The lights are on
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.
Email the author Matt Helgeson, or follow on Twitter, and Game Informer.
Glad to see we're finally starting to get some appreciation, hopefully Bioshock is added to this list in the future
I'm impressed they remembered Vib-Ribbon, but I've got to ask, where's Shadow of the Colossus?
YES! Portal is on the list! I'm going to have to see it for myself! Along with the other games and things there..
I can't imagine Okami not being added, being one of the most artistic games I've ever seen.
Where's Halo? :(
GTA III, Red Dead Redemption, and Half Life should be there too, imo.
Definitely an interesting list. I haven't even heard of some of these games lol :)
Hopefully SotC and Journey get added soon. With flOw on that list, there is a good chance Flower and Journey will come eventually.
I'd really like to see the Portal and Katamari Damacy sections. Hopefully they have Cave Johnson and GLaDOS guiding you through Portal :)
Shout out to Canabalt.
Great choices.
ME series
Bioshock?
Where is Wasteland and/or Fallout, Half-Life, Chrono Trigger, a Final Fantasy game (they should put it to a vote for which one), and maybe Kingdom Hearts.
A great selection. Although I think Shadow of the Colossus deserves a spot.
Finally!!! What about the new Assasin's Creed or Skyrim. You got Zelda and Mario. Final Fantasy, Okami, Uncharted and many more revolutionary games.