Prince of Persia picked a pong of pixeled pacmans.
"No, you can't take your brother's bike"
I remember those words clearly to this day. At my age, really I should have erased that memory by now. I would imagine the reason I remember is due to the result of disobeying those words. You see, my parents bought my brother a shiny new BMX bike and I wanted to take it just around the corner to the local pizza joint to play the Popeye arcade there. My young mind never thought that someone would steal it in such a small amount of time.
Such an event didn't deter me from my interest in video games. A little diminished these days, but still fascinated with those glowing pixels that suck you into a different realm. All the more reason to check out the Artcade exhibition on now at Queen West's Microplay location.
A small exhibit, but a large nostalgic journey. Pieces range from a primeval battle between Donkey Kong and Mario for the affection of Pauline, transforming video game consoles and a stack of suitcases containing a multimedia display of a man jumping with a mushroom on his head (a la Super Mario Bros.)
By far, my favorite would have to be the realistic interpretation of Punch Out greats, Von Kaiser, Piston Honda, King Hippo, and Great Tiger by artist Kagan Mcleod. The hours spent trying to reach the impossible Mike Tyson (later removed from the game for obvious reasons) was mind blowing. I almost remember the code to get to the main event itself. These pieces show a unique view of the 8 bit versions we grew up with.
Visitors will find homages to a long history of video games. Titles such as Pac Man, Pong, Tron, Punch Out will hit you with the realization that when asked "Who heads the UN?" or "What is Guile's sonic boom combo?", chances are the answer you'll know is "hold back and do a hard kick." (it's Kofi Annan by the way).
I'd strongly recommend this show to anyone, but especially the hard-core gamers. Artcade runs until May 17th at Microplay, 632 Queen W.
(click on an image to see an enlargement)
