Displaying Your High Score With Activision Patches
People play video games for a myriad of reasons. Relaxation, mental stimulation, engrossing plotlines, eye-catching graphics, and much more draw gamers to certain titles. But one goal in
Shannon Symonds
Star Wars Day: The Action Figures that Almost Weren’t
Not long ago—1977, to be exact—in our very own galaxy, moviegoers witnessed the birth of a legend. Since its inception, the Star Wars franchise has generated billions of dollars in film, television, and merchandise, and is one of the most iconic titles in entertainment history. But while its popularity is undisputed today, that was not always the case. In fact, it was quite the opposite, which led to what could have easily become one of the biggest faux pas in toy history.
A Magical Gathering in the National Toy Hall of Fame
On November 7, 2019, I was delighted to help celebrate the induction of Magic: The Gathering into The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame. And that occasion inspired me to think back on my own personal history with the game. I played Magic: The Gathering for the first time during my senior year of high school. I’d played card games before, of course, but no amount of poker or Uno could prepare me for what, I would eventually learn, was the grandfather of all collectable card games.
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Preserving Carol Shaw’s Trailblazing Video Game Career
Carol Shaw, the first widely recognized female game designer and programmer, has donated to The Strong a collection of console games, printed source code, design documents, sketches, reference materials, and promotional objects representing games she created for Atari, Inc.
The Strong Launches Women in Games Initiative
For many decades, women have played key roles in the design, production, manufacture, marketing, and writing of video games, and yet their history in the gaming industry is too little preserved and too often underappreciated.
Light Up the Night with Mega Man Rock
I have a confession to make. It’s kind of embarrassing, but I’m hoping readers will understand.
I’m 34 years old, and just recently, I attended my first rock concert. Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering my profession, this concert consisted of a hard rock opera based on the 1980s video game series Mega Man.
ICHEG, the RPO, and Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy
As a child, I always enjoyed playing video games, but I never paid too much attention to the musical accompaniment in the background. It wasn’t until college that I first heard gaming music on its own. Prior to that, I simply enjoyed the music as background noise for games, or as musical cues that prompted me to “jump” or dodge an enemy.
Beam Him Up, Scotty: Remembering Leonard Nimoy
“Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human.”
~ Admiral James T. Kirk