14 DAY TRIAL // The committee leading the Smithsonian American Art Museum announces that it is adding both Flower, created by thatgamecompany, and Halo 2600, from Ed Fries, to its permanently displayed collection, a first for the video game medium.
Michael Mansfield, who is the curator for film and media art, tells Gamasutra that, “The Smithsonian American Art Museum worked directly with Jenova and Kellee to receive and acquire Flower on a Blu-ray disc. In terms of preservation, the disc provides a physical and verifiable data set which will act as a preservation format.”
Halo 2600 was chosen because, as a homebrew title, it shows off the democratic nature of video games and offers commentary on the potential of video game culture.
At the moment, both titles are part of the Art of Video Games exhibition, which is touring the United States until 2016, and will then be displayed inside the museum.