Yes, the Atari 2600 version of Pac Man sure is more important than the arcade version.
And no Tetris.
And no handheld games.
And no Apple II games.
Best fetch me my chump-cutting knife.
It is arranged oddly, yes, but they got some nice games stuck in there too.
edit:Also, Command and Conquer 1 is on here at least twice
Some of the games are also in really odd places.
Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time is listed as a Gamecube game.
Which it technically was, I guess, but it's in the same category as some other Gamecube exclusive game that will handily beat the living shit out of it in voting.
At least I got to vote for Syndicate, even though it was the SNES version.
Lotta tough choices, especially the adventure category for SNES. They should dedicate 5 slots to that, and modern Windows Action games.
Wound up voting for the MP Trilogy instead of Metroid Prime 2 (Sands of Time won that vote). If they'd put the original Galaxy in, I would've voted differently.
Yes, the Atari 2600 version of Pac Man sure is more important than the arcade version.
And no Tetris.
And no handheld games.
And no Apple II games.
Best fetch me my chump-cutting knife.
Valid complaints (except for Tetris, considering the criteria.) I won't gripe about it, though, because at least its a step in the right direction.
I'd say that Tetris is a triumph of minimalist game design (even in an era of technologically-enforced minimalism and abstraction), and design-wise is historically important enough to include.
But yeah, it's at least an interesting list once I was able to ignore the glaring omissions and focus on the more interesting or obscure games they did pick.
Yes, the Atari 2600 version of Pac Man sure is more important than the arcade version.
And no Tetris.
And no handheld games.
And no Apple II games.
Best fetch me my chump-cutting knife.
Valid complaints (except for Tetris, considering the criteria.) I won't gripe about it, though, because at least its a step in the right direction.
I'd say that Tetris is a triumph of minimalist game design (even in an era of technologically-enforced minimalism and abstraction), and design-wise is historically important enough to include.
But yeah, it's at least an interesting list once I was able to ignore the glaring omissions and focus on the more interesting or obscure games they did pick.
It looked like they were talking purely about art and art design rather than just game mechanics, so for the most part I voted that way.
Yes, the Atari 2600 version of Pac Man sure is more important than the arcade version.
And no Tetris.
And no handheld games.
And no Apple II games.
Best fetch me my chump-cutting knife.
Valid complaints (except for Tetris, considering the criteria.) I won't gripe about it, though, because at least its a step in the right direction.
I'd say that Tetris is a triumph of minimalist game design (even in an era of technologically-enforced minimalism and abstraction), and design-wise is historically important enough to include.
But yeah, it's at least an interesting list once I was able to ignore the glaring omissions and focus on the more interesting or obscure games they did pick.
It looked like they were talking purely about art and art design rather than just game mechanics, so for the most part I voted that way.
Correct, which is why I don't feel Tetris fit the criteria.
a focus on striking visual effects, the creative use of new technologies, and the most influential artists and designers
be sure to vote for games that you think are visually spectacular or boast innovative design!
FYI, those of you asking why X game isn't on the list... There are already major games that are for sure going to be there.
"The exhibition will feature eighty games through still images and multimedia elements, and five playable games—Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and World of Warcraft."
I had a lot of fun going through that. And despite how much people are focusing on who will "win," I really think it's an honor just to be nominated (as trite as that sounds). To me, this is the closest to mainstream acknowledgment of "games as art" that we've gotten so far. I know that mainstream acknowledgment isn't important to everyone, but it's a tiny bit gratifying for me. The fact is that all of these games are worthy of being discussed and examined in more detail.
Anyway, I was most happy to see Shenmue nominated. More than just about any game on the list, I consider that game to be an artistic accomplishment. The attention and detail that went into recreating a world is just amazing. Other might bring up GTA4 or other open-world games as counter-examples of more detailed environments, but those games, in general, make a conscious attempt (in my view) to streamline the experience to make it more fun. Shenmue's world (not the game itself, mind you) doesn't seem to make those allowances. At least, not many of them. Anyway, playing that game has really stayed with me.
A question:
I voted for a few games that I haven't played. Is that unfair? You can't really experience the game without playing it, right? But if my limited exposure to the game left a stronger impression on me than my limited exposure to the other games it was against, is that not enough too justify a vote?
I voted for a few games that I haven't played. Is that unfair? You can't really experience the game without playing it, right? But if my limited exposure to the game left a stronger impression on me than my limited exposure to the other games it was against, is that not enough too justify a vote?
I voted for plenty of games that I haven't played but felt extremely knowledgeable about (I listen to podcasts all day at work).
ShimshaiFlush with Success!Isle of EmeraldRegistered Userregular
edited February 2011
As soon as I saw Brutal Legend I had to vote for it. I mean someone had to, right? Man I love that game, being a metal fan really helps.
I also voted for some games that I hadn't played but knew deserved recognition, such as Okami.
Edit: Just noticed that you can vote for about 75 games total, so no reason not to vote for Chrono Trigger and Zelda, Link to the Past. Unless they actually prevent you from doing that, haven't tested that yet.
