Smithsonian announces winning titles from "Art of Video Games" poll

Remember back in those carefree days of February 2011 when we brought you news of the upcomingSmithsonian exhibitionabout the art of video games? At that time, the exhibition's curator, Past Pixels' Chris Melissinos, appealed to the videogames community for help in winnowing a mammoth list of 240 deserving titles down to a more manageable 80 really deserving games. After tabulating 3.7 million votes from players worldwide, the final list has been announced.

The exhibition, which promises to “explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies,” will feature playable versions of Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and World of Warcraft. Visual material and info will be provided for 75 other titles spanning the history of gaming, from action titles like 1943 and Doom 2 to cerebral and indie fare such SimCity 2000 and Minecraft. Watch the Smithsonian'svideo of the announcement here.





Download thefull list of exhibition pieces here, then boot one up and have someone tell you, “that belongs in a museum!” so you can fire back, “so do you!” Alternatively, let us know what you think of the inclusions below.

May 5, 2011

Latest in Gaming
GDC The Game Developers logo
When is the Game Developers Conference 2025 and why is it so interesting?
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Everything announced at Pokemon Presents 2025
Saros screenshot featuring the main character and am imposing monster in the background with a swirling void in its chest and multiple arms with balls of fire
Everything announced at the PlayStation State of Play February 2025
Close up shot of an anime schoolgirl with a superhero mask over her eyes in a screenshot from Mightreya.
My Steam wishlist is bigger than ever thanks to the indie devs flooding social media with 15-second clips explaining their games
FGS Spring 2025
The Future Games Show Spring Showcase is back and will have a new live segment from the GDC event floor
A close-up of the Doom Slayer in the upcoming PC game, Doom: The Dark Ages.
Xbox Developer Direct 2025: date, time, and where to stream the showcase
Latest in News
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2