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MoMA Gets Video Games

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Ole Juul

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I don't play games, but funnily enough I do collect some because I see the elegance or concept sometimes. Anyway, The Museum Of Modern Art has just started a collection which many of you may be interested in.

MoMA blog: Video Games: 14 in the Collection, for Starters

We are very proud to announce that MoMA has acquired a selection of 14 video games, 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. This initial group, which we will install for your delight in the Museum’s Philip Johnson Galleries in March 2013, features:

• 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 (2006)
• Portal (2007)
• flOw (2006)
• Passage (2008)
• Canabalt (2009)
Click to expand...
 
With the risk this thread develops into a long discussion about what games are missing (or is that completely my intention? :p ):

I can see Pac-man, Tetris, Portal as milestones.
But I'd expect Civilisation instead of SimCity
And would be missing:
- Space invaders
- Stix
- At least one of the Sierra's

What do you think?
 
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Jorg said:
What do you think?
Click to expand...

Note that the criterion includes elegance of code and the behaviour of the game player that the game evokes.

Edit: I guess what's different to our normal discussions here, is that the MoMA is an ART museum. They are not trying to preserve, archive, or chronicle the past. Artistic relevance is the key here. That means that games that were a great commercial success, or were played by the most people, don't necessarily qualify.
 
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Ole Juul said:
Note that the criterion includes elegance of code and the behaviour of the game player that the game evokes.
Click to expand...

I missed that exact definition of the criteria but assumed they wanted to look at milestones in the evolving of video games, or maybe even more new step stones in creativity.
So also my remarks were not meant to amend the list based on popularity, more on novelty from a creative viewpoint.
Simcity 2000 must have had very elegant code then as for the rest I don't see much special to it also when compared with predecessors.
I still think from an arty point Stix needs to be there :)
 
Jorg said:
I missed that exact definition of the criteria but assumed they wanted to look at milestones in the evolving of video games, or maybe even more new step stones in creativity.
So also my remarks were not meant to amend the list based on popularity, more on novelty from a creative viewpoint.
Simcity 2000 must have had very elegant code then as for the rest I don't see much special to it also when compared with predecessors.
I still think from an arty point Stix needs to be there :)
Click to expand...
Actually, if you're a gamer your input is probably relevant however it is slanted because you'll probably be talking about some way that this has effected your life or the way you think. That's the art angle. I find it interesting to go there, especially in comparison to what we usually do around here.
 
This exhibit is severely lacking in games from 1989-1994. Pre-CD era VGA DOS games. The low res pixel art and FM synthesis make an aesthetic that you won't find anywhere else. Games like King's Quest V, X-Com, Monkey Island, Star Control II, etc. are beautiful because of, not in spite of their limitations.
 
Glad to see Out of this World made the list. This is to me, the most artistic game I've played. Early Sierra games also evoked some artistic quality.
 
I would put Ultima (some version.. for me VI but for others it may be an earlier release) in there.
A TSR game, perhaps the offline version of Neverwinter Nights for it's historic MMO (or whatever the kids changed the acronym to recently) significance.. (a huge online number of players playing an SSI D&D game together was fun as hell).
I agree with Civilization being there.
Since they're doing newer games, one of my favorites to date is still Hardwar (1998?) as the game is also a large NPC world that sorta plays itself regardless of you being there.

Perhaps Decent or something as a show of 3d technology at the time. Put some shutter glasses on the display and it's pretty neat.
Space invaders was a hit but I think Galaga was based on making a more difficult version of Space Invaders and was somewhat historic.
Donkey Kong/Mario made the NES an hit in the US and is pretty significant from an arcade stand.
 
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