Edit2: Ah crap, you can only pick one from each page, stupid me.
As soon as I saw Brutal Legend I had to vote for it. I mean someone had to, right? Man I love that game, being a metal fan really helps.
I also voted for some games that I hadn't played but knew deserved recognition, such as Okami.
Edit: Just noticed that you can vote for about 75 games total, so no reason not to vote for Chrono Trigger and Zelda, Link to the Past. Unless they actually prevent you from doing that, haven't tested that yet.
Edit2: Ah crap, you can only pick one from each page, stupid me.
I voted for Brutal Legend as well, since at the time I was under the impression that this was going to be mostly about concept art and the like, and I thought it'd have the most interesting concept art of the three.
IceBurnerIt's cold and there are penguins.Registered Userregular
edited February 2011
I'm really surprised FF Tactics made the list over Vagrant Story.
Not that there's anything wrong with Tactics, but, but if we're talking art, this is THE art game for Squaresoft. It was essentially funded as gift to its producer with the stated goal of "making the best game they could", rather than making a best-seller. This was back when Square had money to burn on experiments like that.
It's also made by largely the same team as FFT and was also their first game to actually use cinematography on the same level as Metal Gear Solid. The same depth and seriousness of story is present, so it's puzzling that a game with undeniably higher artistry poured into it was trumped by the preceding work from the same development team. Perhaps they just didn't know it existed?
As soon as I saw Brutal Legend I had to vote for it. I mean someone had to, right? Man I love that game, being a metal fan really helps.
I also voted for some games that I hadn't played but knew deserved recognition, such as Okami.
Edit: Just noticed that you can vote for about 75 games total, so no reason not to vote for Chrono Trigger and Zelda, Link to the Past. Unless they actually prevent you from doing that, haven't tested that yet.
Edit2: Ah crap, you can only pick one from each page, stupid me.
I voted for Brutal Legend as well, since at the time I was under the impression that this was going to be mostly about concept art and the like, and I thought it'd have the most interesting concept art of the three.
Yeah the Smithsonian is more of a "cultural artifacts" museum than a "hanging pictures" museum.
Alright so this shouldn't be a problem right. Wrong, first choice for 8 bit action game's on the NES: Mega man 2, Mario Bro's 3, or Metriod...... Thats just not right. WTF am I supposed to do with that!
*edit* goddammit Phantasy Star 4 vs Shining force 2 really, really?
The only problem I have with voting for Chrono Trigger is that its like putting Dragon Ball in an art exhibit...
Actually now that I think about it Dragon Ball deserves to be in an art exhibit.
Jephery on
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"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
No kidding... I mean all three are pretty influential
Luckily, Mass Effect 2 was in the list somewhere so it obviously got a vote from me
I had to go for Doom II, both for nostalgia's sake and because out of three incredibly influential games that was the most influential from my perspective. Not by much, but still.
No kidding... I mean all three are pretty influential
Luckily, Mass Effect 2 was in the list somewhere so it obviously got a vote from me
I had to go for Doom II, both for nostalgia's sake and because out of three incredibly influential games that was the most influential from my perspective. Not by much, but still.
I voted for Unreal, because it was remarkably pretty at the time, it helped to introduce some story into the FPS genre, and of course, it made the engine that powers almost literally every game with a gun in it.
No kidding... I mean all three are pretty influential
Luckily, Mass Effect 2 was in the list somewhere so it obviously got a vote from me
I had to go for Doom II, both for nostalgia's sake and because out of three incredibly influential games that was the most influential from my perspective. Not by much, but still.
I voted for Unreal, because it was remarkably pretty at the time, it helped to introduce some story into the FPS genre, and of course, it made the engine that powers almost literally every game with a gun in it.
I picked Deus Ex in that one. It's still incredibly impressive in its attention to detail, even today. Doom 2 was undoubtedly more popular but it doesn't do much that the original didn't, so I can't really think of it as revolutionary.
Bumping this thread with new information. I received an e-mail from the Smithsonian regarding the exhibit.
Thank you for voting to help us select some of the games that will be included in The Art of Video Games exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. You will be notified of the winning games before the public announcement and are invited to view a private webcast discussion of the winning games with exhibition curator Chris Melissinos and coordinator Georgina Goodlander.The webcast will take place LIVE at 1 p.m. (EDT) on May 5, 2011.
To watch, simply login to the webcast at www.artofvideogames.org or join the crowd on Ustream on the day of the announcement, using the password bosslevel. You will receive a reminder of this exclusive LIVE show shortly before it begins, along with the full list of winning games, so be sure to check your email!
A public announcement of the winning games will follow the live webcast.
Noisymunk on
0
DyvionBack in Sunny Florida!!Registered Userregular
edited May 2011
Nice. Hopefully they actually know something about games, and are doing this for love, and not because someone who loves games assigned a flunky to take care of it.
Dyvion on
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PSN: Dyvion -- Eternal: Dyvion+9393 -- Genshin Impact: Dyvion
I'm going to have to ask who among my friends has Boom Blox so I can give that game a try, because I did a total O_O at it beating out Sin & Punishment 2 and Blast Works.
