Roger Ebert vs Games as Art

Following a relatively recent article on Roger Ebert's website in which Rober Ebert debated against Clive Barker's view that games are art, I decided to write an article which attempts to give a somewhat balanced view on the matter. Roger Ebert delivers some very flawed comments in regards to video games, one such comment he made in his review of Silent Hill was that after a few minutes of playing the brains of gamers shut off. He quoted research, but what he failed to take into account is that the brains of gamers shut off when they understood the game and hence would soon grow bored of it, not that playing games immediately means the brain shuts down.

What I do find interesting is the tenacity in which Ebert has persisted in pursuing this debate, I often wonder if he feels that the meaning of his life is threatened by movies becoming less important in the overall scheme of things now that they have to compete against other forms of media. That said, I doubt movies will ever truly disappear so I think if my assumptions are correct he is overreacting.

The article can be found in the link below.

Roger Ebert vs Games as Art