National Videogame Museum

[DogP]

I was in the area earlier this year for work, and my coworker and I spent the day at the NVM... we were both really impressed and had a great time. I've known the guys since the Classic Gaming Expo days, and had seen many of the pieces over the years at CGE, but I thought the museum layout was really good. And the fact that my coworker who likes video games, but isn't in the "scene" enjoyed it says that they did a good job of keeping it mainstream enough for the general public.

And yeah, the museum itself is definitely home video game focused, but there's a decently sized arcade there as well (maybe ~40 games?). Just looked at my phone, and found one picture I took of the arcade (not a great pic, but you get the idea). I wouldn't say they're museum pieces (e.g. not "restored", they don't have signs next to them telling the history, etc.)... but I they were well maintained (monitors looked good, didn't notice any broken controls, jammed coin slots, etc.).

DogP

 

[coinopper]

I wouldn't say they're museum pieces (e.g. not "restored", they don't have signs next to them telling the history, etc.)...

... and yet, they're in a museum. Did anyone also notice the strip of plastic that's riveted across the top of the Asteroids Deluxe monitor bezel? lol C'mon, that's ghetto. If anyone remembers visiting Videotopia years ago, they often had a large stand next to each machine that offered some general history about it (ie. who made it, when it was released, etc). That's how you do it correctly (props to Keith Feinstein and Jeff Anderson). That's how *everything* should be treated in a museum. NVM also has several rare Pong variants, plus a Computer Space and a Space Race - none of which can be played. And you're right in that the focus of the NVM is home games. Well, that should be reflected in the name, but it's called the National Videogame Museum. But the NVM treats arcade games the same way they did when it was the CGE, except the games were free to play at CGE (including Computer Space and Pong). Who wants to pay to go to a museum, and then have to pay to play common games like Pac-Man and Asteroids Deluxe?

 

[cwilkson]

Do they still think an Atari 2600 has 256 bytes of RAM?

I tried to help them (Videotopia and NVM) out in the early days by pointing out a few typos and errors in their displays. That was one of the most glaring errors.
They basically told me to f*ck off and they have engineers and historians on staff that "actually know how the machines work inside" and that the "public just doesn't have the technical ability to understand complicated computer systems like they do" .



They were really nasty about it too. REALLY hateful and condescending.
F 'em!

 

[OdinM]

... and yet, they're in a museum. Did anyone also notice the strip of plastic that's riveted across the top of the Asteroids Deluxe monitor bezel?

It may be ghetto, but it's factory from Atari. That's the "anti-glare" solution from Atari, they sold a kit that changed the angle of the front plexi and they did that by screwing the plexi in at a straighter angle using that ghetto bracket.

 

[coinopper]

I've heard of that anti-glare kit, but never had it on any of the several Deluxe uprights I've had over the years, and never saw it on anyone else's. Plus BITD, most arcades in my area had low or no lighting from above, and glare wasn't an issue that I recall. I also remember playing a Deluxe in a local supermarket back then soon after it was released, and glare wasn't an issue - the game's high difficulty was, however

 

[OdinM]

I had a AD that had previously had the anti glare kit installed (it had the holes drilled in the plexi) but the plexi had been put back to normal position. The kit was in the cabinet, I tried it both ways and hated it with the anti glare kit installed. But like you, I prefer my arcade 80's style, with very little light other than the games.

 

[coinopper]

Although Videotopia's info stands (which unfortunately weren't with every game they had on display) were the ultimate standard as far as quality and information (the ones for their home systems were another matter...), ACAM's typical info placards are certainly informative and respectful of the items they relate to. At the other end of that quality spectrum, we have NVM's 3x5 index cards, which were used back in their Classic Gaming Expo days, and the 3 or 4 sentences they offer are all but useless and often show no research had been done on the items. For example, here's a photo of a rare one-off Atari VCS/2600 system called the Kee Games Programmable Game System:

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The card for this is a perfect example. It's 4 sentences long, with 3 of them being NVM Director John Hardie's opinions. The first claims Kee Games designed that particular system! Well, the VCS was released in 1977, and nobody involved with the Kee Games division had any involvement with the development or design of the VCS. Bushnell sold Atari to Warner in 1976 and over the next 3 years was less and less involved with Atari. Joe Keenan, who headed Kee Games, left Atari in early 1978, and Bushnell left at the end of that year. Kee Games itself was completely folded into Atari in 1978. so this Kee Games VCS seems more like something that Marketing pushed someone in the art department to have done, possibly to sell more VCS systems. The index card offers no info about who at Atari was involved with making that particular variant. There's not even any mention as to when or how NVM came to have it in their collection. I know photos of it first appeared online in May 1998 on the atarihq.com website, and was likely shown at the World of Atari show, which was held a few months later that same year (in August), as Atari Gaming HQ was both a co-sponsor and an exhibitor there. The system was in CGE's museum the following year, and since John Hardie was also a co-sponsor of the WoA show, I'm guessing he made a deal to acquire it then. So, in the 25+ years it's been in their collection, that index card info has basically remained the same. In other words, no new research has been done, and no info about it has been learned. All I know is, when I go to a museum - especially one I have to pay to visit - I don't want to waste my time and money reading incorrect information about something, or worse, someone's opinions about it ("it looks more 1970s-styled than anything else... it likely wasn't released due to the cost of printing all those colors."). IMO, nothing looks more 70s than wood grain, and the original VCS totally nailed that.