The National Videogame Arcade was established to preserve key pieces of popular culture, to educate and to shed light on the positive impact of gaming People can make different kinds of games, for different
reasons, so it’s not just about the commercial side of things any more, it’s enabled people to be more expressive and create games for the love of doing it. Prior to that, the loop of video game production and
consumption for 30 years or so had been broadly the same group of people making games for the same group of players, which is very myopic. Technology and culture have helped to break that cycle.
JS: Why do you think it’s important to have a National Videogame Arcade, to preserve all that history and to tell the story of the gaming industry? IS: There are a few reasons, I think. When you look at cinema, some of the most important,
early pieces of celluloid film, which helped to establish what was until recent times the most dominant art form in the world, have been lost because nobody thought it was important. It’s the same with television. We’ve lost some key pieces of popular culture, because
no-one thought to preserve them. In terms of mindshare, the sheer amount of time that
people, in general, invest in consuming video games far outstrips the time they invest in consuming film or television or other art forms. The amount of time that people spend playing a game is
far longer than the two hours it takes to watch a film, and it’s something that people tend to go back to again and again and again. That has to mean something and we need to understand,
interpret and bring into the light what games are, because they can be incredibly positive. Also, as a parent, which I wasn’t when we started
GameCity, I have now got a good perspective on how little information there is out there for parents about games. For example, if your child is good at football, they can
join a football team. If they are good at music, they can join a band or an orchestra. But if your child is interested in computer games, where
do they go? I’m not saying we’re able to provide a comprehensive
answer to that, but we’re certainly helping to shed some light on it.
JS: What sort of role does NVA play in the community? IS: We host a lot of school trips at NVA, which are split into three broad categories – we get general Alton Towers-type trips, where kids come only to play the games. We also get computer science pupils wanting to make games. The most interesting ones, to me, are the English or humanities students who come here to look at where games and gaming can be applied to areas that aren’t necessarily linked to computing, using applications like (interactive storytelling applications) Twine or Write, for example. We do game-making clubs at the weekends and after school, and we do ‘Clicksilver’ events for senior citizens.
24 business network May 2016 We strive to be the sort of place that inspires, where
everybody feels welcome, can learn about games and create something. We’re aware that people do things in school, such as code clubs, and also how the curriculum is developing. We don’t see our role as creating the curriculum, we see our role as complementing it.
JS: Is the potential there for the next Lara Croft or Candy Crush to be created by someone you've worked with as part of that outreach work? IS: The simple answer is yes, of course it would be fantastic for someone to come here, learn the basics and go on to create the next big game franchise or ten million download mobile game. For me, though, it’s more about an 11-year- old girl from Beeston, or wherever, coming here and being inspired to go home, download Unity – a game development application - and create something that makes her reconsider what she thought games were all about. I find that really exciting.
JS: Do you have a favourite part of NVA? IS: Intellectually, I’m really excited by the Game Inspectors section we have here, which gives people the opportunity to look at the process behind the finished product to explore how games are put together. I’m also hugely excited about the potential of virtual
reality. We’ve had it here for only a few weeks, but I can already see from people’s reactions to it that it is probably the most powerful, persuasive technology I have ever seen. The surprising one, for me, is our room of 100 objects,
which basically tells the story of video games from the start to the present day. We’ve got a lot of key pieces of video game culture in there from over the years and that’s the one room that people tend to respond to the most, on an emotional level, mainly because it holds a lot of nostalgic value for people and many of them will have had some of these objects in their lives at various times, so will have some sort of investment in them. I think the point here is that the history of games isn’t
necessarily just about the history of games, it’s more about the role that games have played in British social culture, in people’s lives, over the years.
JS: This part of the East Midlands has a rich tradition within the sector and established itself as a key part of the British gaming industry. Why do you think that is? IS: There are a few really obvious things which drive this. I think connectivity – to Europe via the airport and to London via the M1 – is key. It’s a nice place to live. You can start up a business here very economically, compared to other areas. Plus, you’ve got a steady stream of fresh talent coming out of the universities here, so the skills are on the doorstep. You need access to London, where all the game publishers tend to be located, but you can get there in an hour-and-a-half and it’s much cheaper to establish a business here than it would be in Guildford. It makes it a very attractive place to locate.
‘We need to understand, interpret and bring into the light what games are, because they can be incredibly positive’
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