Smithsonian adds Flower and Halo 2600 to its collection

These are two wildly different titles added to the collection

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has added another two videogames to its ever- expanding collection: thatgamecompany’s Flower and Halo 2600, developed by Ed Fries. Whilst Flower had already been showcased at the 2012’s Art of Videogame exhibit, it’s a worthy addition to collection. I wouldn’t be surprised to see thatgamecompany’s Journey added very soon.

Halo 2600 is a surprising choice though; Ed Frie’s “demake” of the console FPS was limited to just 500 carts and only playable on an Atari 2600, although a flash version was available. I think this game has been picked as it shows the love there is for old hardware and how the core ideas of a videogame can transcend the hardware that’s it’s played on. Feel like I’ll need to visit this exhibit sometime myself.

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