Graphics do not always equal fun. Believe it or not, some games do not require ground breaking graphics to hold their weight. Eye candy is nice, but shouldn't define your gaming experience as a make or break feature. Aesthetics are only part of the experience.
I grew up playing and loved the WWF games on SNES.. but my favorite from back then is still Fire Prowrestling Special. I couldn't read a word of the japanese but it was fun. =P
Anything that has a creative conception and is brought to fruition is art. Games are forms of expression just as a book or painting are, it's simply expressed differently. Sure, it's expressed through technology and there is a business aspect to it all but that has been a commonality in every culture regardless of how it evolves. Saying art is only something like a literal painting is extremely narrow. Think of it this way, if you have ever been inspired by a book or movie, then you have had a perceptual experience. We define experiences through mediums that change the way we think and inspire us as art or artforms or directly as "a work of art". In this case, a team of writers created a story, and you experienced their vision. Any technicality in between is completely irrelevant to the experience. It should be that experience that is in question rather than whether or not this is "art" or not. I personally didn't enjoy the conclusion to ME3, and I'm more than a little disappointed but in the end it was their work and if that is the way they choose to end it then there is little I or anyone else can do about it. I'm not completely sure why this article was ultimately necessary. It seems that the author was trying to convey more than the subject of "Why Bioware Shouldn't Change Mass Effect 3's Ending" but didn't bring a lot to the discussion besides personal philosophy. I've seen a lot of this on Gamespot lately and I'd hate to see this site go the way of IGN.
The comments so far have made excellent points! The only thing I can possibly add is that DLC as intended to prevent piracy, actually encourages piracy. An obvious detriment to the "future" of PC gaming.
May have to try some of these out. Nice roundup. Too bad the one that interests me the most Exsteel, is *free. I miss F.E.A.R. Combat. It was free, basic, and fun. Then as with most all multiplayer games someone released a "hack", in this case Exodus that every evil fun sucking kid playing has downloaded. 90% of the servers are now filled with cheaters and the others will kick you if you start playing well, FEARing that you are cheating. Not even secure servers are safe, It's a mess now, completely ruined.
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