Residents of Sao Paulo, Brazil's bustling financial capital, have been encouraged to slow down for minute and take a break by playing old video game classics at an astonishing scale, on the side of an office building in the heart of the city.

An international group of digital artists programmed the pyramid-shaped facade of a downtown cultural centre into an oversized 3,000 square metre (32,292 square feet) video game screen that challenges passersby on the central Paulista Avenue not to take notice.

Those up for the challenge are invited to use an iPad as a control piece to play games based on old throw backs like Pac-Man, Tetris, and the specially-created "Paulista Invaders" based on the popular Space Invaders game in which cyclists battle against speeding motorists in city streets.

The digital artists behind the exhibit titled, "Play!" said they wanted to showcase video game art of the 70s and 80s while persuading people to pause long enough from their busy lives to look around and enjoy the city they live in.

Plenty of people lined up to play, but even more stopped to take pictures or gawk, captivated by both the combination of simplicity and the grandiose.

Teenaged friends Pedro Godau and Isabela Batista challenged each other to a game as strangers cheered them on in the street.

Thanks to its popularity the exhibit, which launched on March 25, has been extended until April 14, helping to ensure that while the game may eventually be over, it won't be forgotten.

Presented by Adam Justice