When you have a work of art or a cultural artifact displayed at one of the many Smithsonian museums in Washington DC, that is certainly a great honor no matter how you slice it. So the game industry has to be happy that the Smithsonian American Art Museum is planning to launch "The Art of Video Games" exhibit to showcase the visual part of games.

Game-themed art exhibits are nothing new, of course; the annual Into The Pixel event showcases art works from all sorts of game creators. However the Smithsonian exhibit will be far more extensive as it "will show the development of visual effects and aesthetics during four decades." The exhibit is schedule to run in 2012 from March 16 to September 9.

[Via Joystiq]