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."

Comments

St. Louis video game museum

[jtdennis]

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.

Re:St. Louis video game museum

[montibbalt]

The Museum of Play in Rochester, NY is home of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, if you're looking for another video game museum :)

Is that what Arcades have become?

[Dr. Spork]

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".

Re:Is that what Arcades have become?

[Darkness404]

Arcades are still alive, the difference is that the technological side of things has become to where it no longer is enough to have good graphics and fun gameplay. Rather, arcades compete by having expensive hardware and novelties. For example, lightguns with scopes with screens and games with motion and non-standard controls.

Re:Is that what Arcades have become?

[Temposs]

If you wanna see a real arcade museum, go to Musee Mecanique in San Francisco. it's got a lot of great old mechanical arcade games from the early 20th century. They're all still playable and mostly functional, and they've modded the operation mechanisms with modern quarter slots like you'd see in a modern arcade game. They also have a few of the more classic digitial arcade games scattered throughout. Truly a magnificent place!

Re:Is that what Arcades have become?

[Osgeld]

well to a point that has been true for a while, in the 90's you went to play datona in the cockpit, you plaid Samuri Showdown or Street Fighter 2 in the arcade for the experiance, and you could not afford the big machines, in the 80's while you diddled with super mario the 16 bit big expensive machines were out, you went to arcades to get that bigger better experience, even in the late 70's yea you could get pong, but it was so much more fun while half drunk with your buddies

what is killing arcades is the sheer lack of intrest, and not really by patrons either, there is a large arcade with tons of old school through "current' games, and the place is jam packed, the problem is the "current" games came out 10+ years ago, and while good games never die, your not going out of your way to play on a dreamcast with a jet ski controller nearly as much as you did when showing up to an arcade gave you a chance of playing something new and interesting

I hate

[geekoid]

going to a museum full of stuff that is younger then I am.

Berlin already has an incredible one.

[mikery1]

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.

Why not at the real computer museum?

[eggoeater]

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.

Re:they should get some pinball games as well

[Anonymous Coward]

I just went to the Pinball Museum in Alameda, CA., last weekend, for the first time. It's an amazing experience....WALLS lined densely with cabinets broken up by era's. Original artwork on display with anecdotes of their creation. It was fascinating finally understanding the whole For Amusement Only history of Pinball. The curators are very approachable (relating to pinball) and certainly founts of knowledge. I asked about a video game museum of similar integrity, but sadly they were pinball minded only.

It's super exciting to find out now that just across the Bay we have one in the works! And this as I'm working on my first custom arcade cabinet build from scratch...my first use of power tools since middle school.

Computer Games Gallery at CHM

[Al Kossow]

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

Nice collection in Rochester, NY

[geeknotnerd]

At the Strong Museum of Play: http://www.icheg.org/collections/arcade