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Museum of Modern Art Adds 14 Games To Collection

Are game art? According to New York's prestigious Museum of Modern Art they are; the museum just added 14 games to its collection, and says more will follow.

According to the MOMA's website, this initial acquisition of games will be a "the seedbed for an initial wish list of about 40 to be acquired in the near future, as well as for a new category of artworks in MoMA’s collection that we hope will grow in the future."

Here's the list of the 14 games that have will be installed in MOMA's Philip Johnson Galleries in March 2013:

Pac-Man (1980)

Tetris (1984)

Another World (1991)

Myst (1993)

SimCity 2000 (1994)

vib-ribbon (1999)

The Sims (2000)

Katamari Damacy (2004)

EVE Online (2003)

Dwarf Fortress (2003)

flOw (2006)

Portal (2007)

Passage (2008)

Canabalt (2009)

It's an interesting list, definitely a mix of mainstream classic, some acclaimed cult indie titles, and a few curveballs. Still, it's a good start. It's always nice to see the serious art world acknowledging video games. The Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC did something similar earlier this year, hopefully this is the beginning of a new appreciation of gaming as art.

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Comments
  • Portal. =)

  • *** you Roger Ebert!

  • How do you display videogames in a gallery, exactly? I'd add Okami, MGS 4, and Mario Bros to that list.
  • So, is this video games' introduction to the sacrosanct, insular world that is fine art?

    "Don't touch that, it's art! And make sure you speak in hushed tones around it. You don't want to disturb the ghost of Picasso."

    This is pretty cool, as long as it avoids the art world's arrogance and self-importance.
  • Bioshock. Why is Bioshock not on this damned list?

  • Well excuse me Princess, Shadow of the Colossus should be on the this list.

  • Katamari Damacy, Woot!

  • Yes, let us hope that this continues.

  • Mist deserves to be there.

  • I don't know if you would consider video games "modern" art. Yes they are rather recent in their creation and, yes, these titles should be recognized as revolutionary creations of entertainment. But when I think of "modern" art, I think of some guy smashing a toilet and attaching each piece to the ceiling via a piece of string and calling it "The Madness of Our Inner Demons #6".
  • No Metal Gear Solid?

  • I was slightly disappointed at the Smithsonian exhibit. I hope Moma does it better. It's a great idea in theory. The execution still needs to be ironed out.

  • Very cool. I'm glad video games are starting to be seen as art.

  • Eve deserves to be on that list.

  • It's nice to see video games finally getting the true respect they deserve as serious works of art.

  • How are they planning on putting them up on display? A picture with some text underneath? The original arcade cabinet for the older ones, and actual systems with these games playing? Maybe a monitor with all the games set on video loop? In order to experience the art of a video game, I think you need to be able to play it, not only see it, hear it, or read about it. Curious to see how this turns out.

  • Is it wishful thinking that I was hoping the likes of Shadow of the Colossus or Okami would be on this list? Maybe it's one of the games that they plan on adding later. Whatever the case may be, I can't complain too much on this list. It's nice to see some progress being made for games in the art department.
  • Are game art? What is a game, a miserable little pile of code? but enough talk...

  • That's really cool.  But i could think of many more games that could be considered art.

  • cool that another world was on there, don't here people talk about it alot