National Videogame Museum announces Summer of Buttons

The National Videogame Museum (NVM), based in Sheffield, has announced its summer programme, opening later this month in time for the school holidays: Summer of Buttons.

Officially opened in November last year following a move from Nottingham to Sheffield, the National Videogame Museum - formerly the National Videogame Arcade - offers playable exhibits of arcade cabinets, PCs, and consoles spanning the history of computer and video games. More modern attractions are also included, with the opening featuring a 'test lab' exhibit based on Boneloaf's boneless beat-'em-up Gang Beasts.

Now the Museum has announced its summer programme, running from the start of Sheffield schools' summer holidays through to September 1st: Summer of Buttons.

'The idea for Summer of Buttons to create a very easy-to-access, inclusive season of activity across the whole Museum, inviting an audience of game lovers and families alike to think about the simple input mechanism of the humble button,' Iain Simons, director of culture at the NVM, explains. 'Alongside a host of new playable installations we are really excited to try out the first educational workshops for the public in the gallery. It's also going to be properly fun!'

Those workshops centre around creating a physical button from scratch, learning the core mechanisms and connecting their own button to a game to see it in action. A collaboration with SpecialEffect, a charity focused on accessibility in gaming, will also provide a showcase of accessible game controllers which visitors can use in a variety of popular games including FIFA 19 and Forza Motorsport.

The Summer of Buttons also includes the NVM's usual exhibits alongside a host of new ones including bespoke creations like 4-Player Pac-Man and a 'Button Bash Bundle' which focuses on button-mashing athletics games, the latter including famously rare title Stadium Events from Human Entertainment and Bandai - released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America in 1987 but soon rebranded to World Class Track Meet with original cartridges fetching upwards of £28,000 from collectors.

The NVM Summer of Buttons starts on July 24th and runs through to September 1st; more information is available on the official website.