Roger Ebert says no. Hot Air speculates that Ebert hates them because they many of them involve fighting terrorists, like the seemingly never-ending Call of Duty series. (I like Call of Duty, but it is not art–it is, however, more intellectually challenging than some may realize.) They speculate that the lack of nuance and depth in games–which they seem to like–is what repels Ebert.
Ebert is completely and utterly wrong. Hot Air is sort of right, except that they fail to realize that they are succumbing to the same sort of bigotry as Ebert.
“No one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great poets, filmmakers, novelists and poets. [sic]” Ebert writes.
Then I shall do so now:
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Those games are all at least as powerful as any movie, any poem or any novel.
(Hat Tip to Big Hollywood.)
