Patrick Alvarado/Museum of the Moving Image A model of the PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1) computer.Museum gallery will become shooting gallery on Dec. 15 when “Spacewar! Videogames Blastoff†opens at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. The exhibit celebrates the 50th anniversary of a pioneering digital video game developed by students and researchers at M.I.T.
The two-player Spacewar! game had its premiere at the 1962 M.I.T. Science Festival, where it was intended to demonstrate the power of the then-new PDP-1 computer. The project, according to a statement from the museum, not only established a template for the relationship between the game industry and n ew technology but also introduced “shooting as a common aspect of game play.â€
The exhibit, which follows hot on the heels of the Smithsonian's recent “Art of the Video Game†show, will offer some friendly fire alongside its historical displays. In addition to a replica version of Spacewar!, playable on a model of the PDP-1 (very few of the original machines survive), visitors can contribute to a million-gun birthday salute, thanks to playable versions of Computer Space (1971), Space Invaders (1979), Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), Halo 4 (2012) and 16 other arcade and console games indebted to Spacewar!
