Roger Ebert made a sober, slightly disconnected argument about interactive games not fitting into the most basic criteria for art (in response to game-creator Kellee Santiago’s TED talk about how games were in the initial phase of evolution into a great art form). Then, the internet collapsed under a title wave of (mostly) angry comments, one-sided debate and allegations of chinless-ness.

I’m more inclined to side with Santiago, over Ebert, because I was raised in new media, and my definition of art is expansive enough to include cultural expression of teams of interactive developers. That said, I still believe Ebert is one of America’s great public intellectuals, partly due to his tenacity in staying alive, but mostly do to his ability to translate very serious film criticism into a very approachable context for the average, non-cineaste cinema-goer.

So, that got me wondering who the most major video-game critic out there is, capable of rendering a serious understanding of the nuances of game criticism into a format which I cold appreciate. I’ve tried reading the work of @davidwolinsky and @johnteti, who both write for the AV Club, but I haven’t really been hooked into it.

How long will it take until there are major, public video game critics, able to guide us gaming phillistines through the murky waters of gaming to this ish that actually matters? And if they are out there already, can someone please tell me where?