Game On (exhibition)

Game On (exhibition)

Game On is an exhibition organised and toured by the Barbican Art Gallery. The exhibition displays an historical view of video game development from early arcade games to the present. First featuring at the Barbican Art Gallery in 2002, the exhibition is claimed to have been seen by over 1 million people worldwide. The organisers state that "Visitors will be able to play games dating as far back as the 1960s" and hope to show the cultural impact of games and consoles. The exhibition attracted over 117,000 visitors in Melbourne, Australia in 2008 after previously attracting 99,500 at the Barbican Art Gallery in London and 127,000 in Chicago.

The exhibition's original curator, Conrad Bodman, stated that his goal was to "... look at the history, culture and the future of video games and try to unlock that for the general public." and "It's been really interesting developing the exhibition because these machines don't exist in public collections. They are the preserve of a small number of collectors around the world." Henry Lowood, at Stanford University, one of very few academics working to preserve video games and their culture, said "Since the late 20th century, cultural history includes digital game culture. It is not only the case that the history of this medium will be lost if we do not preserve the history of digital games, but also that we will not be able to provide a complete cultural history of this period."

Touring staff with the exhibition include a technician found in a retro games shop in London, who helps maintain the machines as well as help the show expand and grow.