Look, I gotta push back on the idea that video games are just playthings or tech demos. Sure, some are mindless fun, but so are plenty of paintings or songs. The real question is whether games can express something meaningful, and they absolutely can. Think about a game like Journey or Shadow of the Colossus. Those aren't just about winning or losing—they're about loneliness, sacrifice, and wonder. The player isn't watching art; they're living inside it. That's something a movie or a book can't do. Games let you experience emotion through choice and movement. And the artistry isn't just in the story. It's in the music, the visual design, the pacing, even the way a controller vibrates at a key moment. That's intentional craft. If we call films art because they combine sound, image, and narrative, games do the same—plus interactivity. That extra layer doesn't make it less art; it makes it a new kind.

You know, I actually agree with some of that. The industry has way too much corporate meddling, and yeah, that can kill genuine expression. But let's not pretend paintings and films haven't always had wealthy patrons or studio executives calling the shots. Michelangelo had the Pope breathing down his neck. Doesn't make the Sistine Chapel less art. Look at a game like Disco Elysium. That thing was made by a tiny indie team, no shareholders, no focus groups. It's a deeply personal, weird, philosophical game about failure and identity. And it won awards precisely because it felt like real art, not a product. The corporate stuff exists, sure, but it doesn't define the entire medium. Blaming games for having a big industry is like saying movies aren't art because Marvel exists. The good stuff still shines through.

You ever play That Dragon, Cancer? It's a game about a couple watching their son die of cancer. No shooting, no coins, no checkpoints. You just sit there, helpless, experiencing grief through gameplay. That's not manipulation — that's art using interactivity to make you feel something you couldn't from a painting or a film. And sure, 90% of games are commercial trash. Same goes for movies. Same goes for books. Nobody says romance novels aren't literature just because they're formulaic. The bad stuff doesn't cancel out the good. Your point about pausing is interesting, but I'd flip it. Art doesn't have to let you sit still. Dance is art. Theater is art. You can't pause a live performance either. That doesn't make it less meaningful. Sometimes the inability to pause is the whole point.