It was 36 years ago today, on June 27th, 1972 that Atari was registered as a business, giving birth to the global, multi-billion dollar video game industry as we know it today. So it is only fitting that Microsoft Canada has chosen today (although I'm not sure if they are aware of the significance) to launch a special retrospective here in Toronto called Evolution: 30 Years Of Computer Games. The temporary showcase is only open to the public today and tomorrow between 12pm - 5pm and is located inside the InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre at 9 Ossington Avenue.

As you might expect, it begins with an early Microsoft text adventure and ends with titles from their Games For Windows line, but also includes seventeen retro classics from a wide variety of genres, all playable on pristine computers supplied by the Personal Computer Museum. There's a different computer running each game, from early Texas Instruments and Commodore systems to Mattel's Aquarius and Atari 800, it's a bevy of beige flashbacks as much as it is a pixel daydream of past childhoods. As the showcase will disappear in a blink of an eye and many of you won't get the chance to see, let alone play, the displays, here's a quick gallery I've assembled.Microsoft Adventure (1981)Compaq Portable Computer (1982)

GORF (1981)Commodore Vic-20 (1981)

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Text Adventure (1984)IBM PC 5151 (1981)

The Oregon Trail

Kareteka (1984)Commodore PC-10 III (1984)

Ms. Pac-Man (1981)Commodore 64 (1982)

Astrosmash (1982)Mattel Aquarius (1983)

Dungeon Master (1987)Atari ST (1985)

Menace (1988)Commodore Amiga (1987)

Parsec (1982)Texas Instruments IT 99/4A (1979)

Click here for Part Two