I just lurk here a lot, but this 'games as art' thing forces me to post. Games are a commercial industry, it's true, but film, books and music are the same type of media. There are plenty of artists in all of those other media who can genuinely say "this work is art" as they don't really give a crap about the money. They do it to do it. It doesn't matter how much money you make, so long as you're pushing yourself as an artist and the medium you're working with.
I think games have that same sort of potential, in the same way that comic books had that potential back in the 30's and 40's. Comics were an industry, and most of the people working in them were not really doing anything more than just trying to sell the next book. But diversity and the march of technology took that industry and turned it into something anyone could successfully do out of their home, and now there's a lot of diverse books out there of all types. I defy you to tell me that Maus is not "art".
Games have that same sort of creative potential. Anyone CAN make a game right now were they so inclined and driven to do so, and while most people focus on the 'fun' of a game, it's entirely possible to couple the interactive elements with a story and characters as compelling as anything in books or film. There have not been many designers who have tried to tap into that paradigm, but the lack of attempts is less a flaw of the medium and more an example of the untapped potential waiting to be unearthed in gaming.
And with that said, I'll go away for a while again
