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Artists, gamers, designers, historians and critics answer the question that has become emblematic of the clash between technology and culture

IN APRIL, Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert posted a blog article entitled “Video games can never be art”. Within minutes, the feeding frenzy began. Responses ranged from intellectual objections through to classic online flaming. Many angles were argued, but one viewpoint stood out: that you cannot analyse the art behind video games without having actually played them.

Then Ebert relented a little. In a follow-up piece entitled “OK, kids, play on my lawn”, posted in July, he conceded that while…

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