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Fallout 3, which takes place in the year 2277, some 200 years after a nuclear apocalypse has happened, is one of 80 games that will be featured in the Smithsonian exhibit.
More than 80 video games, from "Donkey Kong" to "Metal Gear Solid," have been chosen by the public to be part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's "The Art of Video Games" exhibit in Washington, D.C., starting next spring.
The exhibit will focus on the last 40 years' "evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies," the Smithsonian says.
Curator of the exhibit, Chris Melissinos, who also spent 15 years at Sun Microsystems, where he was chief gaming officer and chief evangelist), along with museum staffers, and an advisory group of game developers, designers, "industry pioneers" and journalists, put 240 games on a public ballot for the decision on which games should be shown.
2K Marin
BioShock 2 also has a place in the video game art show.
"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 museum says on its website.
Voting was done between Feb. 14 and April 17, and an impressive 3.7 million votes were cast by 119,000 people in 175 countries.
"The winning games, along with the discussions on the forum and the emails we’ve received, show that people invested a lot of thought before casting their votes, considering (and sometimes debating) the artistic merits of each game," said the museum on its blog.
"We are thrilled that this has generated so much discussion, and hope that this is just the beginning as we continue to develop the exhibition over the next 10 months."
BioWare
Mass Effect 2, to be included in the exhibit, sold more than 2 million copies in its first week of sales in January 2010.
The show will run from March 16, 2012 to Sept. 30, 2012. The games (full list is below and here) will be shown in the exhibition as screenshots and short video clips.
There will also be five games that visitors can play (for a "few minutes," the Smithsonian says), as examples of those that best demonstrate interactivity: "Pac-Man," "Super Mario Brothers," "The Secret of Monkey Island," "Myst" and ... wait for it ... "World of Warcraft" (You knew it had to to be in there, didn't you?).
Melissinos is now v-p of corporate marketing for Verisign. But games are his passion.
"I started programming at 9, wrote a game at 12," he told G4 TV earlier this year. "I collected systems. I’ve got 43 at home now, some of which are going to be on loan to the museum for this exhibition."
Check the list and see if your favorites did — or didn't — make it:
1943: The Battle of Midway
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
After Burner
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Bioshock
Boom Blox
Brütal 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 Walker
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
Related stories:
- Vote on video games for Smithsonian exhibit
- PlayStation Network won't resume until May 31: report
- Facebook will pay you to watch ads during game play
Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.
Leave a Comment:
worms armageddon? awesome....
I totally agree. While I was a little disapointed that 5 Zelda games made the list but only 2 Final Fantasy, I was very happy to see the likes of Worms: Armageddon and Earthworm Jim.
Wow. No Zelda, Mortal Kombat (1992), Street Fighter, Call of Duty 4, Halo 2, nor God of War series (all extremely popular titles) yet they voted for Attack of the Mutant Camels? LOL WTF ?? Even Battletoads didnt make the list.
What are you talking about Snake? There's 4 "Legend of Zelda" games up there.
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 Walker
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
lrn2count
No Dig Dug?
lol hey u wrote "pubic" instead of "public". not that im fussy about that but to give u a heads up to fix it if possible so idiots dont focus on that more than the actual article itself
Wow - none of the "Avatar" series made it! They were the first big step beyond the basic adventure games.
And "Adventure" the all-text first computer adventure game should be there which was followed by Sierra's picture plus text games, then my "Castles of Darkness" animated picture plus text game, followed by the more complicated "parties" with multiple character types like the Avatar series.
I'm glad that they chose Super Mario Galaxy 2...it is by far much better than its predecessor...even though it was amazing in its own right!
As long as Mass Effect 2 is in there - I am happy.
No Half-Life? That is a glaring omission.
I agree. Half-Life should definitely be on there.
Only game by Valve there is Portal. ;_; Valve deserves more than that.
Yeah, very surprised that Half Life 2 wasn't there... it was after all the first shooter that really showcased physics in games on a large scale.
Agreed Half Life 2 should have been on the list.
Wing Commander and Star Control II should have been on that list. And I see that many that are on that list are total crap games.. And they should have put the founding fathers of FPS games up there.. Such as Duke Nukem, Quake, Doom (the original) ect and not mass market trash like Halo. Granted they posted Doom II, but Halo definitely needs to be removed and replaced with UT.. :)
Agreed, a load of crap games there.
That's exactly what I thought too when seeing the words Smithsonian. Then I noticed it was about art and not gameplay or popularity. None the less, its a messed up list and the general public should not have been allowed to decide it.
If it's about art, then I am surprised that the Myst series is not included.
I still have a 3DO just to play SC2. One of the most open ended, addictive games ever. Too bad there aren't more people who are aware of just how good it is. Nothing great graphics wise, but I think it was one of the first games where you could basically just go where ever you wanted and ignore the story if you wanted to.
"The exhibit will focus on the last 40 years' "evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies," the Smithsonian says."
Yet no System Shock (the original)... epic fail.
Nice list...but only three have a permanent home at the Smithsonian: Pong, Pac-Man, and Dragon's Lair.
Kinda surprised Star Fox Assault made it, but not Star Fox 64.
Wait....you're right! WHAT THE HECK! 64 before ALL else!
It's almost over, Star Fox!
Kind of random, arbitrary looking choices they made.
do a barrel roll!!
I'm surprised nothing from the King's Quest Series made it.
Also, and still one of my favorite games, Chrono Trigger should be on there.
I was thinking the exact same thing! Chrono Trigger is considered to be one of the best RPG's of all time by many gamers.
I tried voting on those thing but it was far too involved and gave up. Looking at the list I think most people gave up. It pretty much sucks. Where's the original Mario? Why so fricking much Zelda? Panzer Dragoon? What the hell is that? Where's Final Fantasy 3? Who gives a crap about Final Fantasy 7? No World of Warcraft? Unbelievable. The Smithsonian is a poorer place for the omissions.
No Ultima? Comeon...
Ultima Online should be there... after all if this is about the Evolution of video games, Ultima Online is a keystone game. It was the first graphical MMO that went seriously mainstream and paved the way for games like WoW. Without Ultima Online, there would have been no WoW.
Portal admitted?
This was a triumph....I'm making a note here....huge success!
No Doom and Street Fighter II?
Wind Walker? It's Wind Waker. Shadow of Colossus? It's Shadow of THE Colossus. I think they need to fire their editor. Anyway, as a big Nintendo fan I am content with this list. I'm glad Portal, Minecraft, and Okami got in there too.
No Duck Hunt? Not that it was good, but wasn't that the first game to use a gun you shot at the screen? Maybe not. I'm not a gamer, but I do remember that being a "new" thing at the time. Also, no wii sports?
Maybe just no physical interaction games?
I'm amazed none of the civ games made it on there. But pirates did. Odd.
No Grand Theft Auto (4)? The entire franchise was one of the most controversial titles made, and can be credited for starting the national debate about gaming violence and ultimately to the creation of the ESRB. On top of that, the 4th installment, Liberty City, is simply stunning to look at. I wonder why it didn't make the cut.
Ummmm. Space Invaders isn't on the list? Really?
Check again...
I hear panzer Dragoon was a real sweet series of games back on Saturn. Decent list of games. The real artsy and game with good stories are on there. A couple I wouldve included: Shenmue, Deus Ex, Half-Life, GTA, NHL 94, Super Mario Bros, Skies of Arcadia
No Steel Battalion? Come on people we will never see that kind of risk taken by a developer again.
Losers didn't even put mmo's in?
What! No Katamari????