Videogame showcase comes to NZ

I love gender and over-sexualisation of women in games as much as the next bloke but I feel like it has been largely covered already over this blog so I wish to discuss about something else, in particular an exhibition at a museum...about video games! Last weekend I went to the Game Masters exhibition in Te Papa, Wellington. My first reaction when hearing about this was “oh boy this is gonna filled with bratty children slobbering on the consoles with Call of Duty posters everywhere.” But yet again my cynical side was doused as I was slightly...impressed. 

The exhibition covered 40 years of videogames featuring over 100 playable games with in depth looks at the works of influential game designers such as Hideo Kojima and Will Wright. Te Papa is a very family friendly, interactive museum; quite a contrast to Auckland Museum which I suppose guided the decision to host the exhibit down there. The exhibit was broken down into 3 different segments, starting with Arcade Heroes, the first arcade games. Actual, original arcade machines sourced from collectors around the world and restored to their former glory with Pac Man, Missile Command and Tower of Druaga just to name a few could be played as the history of each game and the innovations behind them were annotated alongside. I could see why people would rather rush to the controllers than read the descriptions but I was becoming more captivated behind the reasoning why game designers had made a certain decision over another and how they stumbled upon an idea which would remain iconic in the gaming industry. The fact that I was also studying videogames at a university motivated me as I felt the exhibition could give some if any kind of benefit in studying for this course. ANYWHO along the chronological corridor of the interactive entertainment pastime was Game Changers: the section which covered the majority of the games there as it was about the groundbreaking creations of gaming superstars. 

Up first they had the ever so cheerful Mario and his plethora of games accompanied by Legend of Zelda and Sonic. The table laden with Nintendo 3DS was chocka block with people so I ventured fourth and tried my hand on the Sega Dreamcast for the first time. While diagetically immersed in the game (sorry had to put it in), I learnt to appreciate how far the development of games has come. You don’t need flashy graphics powered by a grunty, high performance console to have fun. It was about the game mechanics and the game I was playing, Chu Chu Rocket, was very addictive implementing strategy and patience as tools needed to advance in the game. Other notable games were Warcraft III (showing examples of cultural borrowing with the Orc and Elven races), Metal Gear Solid, Dance Central 2, got my ass handed to me trying to play Avenged Sevenfold on Guitar Hero and the Sim City series. Through interviews, art, and storyboards, you could discover the processes through which the designers’ ideas became completed games. One of the clips shown was of game designer Peter Molyneux who talks about the positives of showcasing his work in a public environment:

The wide range of games provided really showed how games cater for all ages, genders and skill levels.  The exhibit itself symbolised just how popular and integrated videogames have become in society and having a retrospective journey of its development meant you could appreciate this new medium and how much work really goes into it. Seeing all types of gamers there, ignoring the “hardcore” vs “casual” debate, you realise that at the end of the day, we are all having fun. Although subcultures within the community may look down upon “low cultured” gamers, it’s about personal experience and satisfaction from playing which differs from person to person.  Releasing games such as Dance Central 2 and Guitar Hero keeps the market open to a broad audience, accommodating to easy-going gamers for family-friendly environments. Overall it was a worthwhile experience, which of course ended with a high definition plasma touch screen version of Angry Birds and its ever-growing merchandise. I recommend it for anyone with any amount of interest in videogames. The exhibition runs pretty much every day through till the 28^th of April. http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/exhibitions/gamemasters/Pages/Welcome.aspx