Pele, Sergio Aguero's head and Football Manager: National Football Museum looks at gaming

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Artworks and curious exhibits allow the public to explore the close links between football and gaming in the National Football Museum's new show in Manchester

This model of Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero’s head was made from scans created for EA SPORTS’ FIFA game. The best-selling sports franchise video game in the world, FIFA has sold hundreds of millions of copies globally.

Mia Hamm, who became one of the greatest female footballers of all time during 17 years leading the US attack, endorses the Soccer Teresa doll.

This rejection letter was sent by developers EA Sports to Paul and Oliver Collyer, the inventors of the Football Manager games, in 1991. Despite being warned that their simulation’s lack of live action might hinder them, the pair went on to enjoy huge success with the game – although EA Sports were unimpressed with the apparent inclusion of a virus on the disk.

Intellivision Soccer, from 1979, is the first playable football title featured in the exhibition.

Brazilian football star Pele in London to introduce his Atari Home Video Championship Soccer Cartridge May 1981

Pele’s Soccer on the Atari 2600, 1981. Pele’s association with video games continues to this day.

A new interactive artwork by Leo Schatzl, Hit-it, allows visitors to put themselves ‘inside the game’.  A ‘header selfie’ is triggered when a ball is headed, creating a short film of facial expressions taken at a crucial, unguarded moment.

Then-Queens Park Rangers defender Rio Ferdinand tore his Ultimate Team shield from FIFA 15 in two pieces after being unhappy with the ratings EA SPORTS gave him. Two bespoke motion capture suits, worn by Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero for FIFA 16, are also in the exhibition.

AFC Bournemouth player Marc Pugh is scanned for FIFA 16.

The shirt worn by Pele during friendly game vs Austria in 1971, when he scored his final international goal.

AV Offsides! by Tobias Hartmann and Remmy Canedo.

The Soccer Teresa doll was produced by the makers of Barbie after the 1998 World Cup.

• Pitch to Pixel: The World of Football Game is at the National Football Museum, Manchester until June 5 2016.

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Three museums to see sport and gaming history in

Centre for Life, Newcastle
Explore the vibrant history, culture and future of gaming entertainment and technology through more than 100 playable games in the current exhibition, Game On 2.0. Until January 3 2016.

National Videogame Arcade, Nottingham
Three floors of playable exhibitions about videogames.

The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley
This museum enables visitors to follow the development of computing from the ultra-secret pioneering efforts of the 1940s through the large systems and mainframes of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and the rise of personal computing in the 1980s and beyond.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art540638-pitch-to-pixel-national-football-museum-aguero-pele