This is the presentation that was delivered at the 2010 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco that outlined "The Art of Video Games" exhibition that we were developing. Note, this presentation only contains my portion of this joint presentation.

1. A Day at the Museum
How the Smithsonian is embracing games
Chris Melissinos, Past Pixels, LLC
Georgina Bath Goodlander, Smithsonian American Art Museum

2. Background
• Former Chief Evangelist and
Chief Gaming Officer, host of
JavaOne - Sun Microsystems
• Led client and server game
technology development
10+ years
• Founder of Past Pixels, LLC
• Husband & father (raising
gamers)

3. and I’m a geek
Custom arcade NeoGeo GameBoy SP XBox360
Pong arcade TurboGrafx-16 NES Sony PSP
Atari 2600 Sega Genesis SNES 3DO
Intellivision Sega 32X Nintendo 64 Atari Jaguar
Colecovision Sega Saturn GameCube Jaguar CD
Atari 5200 Sega Dreamcast Wii TurboGrafx CD
Atari Lynx Playstation Nintendo DS Wonderswan Color
Game Gear Playstation 2 Nintendo DS Lite NeoGeo Pocket Color
GameBoy Playstation 3 Nintendo DSi Pole Position Cabinet
GameBoy Advance XBox Vectrex VirtualBoy

4. My First Computer
• 5K (3583 bytes)
• MOS 6502 @ 1MHz
• 22 x 23 text,176 x 184 @ 16
colors
• Learned assembly at 10, first full
game by 12
• “Wasting my time”
Firefox Icon - 64KB Defender - 8K cart
(~18x larger) (8x smaller)

5. So, how did this all start?

6. Seeking the Museum
• GDC 2005 - Mike Mika
• Almost passed out
• Insurance?
• This needs to be in a
museum...
• Spent several years pinging
the walls

7. Smithsonian 2.0
• January 2009 - 20 technologists at the museum
• Everyone talked about blogging, podcasts and Twitter...except one
• If you want to reach new generations of patrons, you need to
meet them where they live - connect, excite, ignite, spark
imagination
• EVERYONE is playing games - how do we recognize this, examine
this, hold the medium up for observation?
• Georgina asked about game stuff - “I know someone”
• Meetings...meetings...concepts...meetings...

8. IDEA! - The Art of Video Games
• Create an exhibition that examines the evolution of video games
as an artistic medium over time
• Demonstrate how social dialog, cultural shift and technology
impact the medium
• Establish the medium as worthy of examination, critique and study
as an art form
• Bring further validation and preservation to an industry we all
care about and has given us so much!

9. Answer some questions

10. Why Video Games?
• Games are part of every culture
throughout recorded history - video games “Can a Computer Make You Cry?”
are an extension of this
• Have become a mainstream medium for
entertainment, expression and education
• Followed the same trajectory as other
forms of media
• Large expanse of artistic range, messaging
and focus
• Extraordinary opportunity to capture the
medium - most of the pioneers are still
with us

11. Does it have a Message?
Missile Command
Do artists suffer for their art?

12. Does it Reflect Society?
Our exaggerated mirror
Computer Space Space Invaders Donkey Kong Contra
(space race) (shortened 100-Yen coin supply) (complete narrative) (“Action” film era)

13. Is it Expressive?
Exploration through different artistic lenses

14. Authority of the Author?
• One of the biggest arguments against games as art is that the
player has CHOICE which effects the OUTCOME
• Games with a wholly formed narrative always have the same
outcome, regardless of lateral movement by the player
• In comparison to ANY OTHER form of media, video games are
the MOST expressive; inviting exploration and discovery while still
providing a messaging arc
• What other form of art allows this? Aside from “Choose Your
Own Adventure” books?!?!

15. What is the BIGGEST difference in the acceptance
of books, paintings, music, and movies
as works of importance
vs.
video games?

16. TIME

17. Enough of the how and why

18. Exhibition goals
• Present the evolution of the art form across generations of
technology
• Reveal “echos” of design that persist generation to generation
• Elevate the opportunity that video games represent as an artistic
medium
• Observe the intertwined relationship between games, technology
and society over the past 40 years
• Demonstrate the influence of popular culture, technology, social
issues on the designers and artists

19. The Big Idea
“Core” Exhibition

20. “Core” Exhibition
target combat adventure maze

21. “Core” Exhibition
show their evolution over time
... ...

22. Example
• Green bar? • On the moon
• Black background? • Informs the void
• UFO? • Bird like = familiar

23. “Core” Breadth
not inclusive of all systems, but keeps the narrative
• Atari VCS • TurboGrafx-16 • Saturn • GameCube
• Intellivision • Genesis • Playstation • XBox
• Colecovision • SNES • N64 • Wii
• NES • Atari Jaguar • Dreamcast • XBox 360
• Master System • 3DO • PS2 • PS3

24. Supplement
• First video game machine - can’t have the dialog without the
“Brown Box”
• Personal computers
• Specific genre examinations: FPS, RTS, Text Adventures, RPG, etc.
• Coin-op: Pong, Space Invaders, Robotron 2084, Ms. Pac-Man, etc.
• Computer music: Wave generators, chiptune, CD, orchestral, etc.
• Games as art, serious games, etc.

25. Reflection of Society
• NOT Chris’s Picks over 40 years
• Advisory board being assembled to review and offer insight
• All materials will be posted to a public site for voting by the public
• This is about offering participation and vested interest
• Final reveal at launch :)

26. Possible Additions
• Developer and artist panels during the launch week
• Photo sessions and developer challenges
• Video Games Live!
• Movie night! - Screen movies over the course of the week that
speak to the culture, about the industry, etc.

27. Information
• The Art of Video Games Exhibition at the Smithsonian American
Art Museum
• MARCH 2012 - SEPTEMBER 2012
• www.pastpixels.com - developer blog, details, shoutback, etc.
• http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/
• chrism@pastpixels.com
• GoodlanderG@si.edu

28. Our Opportunity!
• To elevate the stage that video games occupy
• Demonstrate the diverse and rich history of the video games
industry
• Explain how the medium is the most expressive in terms of the
possibility space that video games operate in
• We have grown; We are permanent
• We are worthy of the critical eye, of social dialog, of telling our
stories, of invoking emotion, of being the storytelling medium of
future generations

29. MUCH MORE TO COME!
Thank You!