Me again.

I think it's super swell that there is a video games exhibition, but it's not as unusual as one would think. One wonders why it took so long for them to do it,. Museums like the Smithsonian do focus on culture, as part of what they do. The Smithsonian has crafts. They have stuff from the Gilded Age. Along with their strong focus on what some consider "fine art", they have a focus on popular visual culture.

But, they don't seem to be all that well represented on the video front. I can't tell, do they have movies and TV show in their permanent collection? Maybe this is their first step, though I know if this is going to be in the permanent collection. It is a touring exhibition. I hope SFMOMA gets it, also LA County. SFMOMA has video and electronic art, that's part of their thing.

I saw a show of video art at the Cantor Arts Center (Stanford University) some years ago, a small exhibit. From what I remember, it was pretty neat.

In case you are interested, along with the curator, Chris Melissinos, here is the advisory group

The Art of Video Games
Advisory Group
Ray Barnholt Freelance writer
Louis Castle CEO, InstantAction
Chris Charla Xbox Live Arcade Portfolio Director, Microsoft Game Studios
Frank Cifaldi News Editor, 1UP.com
Ed Fries Founder, FigurePrints
Scott Hawkins Founder, G1M2
Jerry Holkins Co-Founder and writer, Penny Arcade
Chris Kohler Editor, GameLife, Wired.com
Mike Krahulik Co-Founder and artist, Penny Arcade
Jennifer MacLean CEO, 38 Studios
Steve Meretzky Vice President of Game Design, Playdom
Mike Mika Head of Development, Other Ocean Interactive
Ray Muzyka Senior Vice President and Group General Manager, Electronic Arts; and CEO, BioWare
Kim Pallister Director of Content Strategy, Intel
David Perry CEO and Co-Founder, Gaikai
Jane Pinckard Associate Director, Center for Games and Playable Media, University of California, Santa Cruz
Kellee Santiago President and Co-Founder, thatgamecompany
Tim Schafer CEO, Double Fine Productions
Jesse Schell Assistant Professor of Entertainment Technology, EntertainmentTechnology Center at Carnegie Mellon University
Seth Sternberger Founder, 8 Bit Weapon
Greg Zeschuk Group Creative Officer, Electronic Arts

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Retired forum mod, mszv, amarez in Uru (KI 89257), other online games
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It made the national news tonight... which was the first I heard of it.

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Nalates wrote:

It made the national news tonight... which was the first I heard of it.

Astounding!! that's great news!! this sort of recognition needs to reach the masses! Great! i hope it works well for the Smithsonian

It was on our local news today, and am so glad that Myst will be represented...new explorers from all walks of life to come and feed the tree!

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Chemoqua wrote:

It was on our local news today, and am so glad that Myst will be represented...new explorers from all walks of life to come and feed the tree!

Local News too? even better!! I'm a far ways from D.C. chances are good i'll never see it.

but word of it is spreading even at the local level! fantastic!!

While I think this is wonderful I think this is wonderful more for gaming than it it for Cyan.

From the FAQ -- let's see what it says

"Are these all the games that will be included in the exhibition?
The exhibition will feature 80 games through still images and video footage. Five games
will be available for visitors to play for a few minutes, to gain some feel for the
interactivity—Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and
World of Warcraft. In addition, the galleries will include video interviews with
developers and artists, large prints of in-game screen shots, and historic game consoles.'

So, the exhibit consists of 80 games and you get to play a game or two for a couple of minutes, You can play Myst for a couple of minutes, or Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island and World of Warcraft, for a couple of minutes.

Now, Myst is such an old game that, apart from the version for the iPhone and the iPod, it can be hard to play on a new computer. You can't buy it in the stores, and even with the downloads for a PC, some people have trouble playing it. And it's not even full screen. I love Myst more than anything, but on a PC it looks old. And you only get to play it for a couple of minutes, should you choose to do so, one of 5 games. And there are lots and lots of other games to look at. Yes, Myst is getting special treatment, as in it's one of 5 you get to try (also 4 others), but that's it. I've read the writeup carefully -- this really isn't about Myst, it's about gaming. And no other game from Cyan is in the exhibit. I don't know what the final game list will be, but Bioware has at least two you can vote on (might be more, have to go check). So does Blizzard, and they have one for sure (World of Warcraft). Tim Shaffer has 4, 1 for sure, The Secret of Monkey Island.

I think that the most this will do is, maybe, is increase Myst sales for the iPhone or iPod. It's wonderful that Myst has a place in gaming history. But I don't think we can make anything more of this than it is. I already knew Myst had a place in gaming history -- doesn't tell me anything about future gaming.

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But maybe that's what most people here are excited about -- seeing how games are so important for popular culture, they get an exhibit.

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Retired forum mod, mszv, amarez in Uru (KI 89257), other online games
Blog - http://www.amarez.com, Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/amareze

yeah, Myst being included in the exebition is a given... sure it's good for the serries and Cyan but the fact Myst is known for it's artistic merrit has it included in any discussion on the subject; so, yeah, i'm excited because it's good for the recognition of video games as an artistic venture... and what better game than Myst to represent that? it is the first that made people realize games can in fact have artistic and cultural merrit.

reminder, the exhibit opened today.
http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/

American Art Museum
March 16, 2012 – September 30, 2012

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catherwood wrote:

reminder, the exhibit opened today.
http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/

American Art Museum
March 16, 2012 – September 30, 2012

Wow, that is so cool! I wish I was on that side of the country, so I could visit! Better yet, they are looking for volunteers to help with the exhibition!

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MOUL Mod/Cyan Intern

I'll be looking for it in my area! and if not in my area then in the next closest area!