The Smithsonian American Art Museum has finalized its lineup for the Art of Videogames exhibit, it said Thursday.
The official list contains 80 games (PDF), including Portal, BioShock and Shadow of the Colossus. Also on display will be Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, games that are generally ranked among the best of all time.
Selections were narrowed down from a list of 240 by a public vote. Some of the more interesting choices include Wii adventure Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure and the strategy game Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II.
Those 80 games will be displayed at the exhibit, which the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. will run from March 16 through September 30 of 2012, through images and video footage. In addition, five games will be playable at the museum: Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst and World of Warcraft.
Now we can officially end any and all discussion about whether or not games are art.
(Disclosure: Wired.com editor Chris Kohler serves on the board of advisors for this exhibit.)
