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The Smithsonian Art Museum on Thursday afternoon revealed 80 games that will be part of its "The Art of Video Games" exhibition, which covers 40 years of visually-striking games.

Kris Graft, Contributor

May 5, 2011

3 Min Read

The Smithsonian Art Museum on Thursday afternoon revealed 80 games that will be part of its "The Art of Video Games" exhibition, which covers 40 years of visually-striking games. On display from March 16, 2012 to September 30, 2012, the exhibition is yet another indication that video games are being accepted as an art form. The Art of Video Games "is one of the first exhibitions to explore the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium," according to the exhibition's official website. An advisory group made of game industry, media and other experts proposed 240 games, and had the public vote to choose 80 games in total. In all, 3.7 million votes were cast by 119,000 people worldwide. The exhibit will feature the 80 games through still images and video footage, while five games -- Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst and World of Warcraft -- will be playable. Split across various eras, games that will be part of the exhibit include games spanning the life of the medium, including Pac-Man, Utopia, Attack of the Mutant Camels, Super Mario Bros. 3, 1943: The Battle of Midway, Earthworm Jim, Doom II, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Final Fantasy Tactics, Halo 2, Metroid Prime 2, Mass Effect 2, Boom Blox, Heavy Rain and many more. Curating the exhibit is Chris Melissinos, founder of PastPixels and avid collector of games and game systems. "In the same way as film, animation, and performance, they can be considered a compelling and influential form of narrative art," the exhibit's website states. The full list of games selected for the exhibition is below [PDF]: 1943: The Battle of Midway Advanced Dungeons and Dragons After Burner Attack of the Mutant Camels Bioshock Boom Blox Brutal Legend ChuChu Rocket! Combat Desert Commander Diablo II Donkey Kong DOOM II Dune II: Battle for Arrakis Earthworm Jim Einhander Fable Fallout Fallout 3 Final Fantasy Tactics Final Fantasy VII flOw Flower Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 Goldeneye 007 Gradius V Gunstar Heroes Halo 2 Heavy Rain Jumpman Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II Marble Madness MassEffect 2 Metal Gear Solid Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Metroid Prime 2: Echos Minecraft Okami Pac-Man Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei Panzer Dragoon Orta Panzer Dragoon Saga Phantasy Star Phantasy Star IV Pikmin 2 Pitfall II: Lost Caverns Pitfall! Portal Rez Shadow of Colossus Shenmue Sid Meier's Pirates! SimCity SimCity 2000 Sonic Adventure Space Invaders Spy vs Spy Star Fox Star Fox: Assault Star Strike Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator StarCraft Super Mario 64 Super Mario Brothers 3 Super Mario Galaxy 2 Super Mario World The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate The Legend of Zelda The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Tomb Raider TRON: Maze-Atron Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Utopia Worms Armageddon Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure Zaxxon

About the Author(s)

Kris Graft

Contributor

Kris Graft is publisher at Game Developer.

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