Smithsonian Museum to feature the art of video games in exhibit

Posted October 1, 2011 by Yuliya Geikhman in News.

Next year, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. will feature a special exhibit focusing on the art of video games.

The Smithsonian’s art of video games exhibit will feature 80 games and explore the past 40 years of video games through still images and video footage. The exhibit will also display historic game consoles and have videos of interviews with developers and artists.

The 80 games to be featured were chosen by public vote – more than 3.7 million votes in 175 countries were cast. Voters chosen from a list of 240 specially chosen video games. According to the Smithsonian website, “The games were selected based on a variety of criteria, including visual effects, creative use of new technologies, how the game fit into the narrative of the exhibition, and how world events and popular culture influenced the message of the game.” The list includes classics like Earthworm Jim and Shadow of the Colossus, as well as many recent games like Heavy Rain and Minecraft. Five games will be available for exhibit viewers to actually play, because what video game exhibit would be complete without an actual video game to play?

The exhibit looks like it will cover the evolution of video games with a good chunk of games of all different kinds. Interestingly enough, 5 Zelda games will grace the exhibit with their presence, while only two Final Fantasy games made the cut – FFVII of course, and Tactics (maybe if the voting was held later this year, Zelda: Skyward Sword would have been a sixth Zelda?) In the end, though, it’s nice to see video games appreciated as art. “In the same way as film, animation, and performance,” states the website, video games “can be considered a compelling and influential form of narrative art.” It’s about time.

You can view the exhibit March 16, 2012 through September 30, 2012. For more information, visit the Smithsonian website.

Want to read more news about video games as art? You can do so right here on Beefjack.

Tagged as art, Exhibit, Final Fantasy, Smithsonian, the art of video games, video game history, Zelda