YouTube’s satirical, funny man Stuart Ashen is set to host a Terrible Old Games Day at the museum on Saturday 23rd January.

A member of the million subscribers club on YouTube, Stuart, or Ashens as he is commonly known, is a reviewer, comedian, animator and actor. To date, he has produced over 500 videos, has over 1 million subscribers to his primary YouTube channel Ashens, and over 230 million video views.

Ashens is obsessed with old video games and things that aren't quite good enough for their intended purpose. He reviews the ‘best of the worst tat that the world has to offer’.

In 2015 he released the book Terrible Old Games You've Probably Never Heard Of, a collection of textual reviews of poor retro games, based on his YouTube series.

He says: “All the games featured in the book are so far beyond redemption that they couldn't see it with a powerful telescope. The criteria for entry is that no reasonable person could have any fun playing them!”

Now many of these games will be on display and playable on January 23rd at a special one day exhibition to accompany Stuart’s appearance at the Centre.

CCH Event Organiser, Adrian Killens said: “We all know that the phenomenon of bad video games didn’t begin and end with E.T back in the 1980s, and that for every great game there are always several awful examples that balance things out in the gaming universe. So, with the help of Ashens, we’re dedicating an entire day to the games that wasted our time, effort and hard earned pocket money as kids, not to mention those we never played because they scored so low in gaming magazines.

“Visitors will be able to both re-live the agony of playing some of those terrible old games and bask in nostalgia for the technical limitations of earlier times.”

Stuart is on record for naming his top three stinkers: “Hunter for the Atari 8-bit, for how painfully basic, and yet incompetent, a game's design can be. Then Killer Caverns for the Oric, for how the player's actions have almost nothing to do with success or failure. And finally License to Kill – not the James Bond one – for the Acorn Electron, for how utterly empty, impossible and hateful it is.”

In terms of gaming characters, Stuart likens himself to the pirate who swings around on the chandelier in the Scumm Bar in The Secret of Monkey Island. Come see for yourself on the 23rd January!

Normal museum entry fees apply. Booking is not essential, but if demand is high priority will be given to those who have booked in advance.

Date : 23rd January 2016 Time : 10:00am - 5:00pm

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Note to Editors

Stuart Ashen
Stuart Ashen makes videos for YouTube and writes comedy scripts and sometimes acts in things. He lives in Norwich, in a house filled with all sorts of useless items that he tells himself he needs for work. He is obsessed with old video games and things that aren't quite good enough for their intended purpose. On his YouTube channel he reviews the best of the worst tat that the world has to offer, showing an equal amount of commitment and enthusiasm for both.

He has produced over 440 YouTube videos over an eight-year period. In 2013 he raised $73,000 for the production of a feature film Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild starring Warwick Davis and Robert Llewellyn. The film has been watched over 500,000 times on YouTube.

Centre for Computing History
CCH, an educational charity (est. 2006) and museum with a collection in excess 24,000 items, has developed from a small, entirely volunteer-run organisation to one with several paid staff and significant educational outputs. Its core purpose is to increase understanding of developments in computing over the past 60 years through exploring the social, cultural and historical impact of the computing revolution. The fast-paced nature of the computing industry, along with its tendency to discard irrelevant technology as soon as it becomes outdated, means that the heritage around its origins and subsequent developments is at risk of being lost. CCH aims to preserve this fundamental part of our heritage and ensure it is secured, valued and celebrated for posterity. CCH is currently developing two new Cambridge-related archives: a Sinclair collection and an Acorn collection.

The organisation receives no government or other regular funding. Since opening in Cambridge in August 2013, CCH has attracted over 20,000 visitors, including 10,000 children.

For further information or images, please contact: Elaine Symonds

Elaine@computinghistory.org.uk

Date : 15-01-2016