story" (note the passive-aggressive quotation marks) of Dragon Age, Call of Duty 4, or any other given modern game, this pacing issue comes up again and again. I think the games that tell the best stories are those that are willing to be a bit surreal and dispense with rigid Western storytelling conventions (I'm thinking of Braid and the like here).

The fact is that so far our biggest and best titles in the video game media (Bioware's output etc.) are content to ape previous media to the best of their ability. I think that this can account for some of Ebert's hostility.
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The word that I use when I think of games and art has been used several times in this thread already: Craft.

But what does "Craft" mean?

Well dictionary.com has this (the stress is theirs): "[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2][color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]an[/font] [/font]art[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2], [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]trade,[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]or[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]occupation[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]requiring[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]special[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]skill,[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]especially [/font][color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]manual[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]skill:[/font] [/font][color=#333333][font=Georgia, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2][color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2][color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]the[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]craft[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]of[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]a[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]mason."[/font][/font][/font][/font]

So Craft is a certain type of art, or at least has an aspect of Art in it. I think this describes games quite well. They can contain art, or even be art, but they aren't necessarily, explicitly art.

Think of a table. Basically a table is just 4 legs supporting a flat, horizontal surface. But, there is a craft to designing tables. You can, using skill, turn them from the basic utilitarian object into a work of art.

Such as it is with game. A game can be the basic "utilitarian object" where you play for fun (being the utility of a game is to have fun playing it). Or it can be something that has, through the skill of the designer turned it into an object that goes beyond the raw utility.

Which, if you also look at dictionary.com is part of the definition of "Art": "[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2][color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]the[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]quality,[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]production,[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]expression,[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]or[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]realm,[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]according[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]to [/font][color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]aesthetic[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]principles,[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]of[/font] [/font]what[color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]is[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]beautiful,[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]appealing,[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]or[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]of [/font][color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]more[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]than[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]ordinary[/font] [color=#333333][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]significance."[/font][/font][/font]

The important phrase there is: "of more than ordinary significance".

So just as a table can be made to have "more than ordinary significance" through the skill of the craftspersons, so too can a game gain more than ordinary significance if the designers which to do so and apply their skills to do so.

It is also why the issue seems confused. Because games can both be and not be art (because they are a craft) one can point to examples of either and make claims for either. It is the same as a table. Mu kitchen table is really just the basic utilitarian table and I don't think anyone would consider it artistic. However, I have seen tables that are amazing works of art, to the point where you would not use them as a table because of their artistic merit (you wouldn't want to damage it) and they effectively loose their utility as a table and become pure art.

But this same spectrum also exists for games. There are games that are almost pure art, there are also games that are pure utilitarian for fun, and then there are the games that range as a continuum between these.

So I think the best way to think of games is not pure art or pure utilitarian, but as a spectrum between them and this is the real of Craft.

It doesn't matter. The root of this issue is all about getting approval. And this elusive "art" merit badge won't mean anything if continue to toss traditional games under the bus just to possess it.

Short and sweet:

Art is a creation from the imagination

Games are a creation from the imagination

They're just plain facts.