Digital Playis organized around the theme of action in its different uses and interpretations. Music-, dance-, and movement-oriented video games originating in Japan constitute a shift from traditional, often violent game scenarios. Classic arcade games from the 1980s are paired with current home-based games to contrast their approaches to such action-related topics as driving and waging battle on land and in space. Though the graphics have changed significantly, patterns of play remain similar.

Introduction

Burnout Revenge, 2005, Criterion Games, Electronic Arts
Cloud, 2005, thatgamecompany, Electronic Arts
Death Race, 1976, Exidy
Donkey Kong, 1981, Nintendo
Donkey Konga 2: Hit Song Parade , 2005, Nintendo
Eye Toy: Play, 2003, Sony Computer Entertainment
with Play 2, 2003, Sony Computer Entertainment Studios, London
FLOW: Urban Dance Uprising, 2005, Ubisoft
GameTap, 2005, Turner Broadcast
Gitaroo Man, 2001, Koei Corporation
Karate Champ, 1985, Data East
NBA Jam, 1993, Midway
NBA Street V3, 2005, EA Sports Big
Mortal Kombat, 1992, Midway
PaRappa The Rapper, 1997, Na-Na On-Sha
REZ, 2002, United Games Artists
Star Wars, 1983, Atari
Star Wars: Battle Front II, 2005, LucasArts
Tron,1982, Bally/Midway
The Warriors, 2005, Rockstar Games
We Love Katamari, 2005, Namco



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Introduction

In the last twenty years, video games and digital art have moved from the arcade into the home, and from the home onto the Internet, where they have become the work and play of an international network of artists and designers. This exhibition presents selections from each arena: the art that originates in the virtual studios of animators, designers, and programmers; the innovative video and computer games that have transformed the home entertainment center; and the classic video games of the 1980s that wield a continuing thematic and aesthetic influence over their digital heirs.

The expansion of possibilities in digital gaming has led to more imaginative and technically sophisticated interfaces, and richer, and more whimsical, interactive animated environments. The games and art in this exhibition offer a real-time experience in which the work is generated while it is being watched.

Paradoxically, upbeat music-and-dance games—which seem to allow a new level of participation by responding to the movements of the whole body—reward conformity, while more traditional games reviled for their controversial, violent content allow for more creativity and independence on the part of the player.

These games provide an escape and a challenge, but also a way of keeping up with and experiencing firsthand a rapidly evolving technology.

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