Editor's note: Wait, wait, wait: Before roll your eyes at another "games as art" story, take a moment to read Stephen's intro. He's tackling the subject from a fresh -- and light-hearted -- perspective. You may even learn something new. -Brett

I recently had a conversation with two good friends of mine, Anders and Hallie, on the well-worn topic of games as art. Neither of them are particularly invested in video games, but they still had plenty to say. Since most of us are so intimately wrapped up in gaming, I thought it'd be a good idea to expand that conversation into a formal interview and find out what non-hardcore gamers think about the subject. The resulting funny and revealing exchange should interest even the most jaded critic. Please do enjoy.

(Note: Hallie repeatedly refers to Anders as Claudia throughout the interview. Don’t pay attention to that.)

Stephen: Alright, let's get started with the main question: Do you see games as art, and if so, why? Let's start with Anders, since he tried to articulate it earlier.

Anders: I consider it an art because of the amount of creativity that is put into both the storylines and the artwork of the games.

Hallie: I agree with Claudia. The same way movies are considered art, games should as well. Games can't really be considered anything but art, in my opinion.

Anders: ...

Hallie: What? I agreed! 

Stephen: Alright, let's elaborate then. Do you think that the same amount of effort and hard work is put into making games as painting a painting or writing a novel?

Hallie: No, I think more work is put into a game. With games you combine both writing and art, and not only that, but there's shitloads of programming as well. As a matter of effort... an artist can work on a painting for years, so there's the same dedication in both cases -- just more work when it comes to games.

Anders: Hmm. I would say so. A lot of work is required from a lot of people to put together a decent game. Writers, animators, and programmers all have to work together for the game to work. I agree with Hallie: It's actually more work put into games, in many cases.

Stephen: Alright then, another topic related to that: Could you see games being held in the same esteem as paintings and literature at some stage in the future?

Anders: Yes. Judging by the amount of people playing games today, games will reach that level of esteem very soon, if it hasn't already.

Hallie: Hm, let me see. Well, yeah, I have to agree with what Anders said. Actually, a few games are already held in almost the same esteem as art already.

Take Heavy Rain for example. It's considered to be both beautifully made and kind of unique in its design. I’d say it's kind of considered an art piece. Maybe not outside the "world of gamers," but still.

Stephen: In society at large, could you see art critics holding games like Heavy Rain in the same esteem as the recently released movie Inception and famous pieces of modern literature?

Anders: I could. Like movies have become a branch of art, so will games.

Hallie: Exactly.

Oh yeah, another part of games is of course the soundtracks. That's something I think already is considered art. I mean, there are concerts all over the world playing Final Fantasy soundtracks, for example.

Stephen: Exactly what I was about to ask about. My next question is: Do you see the music that you hear in games ever becoming as mainstream as music made by artists like Lady Gaga? We have numerous geniuses like Nobuo Uematsu creating orchestral scores for games like Final Fantasy, but it's not mainstream, per se.

Anders: It could happen, but I'm not too sure.

Hallie: That depends. Not all game developers work much on the music. Some go for repetitive electronic music that can play over and over with the player barely noticing. Others go for really epic creations. But yeah, maybe. It all depends on what path they take when it comes to soundtracks.

But hey, isn't the Super Mario soundtrack more well-known than even Lady Gaga? That's a start, right? Seriously though, a lot of movies have recently started using songs by really famous artists as ending songs, for example. I don't see any reason for the game industry not to try this -- to try and create a super hit song that is directly tied to the game.

Stephen: Well, Final Fantasy 13 had Leona Lewis performing one of her songs as the trailer theme. "My Hands," I believe it was called. It wasn't universally renowned by any means, but do you think it’s a start?

Hallie: Well, yeah, I think it's a start. It's at least kind of an attempt to do what the movie industry has been doing for a long time.

Personally, I think that Leona Lewis is a bad choice. I mean, she made that song for Avatar, and when you point that out everyone says, "What song from Avatar?" If they go in for it more like the Bond movies, where the songs can reach through to a much bigger audience, I don't think they'd have a problem getting lots of hits out there.

Oh my God! They have to convince Lady Gaga to make a theme song for The Force Unleashed 2! That would be so epic! Everyone would be so pissed off that the song became super well-known just because of that fact! "This beat is sick, I wanna take a ride on your disco... force? Saber?" Or maybe "Don't call my name, I'm not your babe, Darth Vader."

Stephen: Err...I don't think George Lucas would approve. Anders, any opinion?

Anders: Nope.

Hallie: He's not into music unless they have awesome dancers.

Anders: ... 

Hallie: "I'm in looove with the Dark Side! Even though it hurts, but I don't care, if I lose myself, I'm already marked." Aaaanyway, we should probably move on.

Head to page 2 for the thrilling conclusion!