Play ‘Pong’ on the face of the Cira Centre for Philly Tech Week

A Philly geek’s dream comes true.

Ever wanted to play Pong on a 400-foot-tall screen? Starting April 19 you can.

The arcade classic is coming to the north wall of the glass-sheathed Cira Centre. The building’s lattice of LED lights will display a lo-fi ball bouncing between opposing paddles.

Lucky gamers (there will be an online drawing) will face off from the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, controllers in hand. “This is something I’ve been envisioning for quite a while,” said Frank Lee, co-founder of Drexel’s Game Design Program and the man behind giant Pong. “One of the main goals of this event is to inspire wonder and creativity in anyone who sees it, especially kids.”

Imagine if it were Zelda saving Link instead of the other way around. It’[s not always the princess who needs rescuing. (by Kenna W)

closetogood:

Full Mega Man III cover album! Share and Download!

This is maybe the most amazing thing in the world ever.

I could be wrong.

If Downton Abbey were a video game…

Yes. Definitely.

However, Super Mario Bros. is not among the first inductees. :-(

pbsarts:

awesome.

hyperallergic:

One Up! MoMA Acquires Its First Classic Video Games as Art

Hyperallergic has learned that through a quiet acquisition process undertaken over the past year led by architecture and design curator Paola Antonelli, the Museum of Modern Art has brought 14 video games into its collection as a “new category” of artwork.

wnyc:

5th avenue Frogger. Like Frogger, but the traffic is actually on 5th avenue. (h/t @onthemedia)

newshour:

So why exactly are there are video games in an art museum?

“The Art of Video Games” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum explores the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, and highlights its advances in design, technology and storytelling.