Game Masters

The new addition to the Melbourne Winter Masters series is ACMI’s Game Masters which is now showing. Media were treated to a launch hosted by ABC’s Good Game hosts Bajo and Hex with a Q and A panel with Warren Spector (USA, creator of Deus Ex), Tim Schaffer (USA, creator of Psychonauts), Rob Murray (AUST) and curator Conrad Bodman.

“I am not embarrassed to call games art anymore” stated Warren Spector; it is now a fundamental part in our culture, one that has been around for many years and has escalated in the past 10 to 15. This is helped by the growth of new technology and skill based areas offered these days.

With 125 playable games, models, rare concept art and commissioned interviews with masters of gaming the Premier and Minister of the Arts Ted Baillieu launched Game Masters. The space is also filled with bright neon colours; patched carpet shapes all to work in with the gaming eras.

^ Diablo III Artwork, Blizzard Entertainment, 2012,

© Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Taking a step through time to early arcade games such as Pacman, Asteroids and Robotron. With a large display of game consoles over time it is followed by Nintendo and the Sega generation with Mario Kart and Sonic the Hedgehog but also more recent with the DS and Wii consoles plus currently released games.

Desktops and Laptops take over with Blizzard Entertainment showcasing Diablo III, the huge MMORPG World of Warcraft and Starcraft with concept sketches for mapping and character design. It is amazing to see how much work is involved behind the scenes. Then moving on to the creation that is The Sims still using the PC format you can see the evolution from where it first began.

With many more games and designers to play and look at, another great section of the exhibition is Indies; Independent Gaming designers, from point and click play to application games for mobiles, there is such divers aesthetics in each one, giving them their own uniqueness.

Game Masters is now on at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image right through to the 28^th October, for more information head to ACMI’s website. 

^ Machinarium by Jakub Dvorsky 2009, image courtesy of Amanita Design.