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Here is a random thought that popped into my head - Should videogames be considered a serious form of art? I mean, think about it, a lot of hard work is put into each and every game, and not just anyone can make a videogame. It takes a team of designers with just the right kind of magic to make an appreciable game, much like a movie or a play. I think that if movies are considered works of art, games should be too. Remember that it wasn't until around the 1920's, when the movie industry was around 30 years old, that movies began being taken seriously. Soon after there were many big awards shows created, and an actors guild. Well now the videogames industry is about to turn 30*, and it's about time games got the recognition they deserve. Games aren't childs play anymore, they never were if you ask me. Games, to me at least, give off the same magical aura that so many others claim they feel from watching a movie. When I'm playing a game, I become the main character, I get into the vividly depicted worlds, and I'm set in a zone throughout the playing time, much like with movies. Yet sometimes you can't help but feel embarrased around certain grown-ups, who sit on thier high-horse condemning videogames, telling me I should have grown out of the 'videogames stage' a long time ago. What may seem like some childish diversion to some is no less than a major form of art to me.

Now that you know the answer to the question "Do I think videogames should be considered art", lets focus on "Do I think videogames will be considered art in the near future?". I can see that happening, as more and more TV reports focus on games, systems and how they're selling more and more these days. With many, many millions of people owning videogame systems, a large part of our society can finally see games for what they are. The little kids that played the NES have grown up, they're grown-ups now and they haven't grown out of the 'videogame stage', so games are getting more realistic, articulate and more dark and gloomy. If you ask me, it won't be long before there's an academy awards type show for videogames. BUT, there is one problem I see with games finally getting the recognition they deserve. Most of the credit is going to Sony and it's PSX and PS2 systems. Now, when games become big business, you will be forever damned to hear how it was the PSX that changed the face of games. I don't think this is true, the PSX wouldn't even BE HERE if it weren't for the NES, which saved the entire industry from collapse in the mid-80's. The games from this era may be forgotten forever in the annals of time. How many movies do you see from before 1920? Not many. The PSX and PS2 deserve only minimal credit beside the NES and SNES, but we all know that won't happen.

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* the early 1970's is considered by most people as the time when videogames first took off, so I refer to it as the begining of the industry.