[General Discussion] Games as Art

I think one way of looking at this is to look at the most recent media form that has, in some way, been regarded as art.

What makes a movie art? I'm quite positive that not every single movie is ever considered art, as will many who argue that certain movies are art. What criteria do people have to consider a certain movie art?

For example, The Simpsons Movie may not be considered art by some people, but some would agree movies such as Citizen Kane or (possibly) Forrest Gump would be considered art. In my experience, most of this is simply because of hidden messages (that the viewer assigns to certain elements of the movie), so is that the criteria for in-motion media to be considered art? Then, does that mean we can apply the same criteria to games, and if so, does that mean only certain games would be considered art, whereas others would not?

Also, if we were to look at games as the sum of its parts, I'd think that certain games could be considered art. For instance, Odin Sphere by itself includes art - this shouldn't be an arguement. However, holistically the entire game also gives it a different feel that the parts alone couldn't do. If I were to simply listen to the music, I wouldn't feel like I were experiencing a story of sorts. Likewise, if I simply read the script of the story, I fear I wouldn't feel like the game had life in it. The whole adds more than what the individual parts would do, so I agree that you couldn't simply look at the elements and pull out gameplay and call that the game.

Jam it back in, in the dark.