Hunger Games, Nicki Minaj, and More Most-Anticipated of 2012 (Photos)

Video games have changed how technology influences entertainment and, according to an upcoming exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, how it affects art. “The Art of Video Games” will explore 40 years of video games as an artistic medium, featuring influential video game designers and artists and examining the growing prevalence of video games in popular culture. The exhibit is interactive, allowing visitors the opportunity to play some of the featured games. After 3.7 million votes from around the world, the exhibition’s curator Chris Melissinos, founder of Past Pixels and a video game collector, chose 80 games to display. DC’s Smithsonian Art Museum plans to ring in the exhibit with a “Game Fest”—panel discussions and talks with designers and artists, movie screenings, hands-on play and costume photo-ops. The exhibit itself will be on display until Sept. 30, 2012.