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Smithsonian Unveils 'Art of Games' Voting Results
AndrewGOO9 writes "The Smithsonian American Art Museum, in recognizing that electronic games are a part of our artistic history has now unveiled the 80 games out of a proposed pool of 240 that will be included in The Art of Video Games exhibit running from March 16, 2012 to September 30, 2012. While the winning games (PDF), as voted by gamers and art enthusiasts alike, are all stand-out titles, it goes without saying that this a huge step in the recognition of video games as artisitic masterpieces."
Flow and Flower but no Katamari Damacy, Day of the Tentacle or The secret of monkey island?
C'mon Ebert's already told us that Games aren't art.
Nice to see Brutal Legend on there. Suprised to see E.T. nominated. :) And Secret of Monkey Island is there under "Additional Games," at least.
"This thing does science so hard, you say, 'I've never seen that much science.'" -Sam
Where are the Amiga games. They were game changers, brought the arcade quality video and audio to the home....
Seems odd.
Amiga was the best computer ever made. Far superior to anything since.
Looks like it includes Diablo II, Goldeneye and Space Invaders among others.
just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!
I'm a bit sad not to see System Shock on that list. I still see it as one of the keystone games that took the action genre to the next level, from the "shoot everything" story-light (*cough*Doom*cough*) to something with more depth and character development.
+++ MELON MELON MELON +++ Out of Cheese Error +++ redo from start +++
It also goes without saying that this post marks the beginning of EDITORS NOT BEING ABLE TO FUCKING SPELL being recognized as an "artisitic" masterpiece, whatever the FUCK that's supposed to mean.
5 Zelda games made the list? Really? This seems like a strange way to organize games to include (by system). Why were these systems chosen over other systems that didn't make it as far? I think the fact that 5 games all from the Zelda franchise (which, lets face it, they aren't all ground breaking) shows that this was a strange way of going about choosing which games to include.
Pity. I thought it was a great series of games, especially the 4th one. Best space-simulator of its time (in my opinion). Also was disappointed that Archon lost.
When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout [Robert Heinlein]
NO pinball games?
what's the point of making up arbitrary categories and pick one title out of each? do they do the same with all other media? are there "action paintings"? they have Link to the past, Earthboud and Chrono Trigger in the same category, they all deserve recognition.
--
Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
Really? Really?
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
I keep asking myself why. Why did they divide games by platform? Why there is a "PC" and "Modern Windows" platforms? Why did they divide games by four genres (one of them they 'invented')? Why 5 Zelda games? Why sequels instead of originals? Why did they chose what they chose, and what "art" all this games have in them?
Without this game among the nominees, this list is worthless.
What, no Rogue? Zork? Adventure? Nexuiz? Has the Smithsonian been living under a rock?
So they decided that for all videogames throughout time, there are four and only four genres. They are Action, Adventure, "Target*", and Combat/Strategy...
And for each of these we shall choose one per console system. (Oh, and I guess one for old PCs and one for new PCs).
OK, wtf is the "target" genre? Is that like the proto shoot-em-up? One in which you destroy targets?
And why is Portal competing with the gamecube?
And while it's pretty cool that Minecraft made the list, Combat/Strategy? Huh?
Clearly this was put together by someone who simply isn't a gamer. Which is kinda surprising. I mean, this has been mainstream for a while now. You'd think that someone like the Smithsonian would be able to organize this a little better. Or are they too enshrined to be affected by new cultural trends? Are they really just now noticing that game development is bigger then Hollywood?
Chu-Chu Rocket makes it in but not a single entry in the Civilization series?
I don't understand.
-Isaac
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
Surely Tetris should be on this list!
I guess that'd make him sort of proud.... but the guy is pretty much game jesus by now, so i doubt he cares.
Apparently, games where you launch deadly projectiles at enemies. I'm surprised they didn't have a "Jump" or "Save the world" genre to match that. Read it as "random genre because we don't actually play games so we have no clue".
.. thinks that the list gets boring after era 3? And that Wolfenstein should have been there somewhere?
HAXS!
Sure, there's a few computer games on this list, but not many. Overall it seems heavily biased toward console games, leaving out a hefty chunk of arcade and handheld games.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
Well... you can sure tell the internet was voting. :\
The later eras are mostly arguable - and the additional games section. WoW over Everquest? Or dare I say, UO? Please. Hell, there's a conspicuous lack of Ultima, as it were.
But mad props for the recognition of Phantasy Star. Usually gets overlooked by way of frothing-at-the-mouth Squeenix fanboys.
