A small private museum in Perth is allowing video game enthusiasts to rediscover the delight of early gaming consoles, as well as learn how the keyboard entertainment industry started.

The Nostalgia Box has an array of gaming consoles on display, dating back to the very first, and includes a space to play classics including Space Invaders, Super Mario Bros and Sonic The Hedgehog.

When visitors arrive, Michael Peach guides them through the history of the gaming console, which started with the Magnavox Odyssey.

Michael Peach takes visitors round the museum and tells the story of the industry. ( ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne )

"It was the first commercially released console in 1972," he told ABC Radio Perth.

"It was released by Ralph Baer who is considered the father of video games."

Like all the first video games, Magnavox Odyssey did not use a computer but was attached to a television.

The graphic display was extremely basic.

Users of the Magnavox Odyssey had to place a plastic screen in front of their TV to play the game. ( ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne )

"It didn't actually have any graphical interface at all, you actually had to put a piece of plastic in front of your TV screen," Mr Peach said.

"All it did was project a dot that moved around."

Market crashes due to 'crap' games

From those early beginnings, the video game industry began to take off and a host of games and consoles were released around the world until the industry suddenly crashed in 1983, an event detailed in the museum.

The reason was simple.

"Ninety per cent of the games were crap," Mr Peach said.

The market had become saturated with poor-quality games and consumers lost interest.

The industry was thought to be over and Japanese game company Atari even had thousands of consoles buried in landfill in New Mexico.

The Nostalgia Box museum has an array of early video games consoles from 1972 until 2000. ( ABC Radio Perth: Emma Wynne )

The game industry only recovered after the release of Nintendo in 1985, which came to dominate the market and put strict quality controls on the games that could be released for its platform.

Gaming is a 'communal' activity

Nintendo is the system that Michael Peach remembers from childhood when he became hooked on gaming.

"The Nintendo 64 was released when I was about eight," he recalled.

"That was the perfect time, you have nothing to do after school, and we would just play Super Smash Brothers or Mario Kart all night."

As a long-time game enthusiast, Mr Peach thinks the concern about children spending too much time playing on screens is not justified.

"I think video games really help with hand-eye coordination.

"I was really into sport but I still liked video games because I felt like there was a competitiveness to them which I really liked.

"Most of the games I played were multi-player, so we would have friends round, it would be communal."

Exhibition lets parents get gaming 'revenge'

A trip to the Nostalgia Box provides a chance to bridge the generation gap, with children fascinated by seeing old games and ways of playing.

"We have grandmothers bring their grandchildren in, and we have teenagers who are interested to just come and have a look around and play some games they haven't seen before," Mr Peach said.

"The newest console we have is the original PlayStation, which is 16 years old.

"My favourite thing is when you see parents come in and show their kids what they used to play and then they get to beat their kids at the games.

"I hear them say, 'I've never beaten my kids before, they are always beating me at their games, now I get my revenge'."