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ooooooohhhhhhhhh
that makes so much more sense
It is arranged oddly, yes, but they got some nice games stuck in there too.
edit:Also, Command and Conquer 1 is on here at least twice
Some of the games are also in really odd places.
Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time is listed as a Gamecube game.
Which it technically was, I guess, but it's in the same category as some other Gamecube exclusive game that will handily beat the living shit out of it in voting.
At least I got to vote for Syndicate, even though it was the SNES version.
Valid complaints (except for Tetris, considering the criteria.) I won't gripe about it, though, because at least its a step in the right direction.
NintendoID: Nailbunny 3DS: 3909-8796-4685
Wound up voting for the MP Trilogy instead of Metroid Prime 2 (Sands of Time won that vote). If they'd put the original Galaxy in, I would've voted differently.
I'd say that Tetris is a triumph of minimalist game design (even in an era of technologically-enforced minimalism and abstraction), and design-wise is historically important enough to include.
But yeah, it's at least an interesting list once I was able to ignore the glaring omissions and focus on the more interesting or obscure games they did pick.
Correct, which is why I don't feel Tetris fit the criteria.
NintendoID: Nailbunny 3DS: 3909-8796-4685
Come on it is like asking which is your favorite child!!!
But I loved how much love introversion got with both Darwinia and Uplink nominated, considering that they are pretty much an indie dev.
"The exhibition will feature eighty games through still images and multimedia elements, and five playable games—Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and World of Warcraft."
http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/
Anyway, I was most happy to see Shenmue nominated. More than just about any game on the list, I consider that game to be an artistic accomplishment. The attention and detail that went into recreating a world is just amazing. Other might bring up GTA4 or other open-world games as counter-examples of more detailed environments, but those games, in general, make a conscious attempt (in my view) to streamline the experience to make it more fun. Shenmue's world (not the game itself, mind you) doesn't seem to make those allowances. At least, not many of them. Anyway, playing that game has really stayed with me.
A question:
I voted for a few games that I haven't played. Is that unfair? You can't really experience the game without playing it, right? But if my limited exposure to the game left a stronger impression on me than my limited exposure to the other games it was against, is that not enough too justify a vote?
I voted for plenty of games that I haven't played but felt extremely knowledgeable about (I listen to podcasts all day at work).
I'm looking forward to visiting the exhibit someday.
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I also voted for some games that I hadn't played but knew deserved recognition, such as Okami.
Edit: Just noticed that you can vote for about 75 games total, so no reason not to vote for Chrono Trigger and Zelda, Link to the Past. Unless they actually prevent you from doing that, haven't tested that yet.
Edit2: Ah crap, you can only pick one from each page, stupid me.
That's not fair at all.
I voted for Brutal Legend as well, since at the time I was under the impression that this was going to be mostly about concept art and the like, and I thought it'd have the most interesting concept art of the three.
Not that there's anything wrong with Tactics, but, but if we're talking art, this is THE art game for Squaresoft. It was essentially funded as gift to its producer with the stated goal of "making the best game they could", rather than making a best-seller. This was back when Square had money to burn on experiments like that.
It's also made by largely the same team as FFT and was also their first game to actually use cinematography on the same level as Metal Gear Solid. The same depth and seriousness of story is present, so it's puzzling that a game with undeniably higher artistry poured into it was trumped by the preceding work from the same development team. Perhaps they just didn't know it existed?
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Yeah the Smithsonian is more of a "cultural artifacts" museum than a "hanging pictures" museum.
No kidding... I mean all three are pretty influential
Luckily, Mass Effect 2 was in the list somewhere so it obviously got a vote from me
*edit* goddammit Phantasy Star 4 vs Shining force 2 really, really?
Actually now that I think about it Dragon Ball deserves to be in an art exhibit.
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
I had to go for Doom II, both for nostalgia's sake and because out of three incredibly influential games that was the most influential from my perspective. Not by much, but still.
I voted for Unreal, because it was remarkably pretty at the time, it helped to introduce some story into the FPS genre, and of course, it made the engine that powers almost literally every game with a gun in it.
I voted for Deus Ex!
What?
It just kinda hit me. That's a shame. Handheld games (especially recently) have become more than mere imitations of bigger consoles.
WTF is Xyanide, you ask?
The most deranged shmup you've never played.
The story to that game was pretty grandiose, for what's essentially 'go kill a crazy witch'.
PSN: Dyvion -- Eternal: Dyvion+9393 -- Genshin Impact: Dyvion
PSN: Dyvion -- Eternal: Dyvion+9393 -- Genshin Impact: Dyvion
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It probably would have been too much to expect a Morgan Web, or an Adam Sessler type to get assigned this sort of thing.
PSN: Dyvion -- Eternal: Dyvion+9393 -- Genshin Impact: Dyvion
http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/winninggames.pdf
I'm going to have to ask who among my friends has Boom Blox so I can give that game a try, because I did a total O_O at it beating out Sin & Punishment 2 and Blast Works.
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
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Otherwise, mostly a good list. I'm glad Shenmue made it.