Issue 41 Spring web - Flipbook - Page 88
Major video game exhibition to
open in Edinburgh in summer
Game On, the largest interactive exhibition of the history
and the culture of video games, will return to Edinburgh
next summer. The exhibition, featuring iconic characters
and games ranging from Space Invaders to Sonic the
Hedgehog and Mario to Minecraft, runs from 29 June to
3 November 2024 at the National Museum of Scotland.
Game On, an exhibition conceived and curated by
Barbican Immersive, examines the creative and technological advances that have established a new medium and
artform. In Game On, visitors explore gaming's rich
history by playing many of the key games produced over
the last 50 years.
The exhibition will open over 20 years after the National
Museum of Scotland was its very first touring venue in
October 2002, after its initial opening run at the Barbican
in London.
Since then, over five million people of all ages, have
visited this highly interactive exhibition in 24 cities
around the world.
Patrick Moran, Game On Associate Curator, said:
“The gaming world has had an undeniable social, cultural,
and technological impact. Games transcend the boundaries between art and technology, becoming part of popular culture. Game On presents the opportunity to not
only see the evolution of video games and how they have
diversified, but also lets to immerse yourself inside the
gaming world allowing you to play with over 100 playable
games. The show features the largest playable collection
in the world, including original arcade, handle hand, and
console games, including Pac-Man, Super Mario, Tetris,
Minecraft, Just Dance and FIFA. The exhibition also
explores new advances in the gaming world. Highly
interactive, all action, groundbreaking and popular, Game
On is engaging for hardcore gamers and visitors new to
the gaming, the show is suitable for players of all ages.”
Dr Geoff Belknap, Keeper of Science and Technology at
National Museums Scotland said:
“It’s great to welcome Game On back to the National
Museum of Scotland. As someone in charge of science
and technology collections, it’s exciting to see the rapid
changes in gaming technologies over the last 20 years
reflected in this exhibition through objects which I used
to have in my own living room. The exhibition has been
continually updated at each new touring venue since the
early 2000s, when the show was first in Edinburgh, and
so we look forward to bringing the story of video gaming
right up to date here in Scotland, where the industry
today is so vibrant.”
The exhibition is organised in thematic sections, inviting
visitors to explore game design and technological parallels
across the decades. The sections explore different types
of gaming, from handheld to home console to arcade
machines across a range of genres, as well as wider cultural
aspects such as the links between gaming and both music
and film.
The exhibition will be supported by a programme of
public events.
