Most people tend to think of museums as stuffy, dull places your parents would take you during vacations. Well not any more! The Strong National Museum of Play has established the National Center for the History of Electronic Games, a museum and research center dedicated to preserving, studying, and interpreting electronic games and their impact on American life.
The National Center for the History of Electronic Games (NCHEG) already houses a large and comprehensive collection of gaming platforms and games, containing nearly 15,000 items, making it the largest collection in the United States. Of the 15,000 pieces, more than 10,000 are individual video game titles. There are over 100 examples of all major handheld games systems and more than 2,000 educational games for children. In addition to games and consoles, the Center’s accumulation of objects encompasses packaging, advertising, publications, electronic-game-inspired consumer products, literary and popular inspirations of electronic-games imagery, historical records, and other associated artifacts.
The Center’s holdings include every major home video-game console manufactured since 1972, from the Atari 2600 to the Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii. There are also toys that combine digital and traditional play such as Simon, Webkinz and Tamogotchi. “Electronic games are not only changing the way we play; they are having a profound effect on the way we learn and the way we interact with each other. Because Strong National Museum of Play is dedicated to exploring the role of play in American life, we are especially interested in the growing impact that electronic games have on it,” said G. Rollie Adams, president and CEO of Strong National Museum of Play.
The collections at the NCHEG are available to researchers on site. Guests can play many video games from the past and present, while also taking in interpretive displays on the history of electronic games and their impact on society. Plans are underway for an interactive exhibit tentatively titled The Revolutionary World of Electronic Play, which would open in 2012. The Center is currently collecting and cataloging additional examples of games, game platforms, handheld-game systems and toys, with the goal of making information about them accessible online.
So the next time you’re in the Rochester, New York area, be sure and plan a day to check out the Strong National Museum of Play and the National Center for the History of Electronic Games. It’s about time electronic gaming takes it’s seat at the table of history.
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