"Artists" who only want to make "art" fail to grasp the nature of the beast. You cannot set out to make "art" and succeed. A product must accomplish something, and "being art" is not an actual value; it's an abstract concept, which means many things depending on the context. And values are context, not context-sensitive.
The only way a game can be "art" is if it succeeds in fulfilling values which matter to the end user. A select group of elitists declaring a game to be "art" is meaningless if the majority do not see value in the game. Ultimately, the "games are art" mentality is bandied around by developers who don't want to make a game for anybody but themselves, and by gamers who want to believe they're somehow "better" than other gamers.
Also, a side-note: it's funny how a lot of people don't realize this, but most of the famous paintings, sculptures, and other "art" made over the years were done on commission, and all were designed for a specific task in mind. They were not made with the idea of "being art". Yet would-be "artists" see only the results of these products and not the reasoning behind their existence.
Sky Render - Sanity is for the weak.
