The US government finally thinks video games are not so bad

Matt Hawkins Contributing Writer, Video Games

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Going on right now is something many figured would never happen: an exhibition centered on video games at the Smithsonian. Why is this noteworthy? Well, it represents the government’s massive change in attitude towards games, for starters.

The “Art of Video Games” exhibition is certainly a moral victory for gamers everywhere, given the federal government’s stance on games over the years, as the clip above illustrates.

It really wasn’t so long ago when all the major video game heads of states were brought forth to Capital Hill, where they had to explain how their offerings were not out to destroy the youth of America. And how there was legitimate fear that the federal government would send the game industry to the dark ages, much like they did with comics in the 50s. Something that they never fully recovered from, some could argue.

Unfortunately, there’s one major problem: the exhibit sucks a big one. Basically, it’s spineless; because the curators were so afraid of rocking the boat, the end result is something that tries too hard to make everyone happy, by playing it safe. This includes games that were excluded because of the belief that they would upset the delicate walls of the Smithsonian.

Like Grand Theft Auto. Sorry, if you going to do a retrospective on the history of games and not include GTA, you’re an idiot. But get this: even Tetris is not included. But that game doesn’t involved any killing, so what’s the deal? Well, titles were chosen by some big stupid web poll. Seriously.

The Smithsonian allowed a show in which everything was picked by people on the internet. Again, the curators were too afraid to make a statement of their own, they had to go with popular consensus, which is never a good idea. But hey, video games in the Smithsonian, that’s still neat nonetheless.