Museum of Play Acquires Largest Collection of Classic Games

[roseofbattle]

Museum of Play Acquires Largest Collection of Classic Games

Rochester, NY is now home to one of the world's largest collections of Japanese videogames and will be available to the public.

The National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, has some of the rarest games, some still even in their wrapping. The Strong, a Rochester institution, which encompasses the National Museum of Play and the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, acquired over 7,000 games spanning 18 platforms, including the Famicom (NES), Sega Mega Drive (Genesis), and Nintendo 64.

Last year a French game enthusiast known as Andre attempted to sell his collection on eBay [http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item4605501c13&item=300736846867&nma=true&pt=FR_Jeux_Vid%E9o&rt=nc&si=oZVuIXq%252BoaIKARo%252Fz7hROAxU7AU%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc#ht_164526wt_887] for $1.2 million. However, the buyer never paid, leading the National Museum of Play to buy the collection. Wired states the museum did not disclose how much it paid for the collection, but it was significantly less than $1.2 million.

Researchers can access the collection by contacting the museum and detailing what they would like to access and why. The games will also be preserved through video capture. The Strong is also compiling the games into a searchable database [http://www.thestrong.org/online-collections/icheg/ ] that anyone can use.

The collection has many rare games, some of which were not supposed to be sold but ended up being leaked, some promotional games, some games many people have never heard of, and others that were later published in the U.S. For example, the collection has a copy of Super Famicom title Seiken Densetsu 2, known in English as The Secret of Mana, and the collection is also home to the Famicom game Mother.

More and more museums are researching, cataloguing, and featuring videogames in exhibitions. It's fascinating seeing how one person's collection can turn into another's research.

Source: Wired [http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/10/strong-museum-video-games/]

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[RaNDM G]

So what's the point of this museum then? Do we buy in to play those games, or do we just stare at them on the shelf?

 

[mechalynx]

So what's the point of this museum then? Do we buy in to play those games, or do we just stare at them on the shelf?

Maybe the museum will hold exhibits based on genre/year/etc and put up games for playing. Not the whole collection at once. That's what I'd do.

 

[Nexxis]

So what's the point of this museum then? Do we buy in to play those games, or do we just stare at them on the shelf?

Maybe the museum will hold exhibits based on genre/year/etc and put up games for playing. Not the whole collection at once. That's what I'd do.

More than likely. I've been to that museum. It's a really nice place to see at least once. They have a video game portion of the museum where they do have a game room and people can play some of the old and new games. In limited amounts. Some arcade cabinets and the like. They also have some cabinets showing the physical games based on platform company and year along with some information about them. Except for the interactive parts which tend to be filled to the brim with hyperactive children, the display parts are a nice and quiet nostalgic trip for the older generation and a nice place to learn some things for people interested in learning about the older gaming market. It also has an exhibit devoted to toys, old and new. It's fun going through and seeing toys you use to have, or even the ones your grandparents may have played with. They also have a room where you can see toys that are undergoing a restoration process. Again, this part of the museum tends to be quiet as there is nothing for the kids to interact with. However, many of their parents love walking through there, lol. It's pretty much guaranteed to make you feel old.

 

[RicoADF]

So what's the point of this museum then? Do we buy in to play those games, or do we just stare at them on the shelf?

Maybe the museum will hold exhibits based on genre/year/etc and put up games for playing. Not the whole collection at once. That's what I'd do.

I suspect most would not be interactive, at least not with the originals. Perhaps they would make a copy and use them for interactive games, it'd be too risky to be running the originals as it could damage them (usage wear, esp the systems themselves).