Gris.
All of them.
The Museum of Modern Art in New York has some games in their permanent collection: (Games in MoMA)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_in_the_Museum_of_Modern_Art]
Swap the () and []! 🩵
It depends on what your museum is trying to convey. If it’s moments of gaming history and games and consoles of significance, I’d go with:
For the earliest video games, I’d show the Tennis for Two on the DuMont Lab Ocilloscope, released in 1958.
You should also include the life of Warren Robinett, because he was the first ever game programmer to receive in-game credit for a game he made, because Atari never gave their programmers credit, but he snuck one in as an easter egg. He then went on to found the Learning Company which made all those Reader Rabbit games.
For the Crash of 1983, you have to include ET for the Atari 2600 as the posterboy, but “Pitfall!” should also be included. Pitfall was a good game, but it was the breakout hit of Activision and therefore proof that third-party video games were viable, leading to the glut of video games which, in combination with ET being such a colossal failure, caused the crash.
For the resurgence after the crash, the Nintendo Entertainment System, but specifically the one that came with the little robot to help you play games. It’s essential that you convey that Nintendo intended to sell it as a toy rather than a games console because the games market in the US had completely died in the crash, but the toy market was very much alive.
Half-life: Alyx
“List all notable video game characters”
Oh cmon
Might as well ask someone to list the top songs of every year since the 80’s.
Edit nvm it’s not even characters, just games.
Pong is from like 1972.
Gestures broadly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Video_Game_Hall_of_Fame
Sneak King
This is a more complex question than just “what is your favorite video game,” or “what games do you consider works of art?”
If I’m putting a game in a museum, it’s because there’s something about it that warrants preservation on a greater level than other games. To that end, my candidates are
- Pong (1972)
The first commercially successful video game.
- Tetris (1985)
Arguably the most influential game of all time
- Rollercoaster Tycoon (1999)
Handcrafted in assembly, serves as a lesson both in optimization and harnessing the players’ penchant for finding intrinsic value in simplistic game mechanics
Edit: I just realized this comment looks like an infernal machine wrote it. I want to make it clear that I’m a human, with skin and blood and stuff
These three plus Doom and Shadow of the Colossus are what was I thinking. Maybe Minecraft too.
NFL 2K5. It would be a somber, warmly-lit memorial, a pedestal bearing a single copy of the (Xbox version of) the game, with a spotlight shining down on it from above as it rotated. An eternal flame, possibly several, burn nearby. The walls would be digital, montages of all the memories. There would be mournful orchestral music playing, heavy on the clarinets and oboes.
And a screen where it plays YouTubers comparing it to every version of Madden for a decade-plus after. Eventually finding Madden to look better, but always finding Madden lacking in features and presentation.
100% guarantee there are probably still YouTubers doing that in 2025. And you might be surprised how good it can look upscaled to 4K, if you haven’t tried it.
Didn’t even know that was a thing; that’s how long it’s been since I looked at it. Thanks!
Everything 1Upsmanship puts on their “Celestial Hard Drive”.
Or, Minecraft.
Pong, Pac-man, OXO, Mystery House, Super Mario, Battlezone, Wolfenstein, Doom.
The classic pioneers.
Shadow of the Colossus is the first that comes to mind. I’d probably toss in Final Fantasy VII, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and DOTA 2 because I’m addicted to it
Do I only get to pick one?
If so, Prince of Persia.
Prince of Persia.
but which? og? which release? I liked it on Atari ST then hated it on PC lol… but only had access to a really bad pc.
Et for the Atari 2600
Doom OG
GTA 3