... but some games just have all the elements that come together to make a truly artistic experience. Oftentimes, these games are not commercial blockbusters, but are relished by the community or a small loyal fanbase (Okami is the best example I can think of off the top of my head). Then, you take a game like Shadow of the Colossus. The creator had a vision on exactly what he wanted when he made that game, and all elements flow smoothly from one to the next. From a storytelling perspective, the plot is highly subjective. If you asked 10 different people what their synopsis of the plot was, you would probably get 10 different answers. Once again, this was by design, as the director has said he wanted to keep anything "definitive" out of the story and let the player fill in all the holes by him/herself. If anyone asks me if I think video games are art, I will loan them my copy of Shadow of the Colossus and tell them to play it all the way through; THEN we can talk about video games as art. I do think however, that games can be completely devoid of artistic merit. That also doesn't mean that the game isn't enjoyable or fun. But you can definitely tell when there is a vein of artistic vision running through it; it makes the game something completely different than anything you've ever played before.