> it is simply obvious that they can be.

Wow. Great way to set the mark for the rest of the article.

It's obvious they can't (right?).

In all seriousness, even for the "traditional" multimedia/interdisciplinary art the question is not settled, and it's even harder to argue for video games being art.

Using the more conservative framework it's easy to posit a game can be a vehicle for showcasing art (music, graphic, literary), but if it's not bereft of the basis of a gameplay, the end result becomes encumbered with additional purposes (like player enjoyment/subscriber's engagement/competitiveness/etc.) which dilute the intention of the object's existence and make it not art.