Press Release

Influential video games displayed at Nouspace Gallery in March

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Influential video games will be on view March 6 – 28 at Nouspace Gallery & Media Lounge in downtown Vancouver. Titled “Game Changers: Video Games as Innovation,” the exhibit will feature games that have changed cultural views and behaviors and have affected business, education, health and communication.

The earliest example is Pong, the first commercially successful game in the United States. Introduced in 1976, Pong featured a white dot moving back and forth on the monitor, representing a tennis ball hit by players interacting with a game console. Pong was marketed as home entertainment, but it also prepared a generation of users to conceptualize virtual space and manipulate objects on a 2D screen.

“Game Changers” explores some of the most salient technological innovations that have occurred in the 40-year development of video games, from Pong to the emergence of 3D game environments like Oculus Rift.

The exhibit opens at 5 p.m. March 6. Events held in conjunction with “Game Changers” include a Hack-a-Thon, a game competition, a panel discussion by game specialists Sandy Baldwin and Trevor Dodge on March 13, and special guided tours for K-12 students.

“Game Changers” will also be highlighted at the Mayor’s State of the City event on March 26 and Columbia River Economic Development Council’s first-quarter luncheon on March 28.

Eight students and two alumni of the Creative Media and Digital Culture program at Washington State University Vancouver curated the exhibit. WSU Vancouver, the CMDC program, CREDC, the Innovation Partnership Zone, GarageGames and the Technology Association of Oregon are cosponsors.

For more information, visit the website at http://dtc-wsuv.org/gamechangers.

About Nouspace Gallery & Media Lounge

Nouspace Gallery & Media Lounge is co-located in Angst Gallery, 1015 Main St., Vancouver. Regular hours are noon – 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The gallery specializes in multimedia art and technology and provides learning opportunities for the public about digital technology.

About WSU Vancouver

WSU Vancouver is celebrating 25 years of creating access to higher education in Southwest Washington. For 25 years, students have chosen WSU Vancouver for its scenic campus, small classes, close personal attention, topnotch faculty, accessible location and reasonable costs. Here, students gain much more than a degree—they gain a brighter future.

MEDIA CONTACT(S)

Dene Grigar, Digital Technology and Culture program, 360-546-9487, dgrigar@vancouver.wsu.edu

Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu

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