NES-A lost art form?

In one of his recent articles for Asifa Archive, Worth encourages its viewers to think like artists, less they waste their time playing video games. I agree with thinking artistically, but I take great umbrage with the idea that games have no artistic merit. However, most games don't, and there are fewer harsher critics of modern gaming and its attempts for respectability than myself.

But whenever I think about and play --great--NES games, I realize that once, seemingly a lifetime ago,the medium was ripe with potential and was destined for better and bigger achivements. Much like cartoons before UPA. In fact, much of the aesthetics of the games remind me of the early New York Cartoons of the late twenties to mid thirties. They are so appealing, well designed, and--most important of all--fun(especially compared to the so called 'toons from 1985 to 1995 they competed with). They had to be, what with only 5 bites or so. No 40 hour quests, no inane-cliche story lines, or wasting you life collecting a hundred pies in the snow. Sit down, play for 15 minutes, leave. That's it, just a small part of your day, then you can go back to playing sports, watch the leafs fall, draw, enjoying life. So much the opposite of today's life sucking melodrama nonsense of Final Fantasy 5000 or so. They had limits but they didn't complain, they just used it for everything it was worth. A sure sign of artistry.

Extra's:
NESguide.com
A great guide (with videos to almost every one of them) to the aesthetics that were the NES games.

or


A great introduction in a mere 10 minutes. Contains almost all the great games(and some of the Sleepers ).