UK To Host New Game On Exhibition

The British Science Museum in London is to host a newly updated iteration of the popular Game On exhibition, aimed at illustrating the history of video games as well as exhibiting art inspired by the industry. Opening on October 21st, the exhibition will run until February 25th, 2007. The first Game On took place at the Barbican in London in 2002, before touring the rest of the UK and internationally. The exhibition was hosted by The San Jose Tech Museum and twice by the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, the second time in updated form. The exhibition aimed to demonstrate over three decades of video games across all formats and, despite inevitable complaints over omissions and unnecessary inclusions, proved popular with visitors and industry figures alike. The new exhibit is sponsored by Nintendo and will include a series of supporting activities running alongside the main exhibition, both in the exhibition space itself and the Science Museum’s innovative Dana Centre. These will range from debates and speaker sessions to investigations into the science behind video games and how players interact with them. Nottingham-based artist Jon Burgerman has also been commissioned to provide several video game themed pieces for the exhibition in his trademark street art style. Likely to be one of the more controversial aspects of the exhibition, Burgerman will contribute a visual timeline of games as well as more abstract pieces. Gaetan Lee, programmes developer at the Science Museum said: “Game On traces the science behind the dramatic developments in computer game production over the last thirty years and tackles some of the serious issues behind this huge multi billion pound industry. And we’re particularly excited that Science Museum visitors will have a chance to see the PDP-1, the computer that ran the world’s first video game, Space War, and the world’s first manufactured arcade game, Computer Space from 1971, as well as the chance to play classic arcade games like Space Invaders, Asteroids and Ms Pac-Man. Nowhere else will people be able to see the entire history of the games industry laid out, explained and ready to play.” Further information on the event can be found at the Science Museum’s official website.