News circulated this morning details the interesting news that the Barbican, for many years a cultural high-point in the capital, is to host a huge Gaming exhibition, from the 16th of May to the 15th of September 2002.
The exhibition will be titled "GAMEON", and will explore the forty years-evolution of gaming culture internationally, from 1962. The event will be staged in the Barbican gallery, and guest Curator Lucien King (sounds like a gaming villain!) says: "The exhibition has taken us around the world from Europe and America to Japan in search of all of the good things that have come from games. Anybody who is an avid gamer or has a mild interest in electronic entertainment, will not want to miss out on this show. It's never been done before to this extent and is going to go down a storm with young and old alike."
Gaming icon Lara Croft will feaure, alongside Britsoft developers Core Entertainment, and Sim-series creators Maxis, will also be showing their influences in recent years.
Eleven 'themed' zones are promised, in a 'specially-designed' environment and these will include:
VINTAGE ARCADE GAMES AND COMPUTERS - Spacewar (1962) - developed by Steve Russell on a PDP-1 computer, Computer Space (1971), Pong (1972), Space Invaders (1978), Pac-Man (1980), Donkey Kong (1981)
RARE CONSOLES AND HANDHELDS including computer and console hardware such as Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, Sega, Sinclair and Sony
MACHINES THAT REVOLUTIONISED GAMING - Magnavox Odyssey (1972), Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1982), Sony PlayStation (1995) and much more!
EXHILARATING INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS
GAMES FAMILIES with 50 playable games stations including historical and newly released games
CREATIVE MINDS BEHIND THESE TOP GAMES: DMA/Rockstar Games - Grand Theft Auto, Core Design - Tomb Raider, Maxis - The Sims, The Pokémon Phenomenon
GAME CULTURE - Cultural links and differences of games from Europe, North America and Japan.
CHILDREN'S GAMES AREA - Artwork, handhelds and games stations that reflect both historical and current games that influence children aged 4 years old and up.
SOUND INTERACTION - Soundtracks from games by Robbie Williams (FIFA Football 2000), Chemical Brothers (WipeOut), The Cardigans (Grand Turismo), Ian Dury (Duex Machina).
CINEMA & GAMES - The hottest film posters and clips and playable games. Super Mario Brothers, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, Tron, Golden Eye, & Star Wars Rogue Squadron.
FILM SEASON - Shown at Barbican Screen including screenings of Tron, The Matrix, and Final Fantasy.
THE FUTURE OF COMPUTER GAMES featuring all the latest hardware in development and perspectives on the future from gamers and industry insiders
ON-LINE AND MULTI-PLAYER GAMES
ACCESS TO KEY GAME WEBSITES AND PUBLICATIONS
CONTEMPORARY ART COMMISSIONS - New works by a range of leading contemporary artists that examine the strands that underlie the cultural phenomenon of computer games including cinema, music, character, graffiti.
SHOP - Buy vintage and contemporary hardware, software, books and magazines
BOOK (£19.95) features authors Steven Poole (Trigger Happy) and J.C. Herz (Joystick Nation).
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION TOUR starting with a showing at The Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh (October 2002 - February 2003)
All of which sounds intriguing, and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as the likes and pleasures of gamers appear to have been well-considered. Which makes a change.
More News when we have it, in the meantime please feel free to leave your comments on the exhibition's content, using the links below.
By Luke Guttridge
