Video Games as Art

So to begin I thought I'd discuss the possibility of video games as art as discussed in class.  Are they art?  I would like to say that they are.  Programmers spend hours bringing their ideas to life to fulfill a story being visually b     roadcasting to the players (some games even allow the user to change the outcome).  Art is said to engage the user, draw in their thoughts and emotions.  That's just what some characters do, especially in games such as Fallout 3 where the gamer creates a character and modifies them to their preferences, and even their name.  I find video games to be beautifully artistic because there are no limitations to them, and the hours they provide in entertainment have to merit to something more than a waste of time.  If these games were not artistic, why would millions of people spend hundreds of hours on them, and then restart them to change the outcomes?  The field of video games is ever growing, and I am excited to see what the future of them will produce.  The number of gamers is also growing with the release of new consoles and platforms.  Gaming has expanded past arcades, past computers, past home systems, and even past phones.  Games have even become a part of daily social media such as Facebook.  These games attract players through something, whether it is stories, characters, artwork, or something else all together.  The point is these games draw in people on a regular basis, if that is not an art in itself I do not know what is.