[B]I've touched on the issue several times here in the past, mostly with posts about Game Art exhibits, but this time, we have an actual discussion in the Games As Art debate.[/B]

Nathan Hardisty over at Platform Nation states in a headline that "[URL=http://www.platformnation.com/2010/02/17/games-can-never-be-art/comment-page-1/]Games Can Never Be Art,"[/URL] but then goes on to debate the topic in his article. He brings up points that force you to stop and think about the issue, particularly involving such radically distasteful games such as RapeLay from Japan. He points out that controversial games such as this tend to add to the black eye that the industry already gets in the mainstream media:

[INDENT]Games don’t really get represented as well as films do in the press. The only brief instances we are represented is whenever a celebrity face shows up at a awards ceremony, controversy leaks from our pores or one giant game release which will swallow all of our lives whole. We’re not represented maturely, I’d still argue we’ve been represented the same as we were twenty years ago – as toys.[/INDENT]He also takes on the intricate story of BioShock and compares it to Super Mario Galaxy and discusses the merits of each as works of art or potential art. But near then end, he stumbles upon what I think is a key point:

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