This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the first video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey. Since then, the world of interactive entertainment – "a new medium that is beyond traditional definitions used in the fine art world" – has evolved exponentially, via multiple generations of Atari, Nintendo, Sega, PlayStation and Xbox consoles. A heavily illustrated companion book to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s current exhibit of the same name, The Art of Video Games features a series of interviews with video game designers, plus trivia-rific profiles of some 80 key titles, from Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Sonic to Splinter Cell, Halo, BioShock, Fallout, Uncharted and Mass Effect. Prepare to be filled with awe – and nostalgia!