Kingston University to host exhibition showcasing history of microcomputers and early gaming

The history of home computing and video games is set to be showcased in an exclusive exhibition at Kingston University’s award-winning Town House building, with games such as Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog and Pac-Man available to be played on their original gaming consoles.

The Archive of Retro Computing will take place from 21-28 August at the University featuring more than 60 computers from the late 1970s to the early 1990s – all of which will be fully operational and playable to attendees during the free public exhibition.

The event, which follows on from last year’s successful Creating the Everything Device exhibition, has been organised by the newly-formed Archive of Retro Computing at Kingston University (ARC@KU) which has been established to preserve and showcase early microcomputers and game consoles of the past.

Exhibition visitors will be able to play retro games on all the machines on display, including classics such as Super Mario Bros, Space Invaders, Sonic the Hedgehog and Pac-Man. In addition, they will be able to try their hand at programming and experience the technology many leading figures in today’s Tech and games industry were inspired by. 

Course leader for Kingston University’s Computer Science BSc (Hons) programme Paul Neve said the playable consoles on display would include the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and Atari 2600. “Many of the games on show established studios and franchises that still exist today, with some developers going on to become giants of the games industry, like Activision and Rare. It’s a great opportunity to play some of these classic titles on original hardware with original controllers,” he said.

As well as the classic games, visitors will also be able to experiment on vintage microcomputers such as the Sinclair Spectrum, BBC Micro and Commodore 64. Mr Neve commented that these computers laid the foundations for the devices used today. “With the introduction of these machines we are able to chart the rise of the flourishing computer industry we see today with PCs, Macs, laptops, tablets and smartphones,” he said. “Before their introduction computers were only available to scientists and businesses – these machines have made computers accessible to everyday people in their homes and for children in schools.”

Computer science with professional placement student Jihun Park, who graduated earlier this month, said it was exciting to have access to such a wide variety of machines through the ages.

“Computer technology is one of the most important innovations and technological breakthroughs of our times” the 21-year-old from the Republic of Korea said. “All of the machines featured in the exhibition have, step-by-step, contributed to the world we live in today.  The technological advances have led in one way or another to affect things like our domestic appliances to how major infrastructure like transportation has developed – some of these machines were the first programmed to control aeroplanes, the world would be very different without the advancements they have contributed.

The free exhibition is open to the public and will be open from 10am to 6.30pm each day from Thursday 21 August to Thursday 28 August.

• Find out more about studying computer science at Kingston University.