DieRuhe: so are cathedrals and temples, but many would consider them works of art. engineering is the nuts-and-bolts of a more complicated form of art. just because it's not on a canvas on a wall doesn't disqualify them.
kavazovangel: Please, explain exactly how collections, arrays, variables, conditions, cases, constants form art?
Judging by what you said, a stupid console application that multiplies two numbers would be art.
No, a stupid console application would be built by the same nuts and bolts that could potentially create a more complicated form of art, by my reading.
Jaime: I guess you could argue that these problems are the result of developers not knowing the strenghts and limits of their medium, rather than any intrinsic flaws of the medium itself, but even the games by the studio that I consider to be the most savvy in that regard, Valve, often feel to me like they're papering over the cracks. But again, I'm sure the scenes I described worked just fine for many people, so... yeah.
Hehe, yeah, that's my argument!