Have some issues with the list but I still love this kind of stuff. Can anyone recommend something similar or better, perhaps on the East Coast?
I for one am appalled that Shaq-fu did not make the list at any point.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
The Art of Video Games exhibition will explore the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium (but not Braid), with a focus on striking visual effects (but not Braid), the creative use of new technologies (but not Braid), and the most influential artists and designers (but not Braid).
Everyone's saying "where's this, where's that" and I've agreed with every one of them. My personal bone to pick is the total absence of Uru, one of the sequels to Myst. Go look it up. You'll understand.
The problem with this list is multi-faceted. Remember, first, that the list was selected by the public. This is not something that art institutes generally do (have you ever heard of popular vote picking any other art display? What about one meant to introduce a new topic?) and while we could suggest that it's because they felt they were unequipped to do so, it's not like experts in the field don't exist. They could have asked game reviewers, for example. Or even game designers—artists tend to make good art critics, after all.
But instead they jumped on the populist bandwagon, and did an online poll, because that's what's hip and trendy and gets the kids involved. That's all gaming is to them: something for kids; a passing fad. Actually, it's not even really for current kids, it was for people who were kids during the eighties, and had either an Atari VCS, a Colecovision, an Intellivision, a C64, a NES, or a Master System. The sixteen-bit era is squashed up against the late nineties as if there were no difference, and many important platforms like the Amiga, BBC Micro, and MSX were just left out. Not even the Macintosh gets a mention. And furthermore, the games have to fit into one of a few genres—doesn't that go against the fundamental point of modern art?
The organizers of this presentation aren't looking at games based on the intention, expression and skill of the artists, which is what art critique is supposed to be about. When Ebert said games couldn't be art, it was because he was ignoring the design of game mechanics as an artistic focus, and accused their storytelling and composition of being immature. This presentation gives the impression that he's right due to its lack of care.
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
These lists never really bring gamers into the shared adoration the authors think they might. Thank god there are regular flamewars to participate in, or I'd never need a new keyboard. Having said that, I enjoyed Brutal Legend... But it's inclusion? Not sure about that.
I didnt see https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Another_World_(video_game) which is one of the few games that really stunned me growing up (on amiga). I still remember the alien voices, animations and ambiance were fantastic.
Gameplay was pretty harsh.
I dont think anything came close until half life, atleast considering overall art direction.
no this should of had real pinball gamesgames
Seriously, what did Doom II do? Deus Ex contributed to the gaming industry more than most games on that list!
Soul Calibur was one of the games that made the Dreamcast worth while and is one of the greatest games of all time, certainly best among fighting games. I can't believe there isn't any version of Soul Calibur on any list.
5 games (independent of winning entries) were chosen to be playable for a few minutes during the exhibit. The first two: Pac-Man and Super mario Bros are fine, but:
#3 - The secret of Monkey Island - You can hardly understand this game in only a few minutes
#4 - Myst - Same with this
#5 - World of Warcraft - A few minutes... WTF, how much did Blizzard bribe for this to get setup.
at least the fourth installment?
Being old school I would want to see Starflight in there :P
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
It's not like they give different awards to "Movies that were on DVD" vs "Movies that were on Blu Ray." Why are there separate categories for separate platforms?
It might have something to do with 2D vs. 3D, or painting vs. sculpture, or something like that.
