Get your game on at the Smithsonian's Art of Video Games exhibition

Video games aren't just fun to play — they also contain some pretty impressive digital art. It still may seem odd to think of a venerable institution like the Smithsonian's American Art Museum curating an exhibit called The Art of Video Games, but that's exactly what will be opening at the Washington, D.C., museum in March.

The exhibit will open on March 16, 2012, with Gamefest, a three-day gaming festival featuring panel discussions, talks by video game pioneers, costume photo-ops, hands-on play, and even live-action gaming and crafts. Visitors will have the first chance to check out the artwork, which will showcase prints and video, as well as historic game consoles and video interviews with game designers. Five games from the different historical eras of video gaming will also be available for visitors to play throughout the course of the exhibit. Those games are Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and Flower. The 80 different games featured in the exhibit were chosen last year by a web-based vote, and range from items out of ancient gaming history such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders to more modern selections like Portal and Mass Effect 2.

Not lucky enough to live in the D.C. area? Don't worry — after the exhibit's six-month run, it will begin a multi-year tour of the United States, with confirmed stops in Boca Raton, Florida, Seattle, Washington, Yonkers, New York, Toledo, Ohio, Flint, Michigan, and Memphis, Tennessee. You can also check out the museum's Flickr page, where everyone is invited to upload pictures of their favorite games, and browse some of the images already on the site.

[Image credit: JD Hancock]

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