The largest playable exhibition of video games in the world is coming to Edinburgh next summer. 

Game On will celebrate 60 years of iconic video game characters like Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Lara Croft when it returns to the National Museum of Scotland

Curated by Barbican Immersive, the exhibition will open more than 20 years after the museum was its first touring venue in October 2002. 

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It will feature the largest playable collection of video games in the world, including original arcade, handle hand, and console games. 

The legendary games which can be played by visitors will include the likes of Pac-Man, Super Mario, Tetris, Minecraft, Just Dance, and Fife. 

When is the Game On exhibition in Edinburgh?

The Herald: Visitors will be able to enjoy more than 100 playable gamesVisitors will be able to enjoy more than 100 playable games (Image: Game On)

The Game On exhibition is at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh from June 29 to November 3, 2024

The exhibition is organised in thematic sections, inviting visitors to explore game design and technological parallels across the decades. 

The sections will explore different types of gaming, from handheld to home console to arcade machines, across a range of genres. 

It will also examine wider cultural aspects, such as the links between gaming and both music and film

How to get tickets for Game On exhibition

Tickets will go on sale for the Game On exhibition in spring 2024 on the National Museum of Scotland website.

Members of the museum will be able to access the exhibition for free, while ticket prices for exhibitions are normally around £11 for adults and free for under 16s.

You can sign up for email updates for tickets on the National Museum of Scotland website.

'Over 100 playable games'

The Herald: The Game On exhibitionThe Game On exhibition (Image: Game On)

Patrick Moran, Game On associate curator, said: “The gaming world has had an undeniable social, cultural, and technological impact. Games transcend the boundaries between art and technology, becoming part of popular culture.

"Game On presents the opportunity to not only see the evolution of video games and how they have diversified, but also lets to immerse yourself inside the gaming world allowing you to play with over 100 playable games.

"The exhibition also explores new advances in the gaming world. Highly interactive, all action, groundbreaking and popular, Game On is engaging for hardcore gamers and visitors new to the gaming, the show is suitable for players of all ages.” 

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Dr Geoff Belknap, keeper of science and technology at National Museums Scotland, said: “It’s exciting to see the rapid changes in gaming technologies over the last 20 years reflected in this exhibition through objects which I used to have in my own living room.

"The exhibition has been continually updated at each new touring venue since the early 2000s, when the show was first in Edinburgh, and so we look forward to bringing the story of video gaming right up to date here in Scotland, where the industry today is so vibrant.”