Now this is cool, and well deserved I think. Bioshock is going to be included in the Smithsonian ‘The Art of Video Games’ exhibit.
2K Games today announced that the winner of the 2007 Game Critics Game of the Year award, BioShock®, has been selected for inclusion in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “The Art of Video Games” exhibit that will be on display in Washington, D.C., March 16, 2012 through September 30, 2012. Along with other games selected for this honor, BioShock will represent the action genre on the current generation of gaming platforms.
“Ultimately, the fans got the final say regarding the games they believe best represent the medium and we’re extremely pleased with the results.”
BioShock was developed by Irrational Games, one of the industry’s leading studios, and has sold over 4 million units since its release in 2007. Of the 240 titles selected by the exhibition curator, Chris Melissinos, and reviewed by the exhibition’s advisory group consisting of game developers, designers, industry pioneers and journalists, fans cast their vote and selected 80 games to represent the industry in one of the first exhibitions to explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium.
“The thought of seeing BioShock on display next to Georgia O’Keeffe and Thomas Hart Benton is, well, humbling,” said Ken Levine, president and creative director of Irrational Games. “The fact that gamers put us there makes it all the better.”
In BioShock, players fight to survive in the failed underwater utopia of Rapture, a once-glorious city that had since been torn apart by civil war and populated with genetically modified enemies. In 2012, players will leave Rapture to head to the skies of Columbia, when Irrational Games unleashes the newest entry into the BioShock series – BioShock Infinite®.
“When I worked to put together the list of games, with input from the advisory group, for ‘The Art of Video Games,’ I looked for games that ran the gamut of art, social commentary, storytelling and artistic license, and BioShock combined these elements in new ways,” said Melissinos. “Ultimately, the fans got the final say regarding the games they believe best represent the medium and we’re extremely pleased with the results.”
For more information about the exhibition, please visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s website http://americanart.si.edu/taovg.
About BioShock
BioShock is the “genetically enhanced” first-person shooter that lets players do things never before possible in the genre: turn everything into a weapon, biologically modify their character’s body with plasmids, hack devices and systems, upgrade weapons and craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques.
Players experience the game as a castaway in Rapture, an underwater Utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically modified “splicers” and deadly security systems, players will have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. No encounter ever plays out the same, and no two gamers will play the game the same way.
BioShock is currently available and rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For additional game details, visit http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/bioshock.html.
About BioShock Infinite
With the United States emerging as a world power, the floating City of Columbia is a mighty symbol of American ideals, launched with great fanfare to the cheers of a captivated public. But what begins as an endeavor of hope soon turns to disaster, as the city disappears into the clouds, its whereabouts unknown.
The player assumes the role of former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, sent to Columbia to rescue Elizabeth, a young woman imprisoned there since childhood. He will develop a relationship with Elizabeth, augmenting his abilities with hers so the pair may escape from a city that is literally falling from the sky. DeWitt will learn to fight foes in high-speed Sky-Line battles, engage in combat both indoors and amongst the clouds, and harness the power of dozens of new weapons and abilities.
BioShock Infinite is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information on BioShock Infinite please visit www.bioshockinfinite.com.