Did you play Pong as a child? Or maybe you had a hand held Pacman? Do you still have either? Or any other game consoles or computer games from the 1980s or 90s that are currently lying unloved and unplayable in your attic?
If so Waterford’s Winterval festival might like to borrow them so the next generation of gamers can experience the magic of computer games as they once were.
The Toy Museum of Ireland’s only festival dedicated exclusively to the festive season is in the process of collecting retro games for visitors to play in the run up to Christmas. While it has already amassed quite the collection of consoles with throwback names like Atari and Mega Drive, as well as some original arcade machines including Pacman and Space Invaders, it could always do with more as interest in the exhibition is expected to be keen.
In the past the toy museum has showcased collections of Barbies, action figures, Transformers and Star Wars figurines. However, the theme of this year’s event promises to be the most interactive yet and people will actually get to play some of the games of yore.
They will also be able to marvel at how, um, simple, things used to be before virtual reality and artificial intelligence and all the rest became all the rage.
The museum in Waterford’s City Hall will be just one of more than 30 different events and activities for people to in at Winterval which kicks off on November 25th and runs right up to December 23rd.
