{"product_id":"the-art-of-video-games-from-pacman-to-mass-effect-9781599621104","title":"The Art of Video Games: From Pac-Man to Mass Effect","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the forty years since the first Magnavox Odyssey pixel winked on in 1972  the home video game industry has undergone a mind-blowing evolution. Fueled by unprecedented advances in technology  boundless imaginations  and an insatiable addiction to fantastic new worlds of play  the video game has gone supernova  rocketing two generations of fans into an ever-expanding universe where art  culture  reality  and emotion collide.  As a testament to the cultural impact of the game industrys mega morph  the Smithsonian American Art Museum  with curator and author Chris Melissinos  conceived the forthcoming exhibition  The Art of Video Games  which will run from March 16 to September 30  2012. Welcome Books will release the companion book this March.  Melissinos presents video games as not just mere play  but richly textured emotional and social experiences that have crossed the boundary into culture and art.  Along with a team of game developers  designers  and journalists  Melissinos chose a pool of 240 games across five different eras to represent the diversity of the game world. Criteria included visual effects  creative use of technologies  and how world events and popular culture manifested in the games. The museum then invited the public to go online to help choose the games. More than 3.7 million votes (from 175 countries) later  the eighty winners featured in The Art of Video Games exhibition and book were selected.  From the Space Invaders of the seventies to sophisticated contemporary epics BioShock and Uncharted 2  Melissinos examines each of the winning games  providing a behind-the-scenes look at their development and innovation  and commentary on the relevance of each in the history of video games.  Over 100 composite images  created by Patrick ORourke  and drawn directly from the games themselves  illustrate the evolution of video games as an artistic medium  both technologically and creatively.  Additionally  The Art of Video Games includes fascinating interviews with influential artists and designersfrom pioneers such as Nolan Bushnell to contemporary innovators including Warren Spector  Tim Schafer and Robin Hunicke.  The foreword was written by Elizabeth Broun  director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Mike Mika  noted game preservationist and prolific developer  contributed the introduction the introduction.  After Washington D.C.  the exhibition travels to several cities across the United States  including Boca Raton (Museum of Art)  Seattle (EMP Museum)  Yonkers  NY (Hudson River Museum) and Flint  MI (Flint Institute of Arts). For the latest confirmed dates and venues  please visit the The Art of Video Games exhibition page at http:\/\/americanart.si.edu\/taovg\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45279500271669,"sku":"ByrdShop_159962110X","price":64.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781599621104_b67c2131-f9d8-404c-a1b1-41f7f7656727.jpg?v=1780600756","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-art-of-video-games-from-pacman-to-mass-effect-9781599621104","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}