The Art of Video Games

Opens February 15, 2013

Explore 40 years of visual effects, creative storytelling, and technological innovation in video games through hands-on gaming consoles and interviews with the artists, producers, and designers that defined the genre and brought new electric meaning to the word “game.”

The Art of Video Games features 80 games, 20 individual kiosks, and five additional era-specific games available for hands-on play. Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island,Myst, and Flower allow players to interact with virtual worlds while highlighting the innovative techniques used by their developers.

The Art of Video Games is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with generous support from the Entertainment Software Association Foundation; Sheila Duignan and Mike Wilkins; Shelby and Frederick Gans; Mark Lamia; Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk; Rose Family Foundation; Betty and Lloyd Schermer; and Neil Young. The C.F. Foundation in Atlanta supports the museum’s traveling exhibition program,Treasures to Go.