Retro Arcade Game Posters UK — Pac-Man, Sonic & the Golden Age

Pac-Man · Ms. Pac-Man · Pac-Man 3 · Sonic the Hedgehog · Super Mario · Final Fantasy — four decades of pixel perfection

The golden age of arcade gaming (1978–1992) produced the most recognisable visual language in entertainment history. The Pac-Man waka-waka, the Donkey Kong barrel roll, the Space Invaders march, the Centipede spiral: these are images and sounds that require no introduction to anyone who lived through the era — or who grew up in a house with a parent who did. At 98types Camden, the retro arcade poster collection is the most extensive in any UK print shop: four confirmed Pac-Man products (Pac-Man 1, Pac-Man 3, Ms. Pac-Man and the Pac-Man Universe art print), three Sonic the Hedgehog products, the complete Super Mario franchise and the Final Fantasy series. On 260gsm museum-grade archival matte paper, printed in England. From £3. Buy 3 get 1 free. Same-day dispatch from Market Hall, Camden Lock Place, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1 8AL.

😂 The Golden Age of Arcade Gaming — 1978 to 1992

The golden age of arcade gaming is defined as the period from Space Invaders (Taito, 1978) to the commercial decline of the arcade cabinet format in the early 1990s as home consoles (the Super Nintendo, the Sega Mega Drive) achieved graphical parity with arcade hardware. The era produced the most culturally significant video game characters in history: Pac-Man (1980), Donkey Kong and Mario (1981), Link (1986), Mega Man (1987), Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). These characters transcended gaming to become cultural icons recognised by people who have never played a video game.

British arcade culture was centred around the amusement arcade (the seaside pier arcade, the high street amusement hall, the fish-and-chip shop cabinet) and the newsagent corner cabinet. The specific sensory experience of the arcade — the cocktail of machine sound effects, the carpet pattern, the smell of electronics and popcorn, the pressure of a crowd watching your game — is one of the most evocative environmental memories of any British person who grew up in the 1980s. The retro arcade poster is the wall art that restores that specific sensory memory.

Pac-Man — Four Products, One Cultural Icon

Pac-Man (Namco, 1980) is the most recognisable video game character in history: a 1980 Guinness World Record holder for most recognised video game character, ahead of Mario and Sonic. The game — a maze in which Pac-Man (the yellow circle) eats dots while being pursued by four ghosts (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) and can temporarily turn the tables by eating power pellets — was designed by Toru Iwatani and took 18 months to create. It was based on the image of a pizza with one slice missing. The original arcade cabinet, in its yellow livery, became the single most commercially successful arcade machine in history: over 400,000 units sold, 100 billion quarters played.

At 98types, four Pac-Man products are confirmed — the most Pac-Man print SKUs of any UK gaming print shop. Pac-Man 1 (the original 1980 arcade classic), Pac-Man 3 (the 1993 SNES/Mega Drive sequel with co-operative play), Ms. Pac-Man (1981, the most successful arcade game in US history by unit count, with improved maze variety and the romantic subplot of the title character) and the Pac-Man Universe art print (the complete Pac-Man franchise visual universe in a single definitive print). Buy all four Pac-Man prints: 3 + 1 free. The complete Pac-Man wall from £9.

Ms. Pac-Man — The Most Successful Arcade Game in US History

Ms. Pac-Man (1981) was created by Midway Games (under licence from Namco) as a sequel with improved maze design, moving fruit (which made the bonus item more challenging to collect), two-player alternating co-operative mode and the backstory of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man's romance — told in three animated cut-scenes. Ms. Pac-Man outsold Pac-Man in the United States by unit count, making it the most commercially successful individual arcade cabinet ever deployed in the US market. The Ms. Pac-Man visual — the bow, the lipstick, the beauty mark — is the most recognisable female character in the history of arcade gaming. The Ms. Pac-Man poster is confirmed at 98types from £3.

Sonic the Hedgehog — Three Decades, Three Posters

Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega, 1991) was created by Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima and Hirokazu Yasuhara as Sega's response to Super Mario Bros.: a platform game whose primary verb was speed rather than precision jumping. The first Sonic game sold 15 million copies on the Mega Drive and established the character as the defining icon of Sega's 16-bit era. Three Sonic products are confirmed at 98types: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) which introduced Tails and the spin dash, Sonic Generations (2011) which remixed twenty years of Sonic level design for the franchise's 20th anniversary, and Sonic Unleashed (2008) which introduced the Werehog. Buy all three = 3 Sonic prints + 1 free Pac-Man. The complete retro + modern Sonic wall.

The Music Prints — Super Mario Theme & Final Fantasy

The Super Mario Bros. Theme Song print is one of the most distinctive products in the 98types gaming collection: a print of the most recognisable video game music ever composed — Koji Kondo's 1985 overworld theme for Super Mario Bros. The Final Fantasy Main Theme poster represents Nobuo Uematsu's 1987 composition that became the sonic identity of the entire Final Fantasy franchise. Similarly, the Pokemon Main Theme poster captures the Jason Paige-performed theme from the original 1997 Pokemon anime. These music prints are the most distinctive gift for the retro gamer who loves the cultural significance of video game music as much as the games themselves.