Video game display hits right buttons

Perth Museum and Art Gallery is up for a national award for an interactive exhibition that traced and celebrated 30 years of the video game industry.

The local history treasure trove has been shortlisted in the Enterprising Museum category at the 30th annual Arts and Business Scotland Awards for ‘Player: Videogame Interaction from Atari to Toys for Life’.

The innovative showcase, featuring computer games from 1988’s Spectrum to today’s PS4, ran from July to September. It allowed visitors to pick up consoles and try the exhibits out for themselves to see up close how video gaming has changed through the last three decades.

The exhibition was run by Culture Perth and Kinross in conjunction with the University of Abertay in Dundee, drawing crowds of all ages to Perth Museum and Art Gallery after a launch by Chris van der Kuyl – chairman of the City of Discovery’s 4J Studios, which developed ‘Minecraft : Console Edition’.

Culture Perth and Kinross chief executive Helen Smout said: “When we launched our Player exhibition we knew it would capture the imagination of people locally and across the country and it did.

“We’re proud that it also got the attention of Arts and Business Scotland with this awards shortlisting. It’s testament to all the hard work from Culture Perth and Kinross to bring museum and library services to the people in an innovative, exciting way.”

The awards ceremony is on March 23 in Glasgow.