The National Endowment for the Arts has updated their definition of what constitutes as being art with the addition of “interactive games” to the list. This is likely a big victory in the eyes of those opposed to Roger Ebert who made the argument that “video games can never be art.”
The updated definition of what is considered art:
Projects may include high profile multi-part or single television and radio programs (documentaries and dramatic narratives); media created for theatrical release; performance programs; artistic segments for use within an existing series; multi-part webisodes; installations; and interactive games. Short films, five minutes and under, will be considered in packages of three or more.
This could open up the door for government funding for the video game industry, but as reported in the Forbes article, it probably wouldn’t be much, though some independent game developers may try and take advantage of those funds.
Source: Forbes.com
