We acknowledge Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and give respect to their Elders, past and present.

Read our Statement of Reflection

Your Cart

Your cart is empty right now...

Discover what's on
Your Stuff
Lists
No lists found
Create list
List name
0 Saved items
Updated: a few seconds ago
Getting Started
Get started with Your Stuff

A free Your Stuff account allows you to save, list and share your favourite collection items and articles. This account will give you access to Your Stuff, NFSA Player and Pro. You will need to create an additional account for Canberra event tickets.

Confirm
People search for
TRENDING

Looking for the full catalogue? Search the Catalogue

Skip to main content
National Film and Sound Archive of AustraliaNational Film and Sound Archive
National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
National Film and Sound Archive
National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
National Film and Sound Archive
Articles

Gaming and Australian Popular Culture

Intersections with Popular Culture

We've published a Retro Gaming curated collection online that captures some of the ways that games have intersected with Australian popular culture since the 1970s.

Written by Stephen Groenewegen
26 November, 2019
1 minute read

We've published a Retro Gaming curated collection online that captures some of the ways that games have intersected with Australian popular culture since the 1970s.

Buy a Better Computer

Our Retro Gaming curated collection features throwback ads and news reports about video and arcade games from the 1970s and '80s, including this 1985 advertisement brought to you by Mr T of The A Team:

Mr T Promotes Atari, 1985.

National Film and Sound ArchiveTTHF8B3T

Mr T was a good choice to promote Atari, not only because of his popularity at the time, but because in many ways he had a cartoonish public persona that would appeal to teenagers. He was even the star of his own animated series! A nice touch in the ad above is creating an Atari computer image of Mr T, thereby demonstrating the computer's graphic potential.

Mad Tunes and Totally Rad Dudes

The curated collection also features game reviews and gameplay from the '90s, like this slang-filled review of Skitchin' as seen on The Zone:

Skitchin' review on The Zone, 1994. Courtesy WIN Television.

National Film and Sound ArchiveVYTZCWAP

This clip is an entertaining time capsule from the early 1990s, full of teenage slang and fashion from the period. It's also interesting to see the quality of game graphics from 1994 as the reviewers dissect the skate-hitching game Skitchin'.

Enjoy the clips in our Retro Gaming curated collection.

Trailer for Game Masters: The Exhibition trailer, which ran at the NFSA in Canberra from 27 September 2019 to 9 March 2020.

More by Stephen

Collections to explore

More in Stories+

Personalized your experience

Save, create and share

With NFSA Your Stuff