Did you watch the talk?

They aren’t saying a game engine is an art. They are saying game engines should be thought of as a tool for game designers instead of the ideal minimal code to achieve the design goals of a games runtime.

They broaden this argument by saying:

• beginner programmers tend to neglect big picture design, which leads to code that’s difficult to read.
• intermediate programmers naively apply patters and best practices at the expense of productivity
• advanced programmers focus on making their code simple and avoid abstraction, which is sometimes an overcorrection from the plight of the intermediate programer.

I thought the talk had some interesting insight, though I’m personally still trying to get over the pitfalls of the intermediate programer.