Game On Exhibition in Melbourne
May 16th, 2008 Posted in Games
OK, here goes (with Wikipedia links for interesting stuff)… As planned, we visited the “Game On” exhibition today at Federation Square in Melbourne. It’s basically a showcase covering the development of video games over time (for more information, visit the Game On web page- entry is $15 for adults, it’s open 10am-6pm every day, and it’s on until July 13). Having heard little about the exhibit itself prior to visiting– except for (pretty much) what’s written above– I wasn’t sure what to expect, but what did I think afterwards?
I suppose the most important and simple question to ask is: Is it worth $15? And the answer: Hell yes. Most indeededly. Think about it- there’s a shitload of games in there, and you can play any one you like, as much as you like. Granted, we went during the day on a weekday, so we kind of had free reign to do whatever the hell we wanted, but still, there’s plenty there to get your money’s worth– and who’s to say you don’t want to stay all day? Not me.
To squash it all into one uncomfortable paragraph: Virtually all systems are represented and playable (Spectrum, PC, Atari Jaguar, and Xbox 360, to name a few), including those that weren’t released in Oz (PC Engine, for example). On top of that, sections also seem to be (I say seem to be because it’s not overly obvious) split into simple genres- sports, action, music, and so on, and so the more popular systems are represented several times over by their more popular games (Goldeneye: 007, Super Mario 64, Burnout Paradise, and Halo 3 are some examples that immediately spring to mind). There is a handhelds section (DS, Gameboy, PSP, etc., all available to play–including an old-skool Game&Watch), and an online section (with playable Pirates of the Burning Sea), plus a screening area dedicated to Machinima (which I don’t understand the allure of, so I avoided like the plague). Arcade machines were represented as well, but only by a few (well chosen) machines– including the mighty Pong on big screen, that is to say “projected on the wall”. Worked for me.
So, what of it? Well, to be totally honest, I had never played the original version of Pong, so I was stoked to try that. Plus, it was fun to screw around on a working Jaguar (Tempest 2000 is SO ace). It was also nice to have a look-see at Pirates of the Burning Sea, which, as it turns out, is just WoW with Pirates… Not a bad thing if you like WoW, but I don’t.
Apart from those exceptional moments, much of what I did and saw were things I could do and see at home.
I played a bit of Rez, but I can do that on Xbox Live Arcade. I tried Burnout Paradise, and was sold on it’s friggin awesomeness, but can’t afford it, myself (dammit). Mihoko and a friend of ours played some Table Tennis, but we have that at home, too. And many of the older games are readily available to those in the know. But the beauty of it was to be able to play the old games on the old machines. To relive Ridge Racer on PS1 was a pretty nice feeling. Playing Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64 brought back some fond memories, and I finally got to try Game Cube Smash Brothers, which went down a treat because there were four controllers attached.
So I guess what I am saying is- it wasn’t quite what I expected (and was fairly obviously sponsored by Nintendo, although they did not dominate the event, which was good), but it was well worth the money. Just the chance to play the games all day if you so wish is worth the entrance fee (remember the price of arcades? they got to over $2/play before they died out, so $15 for all-you-can-play is pretty good, I reckon), but there was more to see, if you were interested… They had some special systems on display (Virtual Boy, and Sony Yaroze, for example), which weren’t playable (well, there was one Indie game on the Yaroze, but I didn’t try it). They had behind the scenes kinda jazz for some big-name games– Grand Theft Auto (don’t ask about my copy of GTA4…), Max Payne (for some reason), and The Sims. And you got a free copy of the original Sim City as part of the entrance fee. So it was all good.
We only stayed about 2 hours, but it was time well spent, money well spent, and we are even considering going AGAIN, if time and money permits, which is not likely. So, if you are in Melbourne, have the time to get into the city, and have $15 to spare, why not check out the Game On exhibition? It won’t be everything you want it to be, but it will be worth it.
Oops, think I went overboard with the links… Oh well, check ‘em out- some of them were quite interesting!
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