...on me. It looks like they're in alphabetical order, and thus that i saw approximately half of them. Has anyone else seen this before? Or have the other half? :P
Courtesy FF 3.6.17 on Ubuntu 10.10 (Warning: lots of text below!!):
1 + 1 = 3, for large values of 1. % 1 Billion dollars of budget deficit = 1 Gramm-Rudman 6.023 x 10 to the 23rd power alligator pears = Avocado's number 2 pints = 1 Cavort Basic unit of Laryngitis = The Hoarsepower Shortest distance between two jokes = A straight line 6 Curses = 1 Hexahex 3500 Calories = 1 Food Pound 1 Mole = 007 Secret Agents 1 Mole = 25 Cagey Bees 1 Dog Pound = 16 oz. of Alpo 1000 beers served at a Twins game = 1 Killibrew 2.4 statute miles of surgical tubing at Yale U. = 1 I.V.League 2000 pounds of chinese soup = 1 Won Ton 10 to the minus 6th power mouthwashes = 1 Microscope Speed of a tortoise breaking the sound barrier = 1 Machturtle 8 Catfish = 1 Octo-puss 365 Days of drinking Lo-Cal beer. = 1 Lite-year 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling Force needed to accelerate 2.2lbs of cookies = 1 Fig-newton to 1 meter per second One half large intestine = 1 Semicolon 10 to the minus 6th power Movie = 1 Microfilm 1000 pains = 1 Megahertz 1 Word = 1 Millipicture 1 Sagan = Billions & Billions 1 Angstrom: measure of computer anxiety = 1000 nail-bytes 10 to the 12th power microphones = 1 Megaphone 10 to the 6th power Bicycles = 2 megacycles The amount of beauty required launch 1 ship = 1 Millihelen % (1) A sheet of paper is an ink-lined plane. (2) An inclined plane is a slope up. (3) A slow pup is a lazy dog. QED: A sheet of paper is a lazy dog. -- Willard Espy, "An Almanac of Words at Play" % (1) Alexander the Great was a great general. (2) Great generals are forewarned. (3) Forewarned is forearmed. (4) Four is an even number. (5) Four is certainly an odd number of arms for a man to have. (6) The only number that is both even and odd is infinity. Therefore, all horses are black. % (1) Alexander the Great was a great general. (2) Great generals are forewarned. (3) Forewarned is forearmed. (4) Four is an even number. (5) Four is certainly an odd number of arms for a man to have. (6) The only number that is both even and odd is infinity. Therefore, Alexander the Great had an infinite number of arms. % (1) Never draw what you can copy. (2) Never copy what you can trace. (3) Never trace what you can cut out and paste down. % (1) X=Y ; Given (2) X^2=XY ; Multiply both sides by X (3) X^2-Y^2=XY-Y^2 ; Subtract Y^2 from both sides (4) (X+Y)(X-Y)=Y(X-Y) ; Factor (5) X+Y=Y ; Cancel out (X-Y) term (6) 2Y=Y ; Substitute X for Y, by equation 1 (7) 2=1 ; Divide both sides by Y -- "Omni", proof that 2 equals 1 % 1.79 x 10^12 furlongs per fortnight -- it's not just a good idea, it's the law! % 10.0 times 0.1 is hardly ever 1.0. % 13. ... r-q1 % "355/113 -- Not the famous irrational number PI, but an incredible simulation!" % 7,140 pounds on the Sun 97 pounds on Mercury or Mars 255 pounds on Earth 232 pounds on Venus or Uranus 43 pounds on the Moon 648 pounds on Jupiter 275 pounds on Saturn 303 pounds on Neptune 13 pounds on Pluto -- How much Elvis Presley would weigh at various places in the solar system. % A bunch of Polish scientists decided to flee their repressive government by hijacking an airliner and forcing the pilot to fly them to the West. They drove to the airport, forced their way on board a large passenger jet, and found there was no pilot on board. Terrified, they listened as the sirens got louder. Finally, one of the scientists suggested that since he was an experimentalist, he would try to fly the aircraft. He sat down at the controls and tried to figure them out. The sirens got louder and louder. Armed men surrounded the jet. The would be pilot's friends cried out, "Please, please take off now!!! Hurry!!!" The experimentalist calmly replied, "Have patience. I'm just a simple pole in a complex plane." % A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking. % A conference is a gathering of important people
call me FOSS im the boss with the sauce and the source
Unless Denis Loubet is on the list, this list is bullshit. Denis Loubet is the artist behind some of the most phenomenal computer games art, namely the ULTIMA SERIES. His work is incredible, and was always ahead of the curve.
But I guess only console bullshit "counts" these days.
Seems kinda biased to jap shit which seems weird since it's an american museum...
Chrome 11.0.696.60 Win 7, same here. Looks like a massive-ass server-side bug's just kicked in. That'll add a bit of weight to each page view.
I am guessing 'Target' is the politically correct term some pencil-pusher chose because they didn't want to use the word shooter because of its 'perceived' negative connotations.
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
Kinda bummed that Shenmue beat out Skies of Arcadia in their category, but I have a bias there. The real question is, why the hell was Jet Grind Radio, an arcade-style graffiti-em-up, in the same category as a traditional JRPG and an adventure game set in 80s Japan?
I'm surprised Half-Life wasn't on that list. It was and still is regarded in the gaming industry as one of the best games ever made during that era. I think it, and Half-Life 2 have some of the highest combined scores by reviewers.
It also spawned a whole scene of modding that produced Counter-Strike, among other games, which today is still of the most played games in the world.
The missing quotes! You've released them! You have freed us from collectively jumping off of cliff metaphors! Thank you brave warrior!
