Powerhouse holds retro gaming weekend

Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum will this weekend hold a series of special exhibits and events around a retro video gaming theme, featuring such classics as Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga.

The festivities kick off from 6pm tonight (Friday), with a number of game developers discussing what it was like to develop, design and play games in the 1980’s, before the birth of many of the technologies that drive today’s immersive video game experience.

A DJ will play music inspired by games and the 1980’s while the museum’s bar will serve drinks to patrons.

On Saturday and Sunday the museum has a full schedule of events planned, many suitable for kids. For example, it has classic arcade games available to play (including Super Mario Bros), an 80’s games-inspired craft workshop for kids, and at lunchtime a panel discussion hosted by video publication Byteside, on “how far has gaming come?”.

Similar events are planned for Sunday. The retro gaming weekend is part of the Powerhouse’s wider exhibit around the 1980’s, which also includes such items on display as Michael Jackson’s sequined jacket and silver glove.

The event reflects the popularity which retro computer games still appear to enjoy. All three major video game consoles, as well as the flexible PC, offer options for users to download and play older video games which came out in the 1990’s and 1980’s.

In addition, some video games have undergone renovation to bring them up to speed with the more powerful graphics options offered by today’s generation of consoles and PCs. One recently featured game on games publisher Valve’s Steam platform, for example, has been a re-make of Serious Sam: The First Encounter, which first came out back in 2001.

Image credit: Namco/Midway