Classic UK video games get the Royal Mail stamp treatment

Royal Mail has released a set of stamps celebrating a golden era of British video game design from the 1980s and 90s, with nine classic games memorialised in 5×3cm, gum-backed format. Scenes from Lemmings (developed by Psygnosis in 1991) and Sensible Soccer (by Sensible Software, 1992), both created for Commodore Amiga, adorn first class stamps, while the rest of the collection features nostalgic stills from Sony Playstation’s Wipeout (Psygnosis, 1995), Sega Mega Drive’s Micro Machines (Codemasters, 1991) and Elite (Acornsoft, 1984) made for BBC Micro and Acorn Electron.

Also forming part of the eight-piece set is Dizzy (Codemasters, 1987) by ZX Spectrum, and other Amiga staples such as Populous (Bullfrog, 1989) and Worms (Team17, 1995). A parallel collection dedicated entirely to Core Design’s Tomb Raider charts Lara Croft through the ages (or 17 years of its successful existence), starting in 1996 and journeying through various landscapes, terrains and CGI upgrades to 2013.

The collection aims “to celebrate the greatest video games created in the UK” during the era, says Royal Mail, which worked with games industry trade body UKIE, veteran video game journalist Julian ‘Jaz’ Rignall, and Bitmap Books creative director Sam Dyer to select the games. Rignall also wrote for the collection’s presentation pack, putting into context each game’s importance and impact at the time.

The stamps will be available from 21 January and are available for pre-order now. While Royal Mail’s stamp-based tributes range all kinds of British subject matter, from cricket to Royal Navy ships via the UK’s most bizarre customs, it also has a reputation for celebrating the country’s creativity. Previous collections have paid homage to David Bowie, and The Royal Academy, the latter of which featured specially created artworks by Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, Yinka Shonibare, Fiona Rae, Norman Ackroyd and Barbara Rae.