GAME MASTERS AT NMS DESIGN OF THE TIMES

A pioneering exhibition that charts the history of video game designers, Game Masters arrives in Edinburgh in December for its only European date so far.

Henry Northmore nds out more

W e’ll start with an easy one: how many i lm directors can you name? Probably loads. How many record producers? Trickier but still a decent handful. How about game designers? Even with pop culture icons like Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog or global franchises such as Angry Birds and Grand Theft Auto, most people would struggle to name a single videogame designer. Millions upon millions of people play games every day but only the most dedicated have looked beyond the bytes at the artists who create these complex electronic playgrounds.

Game Masters hopes to redress that balance, shining a light on the s behind some of the world s most popular titles. digital masterminds behind some of the world’s most popular titles. hibition’s only European stopover after premiering This will be the exhibition’s only European stopover after premiering Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne. ‘It at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne. ‘It key names behind the games people know focuses on all the key names behind the games people know Rothwell who curated the s Sarah and love,’ explains Sarah Rothwell who curated the content which will be on ottish content which will be on Scottish exclusive ame Masters opens at the Masters opens at the display when Game S c o t l a n d of National Museum of S c o t l a n d this December.

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‘Not ‘Not There will be over 100 playable games from early the pioneers 70s and 80s to g the home gaming 90s revolution of the 90s soles and the to next gen consoles and the gaming we see today. explosion in casual gaming we see today. mselves but the artwork behind the games just the games themselves but the artwork behind the games umentaries,’ says Rothwell. ‘So you as well as video documentaries,’ says Rothwell. ‘So you nl uences and the key points the are able to see the inl uences and the key points the cing when they were trying developers were facing when they were trying ames at the time. You are to achieve these games at the time. You are ll understanding of what really getting a full understanding of what the games.’ went into creating the games.’ led with mavericks who It’s a world i lled with mavericks who undaries of technology. Game Masters Masters pushed at the boundaries of technology. Game on entitled Arcade Heroes highlighting Tomohiro starts with a section entitled Arcade Heroes highlighting Tomohiro eated the original Space Invaders released in 1978; Nishikado, who created the original Space Invaders released in 1978; gave the world Pac-Man in 1980 and Shigeru Toru Iwatani who gave the world Pac-Man in 1980 and Shigeru s the most inl uential games designer of all time. Miyamoto, perhaps the most inl uential games designer of all time. orking with Nintendo in 1977 his career mirrored Since he started working with Nintendo in 1977 his career mirrored ld f and shaped the world of gaming from the release of Donkey Kong at the arcades in 1981 before spearheading home gaming with Super Mario Bros and Zelda and playing a major role in developing the revolutionary Wii console in 2006.

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The Wii brought gaming back to the masses. Home consoles were caught up in a power struggle over better graphics and faster processing. The Wii threw out the rule book: you didn’t need to learn a series of complex controls, the Wii Remote was intuitive and aimed at a wider family market. The recent rise of casual gaming on mobile phones, tablets and handheld devices completely changed the landscape. Recent statistics from a study by the Internet Advertising Bureau show that the

market has shifted. The clichéd image of spotty teenage boys hunched over their consoles is now wildly inaccurate. For a start, nearly everyone is a gamer these days: 70% of the UK population (33.5 million) played a game in the last six months and 52% of those gamers were female. This is no longer a niche hobby. From trivia games to Angry Birds to SingStar, the world of gaming is now expansive and inclusive. ‘We’re all gaming more than ever,’ says Rothwell. ‘We’re actually engaging with it in many different forms. The traditional form of sitting down at a computer or arcade machine has changed it’s so much easier than ever before.’

It was also It was also ‘There are ‘There are

important to showca important to showcase Scotland’s contribution. over 95 organisatio over 95 organisations that work within games development in Sco development in Scotland,’ adds Rothwell. ‘One of the big names th of the big names that appeared i rst in the late 80s and early 90s 80s and early 90s was DMA Design. So we’ll have artwo have artwork from Lemmings which was cre was created in 1991 and some of the o the original scripts from the i rst Gra Grand Theft Auto.’ T The developers of the world c conquering Grand Theft Auto s series, which has become one of the most successful videogames of all time, are now based in Edinburgh and better known as Rockstar North. But GTA is just the tip of tip of the iceberg Scotland is a hive hive of innovation. ‘It’s one of Scotla Scotland’s leading exports. We have have three independent developers which which we’ll be highlighting. We’ve got S got Space Budgie from Dundee very yo very young team straight out of the University of Abertay. T University of Abertay. They are creating some really interesting interesting games at the moment [includin [including Glitchspace, 9.03m and K and Konformity]; Simon Meek fr from Glasgow’s The Story Mechanics who developed the interactive The 39 Steps and Edinburgh’s Lucky h i their BAFTA Award-winning game hi hli h i

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Bad Hotel.’ Gaming has become a facet of modern life and slowly but surely people are starting to take the medium seriously. ‘The technical side and the engineering is another form of art and design that people don’t always appreciate because they see it as recreational,’ adds Rothwell. ‘It’s important to highlight the work and people behind the scenes that create these wonderful games that we all enjoy.’

Game Masters, National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Fri 5 Dec–Mon 20 Apr.

13 Nov–11 Dec 2014 THE LIST 13