Children today become proficient with high-tech products at a surprisingly young age. For example, it's not unusual to see a four-year-old child skillfully playing Fruit Ninja on a smart phone.

But for those of us born in the 1980s - in a world before iPhones and iPads - the games and toys of our childhood were a lot more rudimentary.

And nostalgia for those years is being evoked at a new exhibition in Shanghai that looks at popular video games of the era.

Interactive space

The exhibition is being held at the Life Hub@Anting shopping mall in Jiading district and features an array of video game machines. There is also an interactive space where visitors can play modified versions of these classic video games on high-definition screens.

Entitled Play Again and organized by the French artist Pierre Giner, the show aims to cast light on the history of video games while inviting visitors to relive the glory days of the industry. "Today, 'video games' still play an important role in people's lives as is evidenced by the fact you see them being played on phones everywhere," Giner told the Global Times. "I want to show Chinese people the history of video games by displaying many of the games of the last 40 years, some of which they may have never played or seen before."

Giner held his first video game exhibition in a museum in Paris in 2010 which was highly spoken of by visitors and industry insiders alike.

"A huge proportion of people in China play video games on computers or cellphones so there is a vast, potential market here and I think the city should set up a museum devoted specifically to video game machines," he told Global Times.

Giner pointed out that compared to his Paris show, a shopping mall offers the chance for far more visitors to appreciate the exhibition. "And people are more willing to play video games here because the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed; in a museum people feel more stifled," he added.

Compressed history

Taking place in a cuboid-shaped, purpose-built room in the mall, the first section of the exhibition features 25 video game machines which neatly compresses the history of the video games industry. The story begins with the birth of the world's first video game machine Magnavox Odyssey invented by the American Ralph Baer in 1972. So basic was this game that it didn't even contain any sound effects because the technology wasn't available at the time. In quick succession came MB Veotex (1982) and Amstrad CPC464 (1984). The aforementioned three machines can all be found at the venue.

The space also showcases games from some of the world's leading games manufacturers such as Japan's SEGA, Sony, Nintendo and SNK, and the United States' Microsoft and Atari.

But it is only when we arrive at the Nintendo Game Cube launched in 2001 that we begin to see something that resembles today's hi-tech games.

But perhaps the biggest draw of the whole show is the collection of GameBoys that were produced between 1979 and 2005, alongside some game cards such as Tennis for Two, Tetris and the earliest version of Super Mario. In addition, there is a selection of arcade game machines located at the exit of the venue.

In the second section of the exhibition the organizers have attempted to revitalize classic video games by adding new hi-tech features. This includes the use of 16 high-definition screens. Meanwhile, two rows of projectors show dynamic images of video games on long, thin screens on either side of the walls.

The design of the interior decor in the venue is also video game-themed. The seats located in the rest area at the entrance to, and inside, the interactive space are created in the classic shape and colors of the cubes from the games Tetris.

Memories are made of this

The exhibition has stoked childhood memories for many visitors. "It seems like I have gone back to my boyhood when I was six or seven years old," said one visitor and games enthusiast. "Compared to the games today, these are all a lot simpler to play and they make me feel relaxed."

A female attendee was equally wistful about the exhibition. "Now I usually play games on my iPhone. I haven't played a video game with an actual handle for a long time. Super Mario was my favorite game when I was a little girl," she told the Global Times.

Comments such as this have stirred Giner's own recollections of these video games. "I still remember how excited I was when I got my first video game machine and I also remember the first time I stole money from my parents in order to play some in an arcade!" said Giner.

Date: Until September 16, 3 pm to 9 pm (Monday to Friday), 1 pm to 9 pm (Saturday and Sunday)

Venue: 1/F, Life Hub@Anting

嘉亭荟城市生活广场

Address: 1033 Moyu Road South, Jiading district

嘉定区墨玉南路1033号

Admission: Anyone who consumes more than 50 yuan at the life hub