The Art of Videogames

[DeadPoolX]

The Smithsonian American Art Museum (part of the massive collection of museums under the Smithsonian banner in Washington, DC) will open an exhibit called "The Art of Videogames", running from March 16, 2012 to September 30, 2012.

They're asking people to vote for which games from five different eras belong in the exhibit on this website. You'll have to register to vote (I haven't done so yet), but it might be worth it.

[AndreaDraco]

Voted

[Collector]

Looks like it won't even let you see what games without registering. I have a "don't buy without seeing, first" approach to registering on new sites.

[AndreaDraco]

The registration process is very quick, though. You simply put your email address in and you're good to go.

Disappointing choice of games, though.

[DeadPoolX]

I'm a little annoyed at how they categorize the games. In Era 4 they have "DOS/Windows" (which really could've been included in Era 2 and Ear 3 as well) and in Era 5 "Modern Windows," but I have no idea how they choose which games go where.

They list Mass Effect 2 on the Xbox 360, Dragon Age: Origins on the PS3 and Knights of the Old Republic on the PC. Do you see the problem here? Yes, DA:O is on the PS3, but it's also on the PC and 360 and the same is true for ME2. KoTOR was on the original Xbox as well as the PC, too.

The do the same thing with Fallout 3, BioShock, Indigo Prophecy, Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, SimCity 2000 and Sid Meier's Pirates.

There are some games that're available for multiple platforms, but were first released on one system or another (like Halo or Fable) so I can see them listing that game on the original system. However, they didn't even do that right! If they had, KoTOR would be solely listed under the Xbox heading and not the PC.

Something that's really odd is that in Era 4 they list Commander & Conquer under both "DOS/Windows" and "Sega Saturn." Why I find this weird is that this was done for C&C, but not other games that were obviously released on multiple platforms, some of which occurred at the same time for all available platforms.

A better way of listing games would've been to have the game's title and picture and then underneath it write the platforms it's available on. So using DA:O as an example, they'd have the game's name, a screen shot and then list "Windows/PS3/Xbox 360." That'd properly cover the game itself and the platforms it's playable on.

Oh and just so you all know, the only two Adventure games I found were Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (listed under the Commodore 64, even though it was widely available on the PC through DOS) and Grim Fandango. So LucasArts is represented, but not Sierra.

All in all, this was quite disappointing. I'd thought they were would've been a greater variety of games and systems listed, but I guess that's too much to ask.

[AndreaDraco]

So LucasArts is represented, but not Sierra.

Surprisingly enough , that's what really irked me. At least the first King's Quest should have been included, if only for his groundbreaking engine for the time.

[Tawmis]

So LucasArts is represented, but not Sierra.

Surprisingly enough , that's what really irked me. At least the first King's Quest should have been included, if only for his groundbreaking engine for the time.

King's Quest should have definitely been included.

I went through and voted. Some of those games are there for a reason - some, I was left scratching my head.

(I was pleasantly surprised they had GEARS OF WAR 2, that made me happy!)

[Datadog]

Ugggghhhhhh....

Seriously? This might be the one chance for "Psychonauts" to get into an actual art museum (something I've actually petitioned for) and all it has to do is win a popularity vote against "Halo 2," "Splinter Cell" and "Fable?" Hasn't the MTV Movie Award taught us anything about public polls? We might as well just take down the Mona Lisa and replace it with an HDTV that plays "Twilight" movies all day.

[BBP]

I think I saw at least 5 Mario games, two paper Marios. If the newsletter tells about the massive voting for Mario I'm going to get pissed.

And WHY can you vote for Atari's E.T.? Granted, it's historical...

[Tawmis]

And WHY can you vote for Atari's E.T.? Granted, it's historical...

Well, E.T. is noted as one of the worse games ever... and one of the reasons for nearly crashing Atari financially... So I think, for all the WRONG reasons, E.T SHOULD be considered for the museum. It at least has quite a bit of history.

[BBP]

The exhibition focuses on game art, not game history. In that view, leaving out the entire live action genre is a BIG miss.
Oh, sorry, there's Red Alert 3. Unfortunately I voted for Brutal Legend, admittedly for the same reason why I would vote for RA3.

You can vote for one per genre per system per era: games are presented in groups of three. So you can vote for a gazillion Mario-games, but you can't vote Donkey Kong and Smurf.
Era 1: 70s-80s
Atari: Tunnel Runner, Haunted House, Pac-Man;
Adventure, Pitfall, E.T. the Extra-Terrestial;
Space Invaders, Missile Command, Yar's Revenge;
Combat, Star Raiders, Video Chess.
ColecoVision: Donkey Kong, Jungle Hunt,Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle;
Alcazar, Gateway to Hapshai, Pitfall II
Carnival, Zaxxon, Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom;
Evolution, Star Trek, Artillery Duel;
Mattel Intellivision: MicroSurgeon, TRON: Mazeatron, Masters of the Universe: the Power of He-man
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Swords and Serpents, Thunder Castle
Demon Attack, Star Strike, Space Battle
Armor Battle, B-17 Bomber, Utopia

