The result is the ambitious show “KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art.” The show, which opens this weekend, runs through Sept. 7.

“The more we worked on putting this show together, the more we realized it hadn’t been done before,” said gallery senior curator Bruce Grenville, who picked the curators for the show’s seven sections. “There are great comic book shows, great video game shows, great anime shows, et cetera. We decided to bring them all together.”

In KRAZY!, a 20,000-square-foot exhibition – one of the gallery’s largest – several pop-culture planets collide. There are separate and distinct (but connected) sections for graphic novels, comics, manga, anime, cartoons, video games and visual art.

“These things don’t happen in isolation,” Grenville said. “If you talk to the people who make video games, often they’re interested in this cartoon or that anime or that manga. And there’s a very specific dialogue among the fans and the people who work in these industries.”

The gallery required section curators to capture the essential elements of their media while showcasing the evolutions of their chosen fields.

For video game fans, the gaming section curated by an industry giant is a must-see. Will Wright, the celebrated creator of such best-selling game franchises as SimCity and The Sims, is the curator. He had to narrow his section down to just 10 of the most influential games and game designers of the past four decades.

“It was really hard to pick out just 10 games, but I tried to make it a good cross-section of gaming history,” said Wright, who was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2002.

Wright’s portion of the show starts with Iwatani Toru’s Pac-Man and also celebrates Shigeru Miyamoto’s Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Rock Star’s Grand Theft Auto III (Wright is a big fan of the recently released GTA IV), and id Software’s Quake.

The selection process became more difficult when the gallery insisted that Wright dedicate two slots to his own games. He chose The Sims, one of the world’s best-selling games, published by Electronic Arts in 2000, and Spore, perhaps his most highly anticipated game due out in September.

Wright prides himself on making games that put development “tools” into the hands of players. The open-ended nature of his games allows gamers the freedom to create their own experiences instead of sticking to a specified story track. “It’s the players that have the really interesting stories to tell,” he said.

To illustrate that point, a good part of his section is dedicated to the PC game Quake, which was an early title that allowed players to create their own playable content and share it with other gamers. It was also one of the games that spawned the “machinima” movement in which movie makers use game worlds and characters to make short films.

Grenville said he expects fans of the represented genres to comment on the items on display – as well as those left out. The Fan Base segment of the exhibit includes a row of computers so fans can have their say, while inviting curators to join the conversations, Grenville said.

Bill Hutchens: 253-597-8460

blogs.thenewstribune.com/gamers What: “KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art”

When: Through Sept. 7

Where: The Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby St., Vancouver, B.C.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily (open until 9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Admission: $19.50 general, $15 ages 65 and older, $14 for students with valid I.D., $6.50 for children ages 5-12, free for children 4 and younger, $49 for families (two adults and two children).

Highlights: The “KRAZYTALK!” lecture series includes:

 • Manga and Graphic Design: Michael Amzalag & Mathias Agustyniak, 7 p.m. Friday

 • Animation and Feature Film Direction: Tim Johnson, 7 p.m. May 29

 • Video Games: Will Wright, 7 p.m. June 4

There will also be comic demonstrations from 2 to 5 p.m. July 6 and 13 and Aug. 3 and 10, and animation demonstrations from 2 to 5 p.m. July 27 and Aug. 24.

Information: www.vanartgallery.bc.ca