Film critic Roger Ebert has been notorious amongst video gamers for writing off the form as being incapable of being art. Last year, he elaborated on his position and I responded with the following article (which is reprinted here). Now, I should note as a hopeful cinema studies scholar that Roger’s work pushed me to study film and I constantly find myself reflecting on his Great Movies books. However, I am also a hopeful media studies scholar, a field which includes video games, a form which I enjoy as both a player and a Ph.D. student (you can find a visual essay a produced on the Wii with two classmates here). That said, I disagree with Roger’s assessment of the medium and here are a few reasons why.
