it's a little biased for me to say this as a concept artist and a beginner programmer but **Yes, I do think games are art**. as they are food for your mind. giving you experiences, emotions and showing you places and shaking you up. I can't recall the artist who defined art by saying "Art is a tool to make visible thinks that aren't". they were probably referring to political satire but i think it pretty much apply on everything i've seen myself and people around me doing when it comes to building games. we pour our poor little souls to simulate a safe environment where you can the experience feelings such as accomplishment, fear and joy. even the programmers make art by making their work so seamless you almost forgot you're inside a simulation. small things such as scrappy menu interface can ruin your authentic gaming experience, giving you additional stress to memorize where you find what you need, not to mention bad physics or camera controls, unless that's the whole point. (yes, Big Rigs and Skyrim i'm thinking about you again.) as some people prefer like really macro nature photography and some for example classic renaissance oil paintings, games as well serve for different purposes. i enjoy the the ones that take me to far away places, giving me the solitude and feeling of being completely alone, especially with very little clues of what you have to do. as many others play games to meet their friends and compete, or fight for their lives in a zombie apocalypse because some of us just need that adrenaline rush. so all of genres are needed, all of them are art as equally as they serve their purpose on delivering you the right emotion you need on you current life situation. it's not about graphics, not about technology- it's all just psychology. when you find the theme that speaks for you, you will likely enjoy it even if it looks like it's made a century ago.

hi everyone: my english is not very well,if someone wants discuss with japenese or chinese i`m also glad to see it. so here is my viewpoint： 1. A good video game should be educational,sometimes it can make us dive into another world and know something which we never attempt.it can improve our knowledge with someone's guide（gamemaker）.there is only one thing shuold paying special attention to,how we know the guide`s viewpoint or knowledge is right for real world. 2. sometimes,game will be a tool which can verify some scientific experiment with a little funny.it`ll be useful in many sterile experiments.maybe it can let some people make many legends by carelessly. with these two point,i think video game should be a education tool,to share someone gamemaker`s knowledge or transmit some emotion.sometimes it will make people happy,but it not the most important social significance for human society.

Hello everyone. While the agardians are wide inside their soul, gaming in Asgardia is likely to be also multilateral in all the aspects. You are right that computers delete the distance between people when the gamers are inside the game. People become more united and one inside the game. That is a good moment of gaming. Me think that games about space (kosmos) will be popular among the asgardians. Me personally is waiting for the finished "Star Citizen" game to come to light. Me think that computer games (when they are used as games, not as a substitution for the real life) are an acceptable way of intertainment for people. Of course, gamers must remember that motionless (static, sitting) way of life is not good for the body, so we must know the time (limit our time) being inside the game and make breaks to have a rest. Me see that modern gaming industry is much focused on destruction, but not the creation and peace. 3D shooters genre is now more popular than strategies of Settlers or Anno series which are about the construction of the worlds. Me hope that games of the future will become more peacefull and more about creation than the modern ones. While the asgardians are creating a new "world" inside this world, we have the ability or possibility to make the world better :-) Me think that when the industry will invent 3D virtual systems that allow you to move in real life and transmit your movements into the game, games will become very popular. For example, there is a research in a 2D-conveyor field, which may make computer games more active for our body and interesting for the mind. A person is standing on a 2D-conveyor and walks or runs on it, and the sensors are simulating his real movements into virtual ones inside the game. While the conveyor is "endless" as it is looped in two dimentions, it can simulate endless surfaces to walk on. Me would like to see such a device in games, as me do not like sitting motionless for long time. And of course, no game can replace a real life, a real conversation and real feelings. Games will remain games. // Me intentionally use "me" instead of "i", it is not a mistake. It reminds me of old tribes and ancient times.