The debate about whether or not video games are art has reared its pixelated head both online and off, raging through forums, blogs, and media events. Roger Ebert famously declared, on several occasions, that “video games can never be art,” yet the Smithsonian is trying to curate a somewhat controversial show about the medium, presumably to show that video games can be art. Sure, video games are appropriated and ransacked for art, but are they art in and of themselves?As the stale debate continues, at least the US government has made its stance clear on the matter. Their independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Arts, announced this week that internet, mobile, and video game media will now be eligible to receive grants. This means that while established mediums like TV and radio will still get support, the government will expand their funding to cover “all available media platforms, such as the internet, interactive and mobile technologies, digital games, arts content delivered via satellite, as well as on radio and television,” along with “media projects that can be considered works of art.”Which is quite a broad spectrum really, giving hope to many budding digital artists who could potentially take financial shelter under this umbrella. You just need to convince the National Endowment for the Arts that your media project is in fact a work of art, then you get your grant. We’re grateful for this victory of sorts, though this ruling is in opposition to what the British government appears to be doing for digital arts in the UK.[Image courtesy of Switched.com.]
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