In November of 2005, Roger Ebert said video games were, "inherently inferior to film and literature," and that "To my knowledge, no one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great dramatists, poets, filmmakers, novelists and composers."
His views haven’t changed much in two years as he took the opportunity to, once again, slam video games as inferior to other forms of media. He did this during his review of the movie, Hitman. Ebert seems to have actually liked the movie, but continued to say that games are nothing more than just that–games.
Ebert said, "The movie, directed by Xavier Gens, was inspired by a best-selling video game and serves as an excellent illustration of my conviction that video games will never become an art form — never, at least, until they morph into something else or more."
We’re not saying that Ebert doesn’t have a right to voice his opinions, but it seems to be a losing argument when even the British Academy of Film and Television Arts has opened up awards for video games.
Last year, Donnedieu de Vabres, minister of culture for France declared, "People have looked down on video games for far too long, overlooking their great creativity and cultural value. Video games are not a mere commercial product. They are a form of artistic expression involving creation from script writers, designers and directors."
Roger Ebert needs to expand his horizons more in the areas of what are considered art forms, it would seem.
