Most of video game design and development don't focus on the designer but on creating an experience for the player. Therefore, there is a great debate between game designers whether gaming is "pure" art. Even Hideo Kajima, creator of the revolutionary (if not flawed) Metal Gear Solid series, believes that games are not art as it is more of a product of commercialism than anything else. When you break games down, however, there are definitely components of them that are deemed art: game screenplay writing, graphical style, soundtrack, etc. Beyond this, one thing stands out:

Art is entertainment. Entertainment is commerce.

Is fashion design not art because designers are supposed to sell them? Sorry, but artists that don't sell their work are not artists for very long. Sure, you can say that you can express yourself through, say, poetry without the intent of selling it. I would then say that you can actually express yourself through a game. The only difference is that game design is not a readily accessible form. And you can create a game for yourself if you so choose. And just like pop music - even if it's totally commericalized - can be still considered art, even the most commercialized game is still art. If we accept the "commerical art" spectrum of games, then games are art and commerce at the same time. No more, no less.

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	honestgamer - January 31, 2006 (07:26 PM) Great points, draqq!