The success of the Game On exhibition at the
Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne's Federation Square has
exceeded all expectations, with over 100,000 people visiting during the past four
months.
The exhibition, which closes on Sunday,
features 125 playable games which let visitors play their way through the
entire 40-year history of interactive entertainment.
Game On's original curator Conrad Bodman
says the initial idea behind the exhibition was to present the creative process
of games development in a public art gallery.
"We wanted to look at the history and
culture and the future of video games and try to unlock that for the general
public," says Mr Bodman, who is now head of exhibitions at ACMI.
One of the most popular attractions at Game
On has been the treasure trove of original arcade machines from the late 1970s
and early 80s, including Space Invaders, Galaga, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong,
letting nostalgic long-time gamers play games from their youth on their
original format.
ACMI Director Tony Sweeney says it well:
"For many people, playing Space Invaders or Pac-Man in arcades, plugging
in their first Atari, or buying a handheld game like Donkey Kong was as
significant an experience as buying their first record or seeing Star Wars at
the drive in."
Like many veteran gamers, Conrad Bodman has
fond memories of playing arcade machines like Pong and Space Invaders as a
teenager.
"I came to games in the late 70s as a
lot of people did. From people from my generation there's a real nostalgia
dimension to the show because people really feel warmth about this particular
period. It's the gameplay, the arcades themselves, the sound.
"The thing that's notable (about Game
On) is that all of the games are shown in their original format. They are all
played on their original hardware and using the software that would have been
used at the time."
Mr Bodman believes it is "absolutely
fundamental" to the exhibition to let people play games rather than just
see them, and on their original formats, despite the significant challenges
involved in obtaining the machines and keeping them in working order.
"Using contemporary formats like (PC
arcade emulation software) MAME is a good way of showing games when we have no
other way, but we have to show games on their original formats because that's
the way they were designed. It wouldn't be being true to the creators."
One of the benefits for the games industry
of institutions like ACMI presenting games to the public in a high-profile
exhibition like Game On is that it might help legitimise the cultural value of
the interactive medium.
"When you place something in a museum
or gallery context, it does have that effect," Mr Bodman says.
"But we're not creating any artifice
here, there is a substantial history over the last 45 years and we're looking
at a historical trajectory from the early 60s to the present day with some key
technical and creative developments along the way."
Mr Bodman says games have been "little
acknowledged" by museums and galleries in the past but are very important
for institutions like ACMI.
"I really do feel that this kind of
material will have to form the basis of major public collections in the future,
otherwise we will lose a big proportion of our art history. There are many
major institutions around the world who are beginning to think about
this."
ACMI Director Tony Sweeney says that with
the exponential growth in popularity of games over the last 35 years, they have
become "a major cultural reference point in our society".
"(Games are) an integral part of
today's kaleidoscopic whirlpool of pop culture capable of invoking misty-eyed
nostalgia as well as feeding off and influencing other creative forms such as
movies, music, television," he says.
ACMI Games Curator Helen Stuckey also stresses
that games "are really important art".
"ACMI should celebrate them. I think
they're going to be the most significant artform in the 21st century. They're
still growing up, not just in terms of the technology but also the
possibilities of the imagination."
Tomorrow Gamesmaster will be speaking at
ACMI as part of the final week of Game On with Zero Punctuation star Ben
"Yahtzee" Croshaw. Tickets for the free 6pm event "Yahtzee and
Jason Hill in Conversation" will be available tomorrow at the ACMI Box
Office from 10am.