The editors of a popular American magazine called Appleton's Journal, upon seeing an example of a new type of art form, their reaction was one of surprise and disgust, and considered any claim that it or something similar is called “art” as an insult to “real art” and the skill of the masters who create “real art.” Those editors weren't reacting to any video games, it was the year 1878, and they were giving their honest opinion on an impressionist painting, but frankly they might as well have been talking about video games. In this essay I will talk about why video games should be considered an art form and refute some of the arguments against it being an art form. Now, before we continue, we might as well define art because how can we determine if something? what is art if we don't know what it is? Merriam Webster defines art as “noun; something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.” This is a great professional definition, but perhaps too professional. Let me try to humanize that definition, art is something that one or more people put their heart and mind into, art is something that can make the viewer, spectator or player feel or think something. Whether it is admiration for the beauty of the landscape in a game like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, anger towards the men who burned the main character's village in Assassin's Creed III, sadness for the death of Shadow in Sonic Adventure 2, freedom and control in open-ended games like Minecraft or the Grand Theft Auto series, the shock that the beautiful and seemingly utopian society of Columbia in Bioshock Infinite realizes has institutionalized racism and elitism, the great...... middle of paper.. ..... 2014. .Magazine writer who argues that video games should be considered an art form.4. Melissinos, Chris and Patrick O'Rourke. The art of video games: from Pac-Man to Mass Effect. New York: Welcome, 2013. Print.A book on the evolution of games as an art form.6. Davis, Noah. “Are video games the next big art form?” Pacific Standard. Pacific Standard, June 4, 2013. Web. February 21, 2014. A magazine that provides a rather neutral position.7. Bishop, Bryan. "The limit." The limit. The Verge, June 13, 2013. Web. February 22, 2014. Article explaining Steven Speilburg and George Lucas' position on the topic.