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
I was pleasantly surprised to see Okami take the award in the PS2 "Adventure" category. It's certainly one of the most beautiful games I've ever seen, and one that places art and artistry at the center of its game play.
My major disappointment was not seeing Chrono Cross as at least a runner up to FFVII. While I don't think the artwork in FFVII deserves it's first-place designation, its overall popularity assured it top honors in a poll like this. But to ignore the gorgeous watercolor designs in Chrono Cross does a disservice to one of the best, and certainly one of the most artistic, RPGs for the PS1.
The N64 vershun is the most amazing game of all time. If you disagree then u r a n00bx0r-- I was only ate when it came out and even i no this.
If they really wanted to treat video games like an art they shouldn't have done an online poll. Aside from the most obvious problems (fanboys and people voting more than once), it makes it "the most popular video games of this list" instead of "the most interesting/innovative/artistic".
That being said: I'm very pleased with this list. There is some obvious blizzard fandom. Starcraft didn't really add much to the RTS genre other than revitalizing it with brilliant marketing and lots of nice bells and whistles. Diablo feels like Gauntlet, which wasn't on the list. I think TIE fighter should have beaten out Diablo given how it honestly added almost nothing to the gaming world (it was successful and good; just not precident-setting). Same with Goldeneye; if they wanted a precedent setting FPS they should have looked towards Half-Life or Quake for its mods--not that they aren't "Doom Clones".
Separating the categories by console with 4 games in each was just silly. There's plenty of more worthy games on the "PC" than the PS3--not surprising given there's hundreds of thousands of more games. Especially if they leave out consoles like Gameboy.
Seeing world of warcraft on a list without Ashnod's Call or Everquest is kinda weird. No dwarven fortress either.
Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
Voting, the odd categorization and some very obvious misses makes me hate this before it even opens. And, the complete lack of Bungie's game-changer Marathon makes the entire thing suspect.
I am sorry, but this is a huge part of video gaming. NHL 94? Madden? NO RACING GAMES?
Good list. Most of it I agree with or see why that particular title was chosen. Happy that MGS showed up twice.
However, I really wish they consulted some sort of gaming history expert. Or even a big name enthusiast. The lack of Street Fighter 2 or beatmania on that list makes me sad somehow.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
These choices seem understandable, but for the most part awfully old hat, so I'm not really sure what "art" means in this context. Art, as in "nice to look at"? Or art, as in "story-telling in amazing, tiny, full-immersion worlds"? Or art, as in "state of the..."?
Portal (2007) seems to hit all the marks. Ocarina of Time (especially the music, especially "Gerudo's Theme") and Windwaker are still great, but they have faded technically. But Final Fantasy X? Really, Ten??? And FF XIII can be marked down sharply for failure to provide a non-linear game experience (and for disappointing monster concepts). I would have nominated FF XII except for the decompression levels after beating the game -- some of those ideas are painfully second string vignettes by Square Enix benchwarmers.
Should have included Star Ocean (N64, PS1 and PS2, but not PS3), plus Umezawa Yukari's Yasashii Igo, i.e., "Easy Go" (PSP or NDS) for pleasant visuals, nicely competent tutoring and a cool Go engine sanctioned by Nihon Kiin. Can't expect everything, I guess.
``Tension, apprehension & dissension have begun!'' - Duffy Wyg&, in Alfred Bester's _The Demolished Man_
Overall, I think it's a pretty good list. But where's the sports category? Beginning with simulators like the ancient "NFL Challenge" by XOR Software to the life-like playability of Madden Football, video sports games have been some of the prime drivers in advancing the state of gaming platforms. Some of the early commercials for the Xbox and Dreamcast put a heavy emphasis on their NFL franchise games to demonstrate the new realism available. Without these, who knows how "Splinter Cell" and the like would've evolved.
I left out bunch of games I couldn't bother to understand at the time. eg. Harpoon
Another World
System Shock
Elite
X-Wing, Tie Fighter
Descent: Freespace series
I-War
Wing Commander
Star Flight
Star Control
Mass Effect
Eve Online
Allegiance
Jump Gate
Descent
Doom / Quake / Unreal - After these next "step" was BF1942
Starsiege: Tribes
Ultima
Dungeon Master
Fallout
Baldurs Gate
Lucas/Sierra adventures (Too many to list)
Star Trek (Interplay)
Machinarium
The Incredible Machine
Carrier Air Wing
Marble Madness
Magic The Gathering
War/Star Craft
World In Conflict
Master of Orion
O.R.B.
Stars!
