Pong to Kong

This fantastic exhibition traces the origins and development of the modern electronic game and allows visitors an opportunity to try out machines both ancient and modern! A must for anyone who has ever played!

Amazing, but back in 1970 there were no video games. Now electronic gaming is a huge market reaching just about every corner of the globe surpassing even the gross earnings of the film industry. In 2008 earnings are set to pass global sales of recorded music.

It all started in 1972 with not so much a bang, but a whimper! That year saw the release of the Magnavox Odyssey in the US. This was the first home games console that could plug into your TV to produce an interactive game for one of more players.

The Odyssey was very primitive - it produced a black & white image of dots and squares that could be manipulated with simple turn-knob controllers. To make this into a game, coloured acetate overlays for the front of the TV were supplied that gave structure and format. It also came with cards, plastic and paper money, boards and dice to 'enhance' game play just like standard boardgames. Although different configurations were built into the console, wafer -like cards acting as simple switches had to be inserted to change between games - no microchips here! The Odyssey was not a great success but the 'idea' was born.

In 1977, Atari, who had great success with its video arcade Pong machines, produced the most important leap forward with the VCS or 2600 home console. With its built in microprocessors, colour output and ability to takes interchangeable cartridges, the development of hundreds of games was possible. This machine effectively launched electronic gaming, selling around 30 million units world wide.

Over 100 consoles and hand held units are displayed charting the major changes over the last 4 decades. The exhibition also looks at how a modern game is made; the development of the microprocessor; and the history of Blitz Games Studios, Britain's largest independent games developer.