RETROGAMING

Description

This interactive exhibition dedicated to historic computers traces the evolution of computing from its beginnings to the mid-1990s. It even includes a "gamer's den"! Play games such as Prince of Persia, Pac-Man, Doom, Wolfenstein, Street Fighter II, or Space Invaders. You can try over 1,000 games. The focus is on video games, as well as personal computers and consoles from the 80s — whether Czechoslovak (IQ 151, PMD, or Didaktik) or foreign (Apple, Amstrad, Atari, Commodore, IBM, Nintendo, Sega, or Sinclair). Visitors will discover not only the major successes of video gaming (from Pac-Man or Space Invaders to Prince of Persia, including Doom or Street Fighter II), but also, for example, magazines from that era. The exhibition also features a "gamer's den": a game room equipped with historic computers, an arcade machine, and modern PCs with emulators. Computers for playing? No way! "Actually, it's easy, we play great games at school." "Playing games on such an expensive machine? Don't even think about it, or I'll break your fingers!" The leaders of companies that used the very first computers (room-sized) had the same attitude towards games (and game creation) on computers as Mrs. Škopková in this Czech classic film. Yet, the first games appeared as early as the 1950s, mainly to entertain visitors bored in computer labs. But the real boom only started in the 1970s. Arcade machines appeared: in American bars, people queued to play the first major success in history, Space Invaders (1978). The Atari Home Pong console (1975) made small squares move on black-and-white TVs. Personal computers from Apple, Commodore, Atari, or Sinclair quickly followed. Initially, IBM didn't understand what personal computers could be used for, but the success of competitors forced them to change their minds. Children played games, thus "losing" a lot of time, but also learning how to use a computer. In Czechoslovakia, they discovered at school the IQ 151 computer, which heated so much that it was no longer necessary to heat classrooms, the PMD 85, or the "Zbrojováček" Consul 2717. The luckiest could bring home the Slovak Didaktik Gama, compatible with the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, giving access to a multitude of games. Of course, they could also use it for work: after buying a Tesla BT-100 dot matrix printer, nicknamed "the crazy nail," it took barely twenty minutes to print an A4 sheet. Better machines than those could be obtained only at Tuzex (Atari 800 XL/XE) or from acquaintances from the West (Commodore 64). The 16-bit Amiga and Atari ST computers only truly spread after the revolution. But all eventually gave way, in the mid-90s, to the expansion of IBM PC-compatible machines. The exhibition at the Regional Museum of Litomyšl, titled "Retrogaming," traces in detail the tumultuous history of the early days of computing and video games; it has traveled across the Czech Republic since 2014. It has stopped in more than thirty towns, large and small, from Klatovy to Opava. A game room, where thousands of old games can be tried, is an integral part of the exhibition. The oldest "rudimentary" games (Centipede, Pac-Man, Pitfall!, Missile Command...) will mainly interest people of a certain generation, but today's "gamers" often enjoy playing them too. They compete in Street Fighter II or Double Dragon, fight in Golden Axe, shoot in Doom and Wolfenstein, jump with the Prince or the Prehistoric, race in Vroom and Lotus, compete in Speedball and Tetris, save the lights (Lemmings)... Or they can try a "genre now disappeared": flight simulators. Unfortunately, the exhibition generally doesn't allocate enough space to more time-consuming strategy games (SimCity, Pirates, Civilization, Dune II...), dungeon games (Dungeon Master, Ishar...), or adventure games (The Secret of Monkey Island, Another World...), which unfortunately don't have enough space in the exhibition, but for reminiscing about childhood, some like to take a quick look, even if just for a moment... The exhibition is open at the South Bohemian Museum in České Budějovice (Dukelská 1) from October 9, 2026, to January 31, 2027 (Tuesday to Sunday, public holidays | from 9 am to 5:30 pm). Note: This text was translated by an automatic translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.

Highlights

• Interactive exhibition on historic computers and retro video games
• Over 1,000 games to try, including classics like Pac-Man and Doom
• Game room equipped with historic computers and arcade machines

General Information

The RETROGAMING exhibition is held at the Jihočeské muzeum in České Budějovice and traces the evolution of computing up to the 1990s. Visitors can play iconic games and discover computers and consoles from the 80s.

Location

Dukelská 1, 370 01 Budweis 6, Czech Republic

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