Trackmania Nations Forever
Grand Theft Auto
Carmageddon
Civilization
Mega Lo Mania
Populous
Sim City
Battlefield 1942 Desert Combat mod (To me this was what I wanted and imagined since 80's from first playing Fighter Bomber, Gunship & M1 Tank Platoon)
Stunt Island
Falcon
Strike Commander
Microprose's not-too-serious simulations (F1GP, F19, F15, Gunship etc)
I think I can agree with most of the games on this list. I definitely think that Myst deserves a big reward for how utterly innovative it was at the time (especially graphically!), and I'm glad to see that they're at least putting it on display for folks to play. I can see why they chose Fallout 3 over Myst. I have to wonder, though, how fun it can possibly be without spending several hours immersing oneself in it? My dad and I worked on that game over the course of several months, scratching notes, diagrams, and drawings in the provided(!) "journal." Man, those are some fond memories.
My only major beef, though, was the inclusion of Doom II. For starters, the original Doom was much more innovative for its time, and I had a LOT more fun playing it than I ever had with Doom II. The real travesty, however, is that Doom II beat out Deus Ex, of all things! Not only was Deus Ex a much more beautiful game, artistically (in terms of music, video, story, etc.), but there has yet to be another game that truly so masters the FPS-with-RPG elements that Deus Ex so deftly and artfully included. I think that this is truly one of the best games of all time, despite how dated the graphics were when it was released (although still prettier than Doom II, due to better hardware available). I'm REALLY hoping that the up-and-coming Deus Ex sequel isn't the hopeless disappointment that Deus Ex 2 (Invisible War) was.
Doom II was truly a good game, but I never thought it was nearly as fun as Doom 1, and it certainly can't hold a candle to Deus Ex.
Another article you may be interested in: 30 Games to Play Before You Die. It's a bit dated (2009) but at least they got the first game right. :-D The others on the list are certainly all worthy of the mention. It might not be the first thing I recommend a terminally ill person to read, but I think a gaming enthusiast would be missing-out on some great, classic fun, were he/she to not at least give it a glance.
'nuff said.
Read "1943" and immediately the first stage music fired up in my head. Objective target Tone. May you fight bravely!
E.T. is one of the worst games ever. But I guess it's art to make a game that contributes to one of the biggest disasters in the video games industry. On a sidenote, wtf with all those franchises in the list - shows laziness to say the least.
Why Halo 2 but not Halo?
Halo was a deeply innovative game that pushed the boundaries of visuals and introduced (or possibly just codified) the regenerating life gameplay mechanic that has taken over shooters.
Halo 2 was the sequel to Halo. Yes it shows advancement and changes over Halo, but nothing nearly so ground breaking.
The whole list seems to have little respect for innovation and the progress of video games in general. No Half Life which reshaped the FPS genre and (via counterstrike) was a key contributor to the modern cooperation modders get from game developers. Civilizations gets a nod via Revolutions, but not the original civilizations, which spawned an entire genre of games (4X). For another 'why the sequel?' entry they have Super Mario Brothers 3 instead of Super Mario Brothers, which is something like the third best selling video game of all time, codified the platformer, and is credited with saving the videogame industry).
I suppose the selections will show the progression of games over time at a glance (if you ignore the whole genre thing), but what I expect from my art history is a focus on innovation and inspiration. Where's the first tower defense game? What about charting the rise and fall of the platformer as the dominant gaming genre? The whole thing seems half assed, and makes me seriously question how well museum exhibits are run for things that I know less about.
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite (TM)
Good lord. If there's one game out there that's art, it's Planescape: Torment. And it's not there. The pure depth and richness of this game, and the questions it asks about human nature and evil make it every bit the game equivalent of any literary work.
Hm. Neither is Continiuum, (Alpha Waves) which is both historically significant and the equivalent of a tone poem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF_a6qMeWP8 (Alpha Waves)
NO Quake they fail.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
No morrowind!? But they nominated fallout 3? Seriously...
"People don't want to learn linux" hasn't been a valid excuse since '03.
This poll always totally broken, because the curators seemed to appear to totally fail to understand video games.
The poll was absurdly ambiguous about whether it was "the visual art found in videogames" or "videogames themselves as Art". You could see this ambiguity throughout the poll, from the language used talking casually about "art of games" and the choice of credits they provided for each games (typically artists and designers, almost as if they didn't understand what "designer" meant for games).
Now the results starts off with "explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium" which is unambiguous (but makes the credits choice inexplicable), but the poll had nothing like that. So who knows what the voters took it to be.