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San Francisco Opening Computer & Video Game Museum
An anonymous reader writes "A team of game scholars, game journalists, and plain old geeks have gotten together to put together San Francisco's first and most comprehensive non-profit museum dedicated to the design, creation, history, and play of computer and video games. The museum is currently raising funds and shopping around for a San Francisco space, but they've already managed to get some obscure relics — including the only copy in existence of 1984's never-released Atari Cabbage Patch Kids game. As a scholarly resource, the museum is also dedicated to making its entire collection playable by visitors."
St. Louis used to have a video game museum, but i think it went out of business years ago. I remember finding it on a trip when I was 10 or 11 and thinking it was the best thing in the world.
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I could see myself spending a few hours at a place like this, but that's because I'm nostalgically remembering a childhood when these things weren't called "museums".
going to a museum full of stuff that is younger then I am.
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they should get some (real) pinball games as well and there is a lot of art to them.
san jose already has a great computer history museum... maybe the best.
The computerspielemuseum.
It was loads of fun and a total walk down memory lane. It's got a great selection of historical hardware -- Magnavox Odyssey, Intellivsion, early Gameboys, an Apple ][e, Football, etc. (Just seeing new people come in and look to find their earliest game system and smile was worth it by itself.)
Also, they've got some great experimental games, especially the PainStation (how much phyiscal pain will you take to defeat your opponent). The discussion of how they designed Pong was interesting, the wall of old Computer Games (Zork, Leisure Suit Larry, etc.) was fun.
On the Karl-Marx-Allee in the old East Berlin. I spent a couple hours just looking, playing and reminiscing. And almost all of it is in both German and English.
So why not host this as an exhibition at the computer museum that's a whole whopping 30 miles from SF? They can probably make some space if they come up with enough to look at.
Yeah, they could open the "first" museum for video games in SF, but most of the money raised would go towards rent in the insanely expensive city. They should swallow their pride and work with the computer museum to make this a reality.
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So why not host this as an exhibition at the computer museum that's a whole whopping 30 miles from SF?
They can probably make some space if they come up with enough to look at.
Like this?
http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/computer-games/16
The museum should be at Flynn's Arcade, just for instant nerd cred, Oh wait, thats in San DIEGO
There was something like this in Helsinki a few ears ago. You got to play the games for only the entrance fee, and naturally it was very popular with kids of all ages. (5 ~ 50)
Set up a safe place for teens to hang out and compete for the high-score and you'll have an arcade that actually contributes to society. Maybe a club with annual fees for the real enthusiasts.
I think it could do more than break even.
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The MADE's fundraising is at a critical place right now. The nonprofit has 19 days to raise a little less than $5000 in addition to their existing funds in order to make the museum a reality! If not, this scholarly resource is going to disappear.
Take a look at their kickstarter page here, and donate, if you can: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/themade/the-museum-of-art-and-digital-entertainment
Are they looking for a curator? I happen to be a 25 year expert in the video games field with lots of field work.
My kids went to a party at a "Computer Museum" in Smythesdale, Victoria (Australia). (Those from the Ballarat area will know how remarkable it's location is - it's a pretty small town). I wanted to stay and look at all the relics of my youth. The kids were facinated by it. It really did show that some of the old games are timeless.
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I remember that during the previous earthquake, a chinese vase and artifact museum suffered severe losses.
Hello? Why are they placing a museum of one of a kind items in an earthquake zone? It's pretty much
insured destruction of whatever they have when the big one rolls around.
At the Strong Museum of Play: http://www.icheg.org/collections/arcade
Sometime around 1993 or 1994, I took a day trip to San Francisco with some of my college room mates. I remember going to Seacliff, overlooking the old Bath House and there being an arcade museum in one of the buildings up on the hill. There were some games that at the time were classics - like Battle Zone and such - and you could actually play them, which was incredibly cool.
Am I the only one that remembers this?
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After accomplishing some of my major goals in life, I always wanted to start a video game museum for kids. My history(video games) will be lost if not preserved. Also, it is good for local kids to have something to do besides stay at home alone. The way the USA works with liability, there is nothing fun anywhere outside of places where you spend money. This is because if the place doesn't make money, some jerk sues them and they go out of existence.
USA: Bars, department stores, and the beach if you're lucky. And somehow it is still one of the best places to live.
God spoke to me.
I think that it would be much more useful to put it in the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. That's in the Silicon Valley at least, and it would make a lot of sense to pair the two topics together.
I can imagine that any large space in SF is going to be horribly expensive, too far out of the way of the main traffic areas, and will end up with financial problems and disappear.
In one of the 1UP podcasts, Frank Cifaldi said that both he and Thierry Nguyen were put on the "advisory board" without ever being asked or agreeing to it. He also said he knew the person behind the project, so it's unlikely to be a scam or anything like that, but you still have to wonder about an organization that does something like that.
Visit www.retrocomputermuseum.co.uk - 2 Day event coming in May for those in the UK who fancy a trip down memory lane.
This isn't really a museum, but in Cincinnati there is a place that has a lot of the old video arcade and pinball games. For $10.00 you can play all day. Not a bad way to spend a cold Saturday afternoon with your son. At least I can beat him on many of the games, unlike the XBOX where he kicks my butt.
This used to be a mecca for technology and comic books; this seems like a great space to put this type of museum in.
My understanding is that the owners still haven't figured out what to do with it. Keep the movie theatre and the Game Walk of Fame, put in the museum, followed by a better arcade, and revitalize the Metreon.
It's still one of my favorite places to go when in SF.
... and your point is?
This would make a nice complement to the Pacific Pinball Museum (formerly Lucky Ju-Ju) in Alameda.
the cash goes to salvation army there
Here is Rochester, NY.
http://www.icheg.org/collections