Janet Christie: My Week - It’s Game On at the interactive gaming exhibition as I challenge my child at Space Invaders

The Space Invaders arcade machine is one of 100 hands on games that can be played at the National Museums Scotland's Game On exhibition in Edinburgh. Pic: J Christie

For me the best thing about old skool arcade video games is their sheer bulk - no one can say “‘Sakes!”, grab them out of your hand and start tapping away for you when you’re apparently being too slow.

Except I wasn’t slow when it came to playing the old Space Invader machine at the National Museums Scotland’s Game On exhibition which is on until November and covers 50 years of gaming history.

In fact I left Youngest Child way behind in the scores when my muscle memory kicked in and I remembered as if it was yesterday the technique of repeatedly hammering the fire button with the right hand while using the left to dodge out of the way of the aliens’ bullets. For once Youngest Child was impressed by my technological abilities, although I could have done without the backhanded “Oh, you’re actually quite good at this!” compliment.

Mario announces the National Museums of Scotland Game On Exhibition, in Edinburgh now. Pic: J Christie

Once more I was the teenager in the back room of a small town pub where the arrival of the Space Invader machine was the best thing since The Sex Pistols raced up the charts with God Save the Queen and we played while we waited our turn on the pool table in our version of a big Friday night out, in pixelated heaven.

I wasn’t the only gleeful vintage gamer to be seen at Game On wiping the floor with their offspring at this not to be missed celebration of all things Gaming, a journey through videogame history and development, and exploration of what makes them so popular, on the Game Boys, Guitar Hero and many other retro games on display. It turns out Youngest Child wasn’t such a hero with the guitar either, remembering too late that she was only ever allowed to sing, one big brother on drums and the other on guitar. Ditto her skills in Grand Theft Auto, since they ‘only ever let her drive the car around a bit, no guns’ when they were looking after her while I was otherwise distracted - working, making the tea, that kind of thing - that’s my boys. Bless.

But it’s not all about the past, as along with likes of the old Spectrum ZX (I had one of those too when I was a student in Dundee where they were being made at the old Timex factory and even then the city was at the forefront of gaming, later becoming the birthplace of Rockstar Games) there are exhibits right up to the present day as this industry takes an exponential leap forward into virtual reality.

This was where Youngest Child had her revenge but I left her to her immersive virtual world and headset and wandered around reading the information and looking at artifacts, playing my own game of totting up how much I must have spent over the years on Nintendos, GameBoys and PlayStation consoles and handsets for my offspring. But this made me an Angry Bird so I stopped and went back to reconnecting with old friends from my children’s youth like Pikachu and Sonic, shedding a virtual tear for our long-dead, neglected Tamagotchis). There are original drawings of characters such as Donkey Kong and Mario alongside fascinating snippets of info such as Nintendo originally wanted to use Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto but couldn’t agree on licensing so creator Shigeru Miyamoto created his own love triangle with Mario, Pauline and Donkey Kong.

The Space Invaders machine is one of 100 games visitors can get their hands on at National Museums Scotland's Game On exhibition. Pic: J Christie

It’s inspiring to see just how much Scotland punches well above its weight in its contribution to the gaming industry and it is well represented in this exhibition which is now back in its original 2002 opening venue after touring the world for over 20 years and attracting five million people. A lot has changed since the industry’s Pong and Pac-Man beginnings, with storytelling now as big as shoot ‘em up and independent developers getting in on the act too. With 100 playable games to get to grips with and fact-filled information and displays of the various generations of gaming, one two hour slot won’t be enough but you can give it your best shot. Game on!

Game On is at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh until 3 November 2024. Tickets are available to book at www.nms.ac.uk/GameOn