Era 2: 8-bit: 83-89
Commodore 64: Impossible Mission, Boulderdash, Jumpman
Wasteland, The Bard's Tale III, Zak McCracken and the Alien Mindbenders
Attack of the Mutant Camels, Paradroid, Raid on bungeling Bay
MULE, Little Computer People, Sid Meier's Pirates!
Nintendo Entertainment System: Mega Man 2, Super Mario Bros 3, Metroid
Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, Shadowgate
Battle of Midway, Top Gun, Life Force
Archon, Desert Commander, North and South
SEGA Mater System: Shinobi, Mickey Mouse in the Land Of Illusion, Marble Madness
Phantasy Star, Heroes of the Lance, Ultima IV: Quest for the Avatar.
Fantasy Zone, After Burner, Missile Defense 3D
Gain Ground, Spy vs Spy, Rampart

Era 3: Bit Wars, 1989-1994
Sega Genesis: Earthworm Jim, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Sonic CD
Phantasy Star IV, Flashback: The Quest For Eternity, Shining Force 2
Gunstar Heroes, Viewpoint, Ranger X
Herzog Zwei, Dune II, Nobunga's Ambition
SuperNintendo: Super Star Wars, Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country
Chrono Trigger, Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, Earthbound
Gradius III, Starfox, Super Smash TV
SimCity, Syndicate, Act Raiser
(Yes, no DOS in this era)

Era 4: 1995-2002
DOS/Windows: Deus Ex, Doom II, Unreal,
Baldur's Gate II, Grim Fandango, Fallout,
Star Wars: TIE Fighter, Crimson Skies, Diablo II
Starcraft, UpLink: Hacker Elite, Command and Conquer
Nintendo 64: Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire
The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Paper Mario
PilotWings 64, Star Fox 64, Goldeneye 007
Worms Armageddon, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Ogre Battle 64
Sega Dreamcast: Jet Grind Radio, Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi
Shemnue, Phantasy Star Online, Skies of Arcadia
Toy Commander, The Typing Of The Dead, Rez
Chu Chu Rocket, Panzer Front, Rhapsody of Zephyr
SEGA Saturn: Nights Into Dreams, Tomb Raider, Clockwork Night
Blazing Dragons, Dark Savior, Panzer Dragoon Saga
Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei, Black Fire, Wing Arms
Sim City 2000, Command and Conquer 1995,Blazing Heroes
Sony Playstation: Metal Gear Solid, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, Final Fantasy VII, Grandia
Einhander, Colony Wars III: Red Sun, Point Blank
Final Fantasy Tactics, Carnage Heart, Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Era 5: 2003-current:
XBox: Halo 2,JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future, Psychonauts
Fable, Indigo Prophecy, Shemnue II
Panzer Dragoon Orta, Xyanide, Sniper Elite: Berlin 1945
Steel Batallion, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Sid Meier's Pirates
XBox 360: Gears of War, Halo 3, Bioshock
Mass Effect 2, Limbo, The Elder Scrolls IV
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Ikaruga, Assault Heroes
Halo Wars, Darwinia, Lord Of The Rings: Battle Of Middle Earth
Modern Windows: HalfLife 2, Portal, Call of Duty: World At War
World of Warcraft, Star Wars: Knight Of The Old Republic, Fallout 3
Shatter, Everyday Shooter, flOw
Starcraft 2, Age of Empires 3, Minecraft
GameCube: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Metroid Prime 2: Echos
The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker,Tales of Symphonia, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.
P.N. 03, Star Fox: Assault, Alien Hominid
Battalion Wars, Pikmin 2, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Wii: Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Disney Epic Mickey
The Legend of Zelda, Super Paper Mario, Master Hunter Tri
Boom Blox, Blast Works, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaro's Treasure, Little King's Story, Battalion Wars 2
Sony Playstation: Tony Hawk's Underground 2, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus.
Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts II, Okami
Slipheed: The Lost Planet, Espagluda, Gradius V
Metal Gear Solid 2, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Armored Core 3
Sony Playstation 3: Uncharted 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, LittleBigPlanet 2
Dragon Age: Origins, Final Fantasy XIII, Heavy Rain
Flower, Super Stardust HD, PixelJunkShooter
Brutal Legend, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

[gumby]

And WHY can you vote for Atari's E.T.? Granted, it's historical...

Well, E.T. is noted as one of the worse games ever... and one of the reasons for nearly crashing Atari financially... So I think, for all the WRONG reasons, E.T SHOULD be considered for the museum. It at least has quite a bit of history.

Yeah, so bad that tons (literally) of it's carts ended up in landfills (maybe... urban legend is in play here). And partially contributed to killing the console.

[BBP]

I made this, let's hope somebody listens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aa40XADxno

[Rudy]

So LucasArts is represented, but not Sierra.

Well... if not a single game from one of the most legendary game designers of all time is included... Totally biased and not worth voting for.

[Tawmis]

So LucasArts is represented, but not Sierra.

Well... if not a single game from one of the most legendary game designers of all time is included... Totally biased and not worth voting for.

I don't think just because they didn't include the game, Final Soul that I designed for DOS wasn't included is a good reason not to vote, Rudy. But I am flattered.