LI Gamers
On view in the LIM Art Museum from February 19 through May 24, 2026.
William A. Higinbotham (1910–1994), Tennis Programming Schematic, 1958. Courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory
Complementing Video Games: The Great Connector, this exhibition highlights how Long Islanders have contributed to the history of video game development.
In 1959, at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s annual visitor day, instrumentation division members William A. Higinbotham, David Potter and Robert V. Dvorak Sr. presented what would become the very first computer game, Tennis for Two. And in the early 1980s, Acclaim Entertainment was founded in Oyster Bay, which went on to become a globally recognized developer of video games.
Today, that legacy lives on through events like the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, which celebrates its 10th annual convention in Garden City this year and has become a major destination for the Northeast’s gaming community.
Featuring multiple hands-on retro gaming stations, including Acclaim Entertainment games such as NBA Jam on a Sega Genesis.
Exhibition funding was provided, in part, by
