Blog

The first time I played a video game without holding or stomping on a controller was at a 2002 traveling museum exhibit.  There was no joystick, no steering wheel, no pads to stomp on–simply  cameras that sensed my body movements.  The interactive graphics were fairly primitive, but they allowed me to transform into a soccer goalie using my arms and legs to defend my goal from an onslaught of soccer balls.  In another instance, I was able  to snowboard around […]

Continue Reading about Alternate Interfaces and Project Natal Published on:
August 19, 2009

Can it be 20 years already for Game Boy?
 In 1989, Indiana Jones embarked on his “Last Crusade,” Joe Montana and Jerry Rice led the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl victory, and Milli Vanilli lip-synced their way to the top of the charts.  That year wasn’t simply about landmarks such as those or Arsenio Hall’s rise to fame and Pete Rose’s fall from grace, however. It also marked the beginning of the Game Boy era.
This summer marks the 20th […]

Continue Reading about Game Boy’s 20th Birthday, Already? Published on:
August 12, 2009

Maybe you think that I mean “research about roller coasters,” but you’d be wrong. Sometimes, when you work as a curator at the National Museum of Play, you need to put down the scholarly books about play and head out to do a little hands-on research. There’s nothing like ratcheting up the first steep incline of a roller coaster and then screaming down the drop on the other side to prove what’s fun about amusement parks.
When I want a quick […]

Continue Reading about Research on Roller Coasters Published on:
August 11, 2009

Tommy Tallarico, Executive Producer of Video Games Live, made a special visit to Strong National Museum of Play recently to spend time with the CHEGheads and museum President and CEO, Rollie Adams. After touring the museum and the NCHEG collection Tallarico remarked, “This museum is the most amazing thing I’ve seen in my entire life!”
In the area for a performance of Video Games Live, Tallarico talked with the CHEGheads about issues ranging from the role of music and composers in […]

Continue Reading about NCHEG Advisor Tallarico Praises Museum During Visit Published on:
August 6, 2009

NCHEG’s collections have grown rapidly, and I wanted to take a moment to highlight one of the largest recent additions: more than 5,000 educational children’s computer games donated by Dr. Warren Buckleitner, Founder and Editor of Children’s Technology Review.
The games themselves range widely over different computer formats, from games on 5 1/4” floppies like Fisher-Price’s 1985 Alpha Build (front side runs on Apple, flip it over and it works on the IBM!) to 3 ½” disks like The Berenstain […]

Continue Reading about Buckleitner’s Great Gift Published on:
August 4, 2009

I was a kid once, too. I spent every summer, between the ages of seven and ten or so, with my Mom’s parents at their big house in the country. There were four of us kids, and I think it was a favor to Mom to have us out from under her feet for a few weeks.
 My grandparents—the sweetest grandparents a kid could want—lived inside a huge Greek Revival house. They were far from rich, but in my mind, their […]

Continue Reading about Preserving Memories Published on:
July 27, 2009

In my last blog you read about OnLive’s new streaming games-on-demand service (now in beta, expected to be launched in winter 2009). That entry discussed OnLive’s potential for changing the way games are played, which got me wondering about the possibilities for changing how games are developed and distributed.
OnLive claims that the market is ripe for games-on-demand service because there is a trend of “unprecedented innovation, creativity, and expansion within the video game market.” This is easy to agree with. […]

Continue Reading about Thinking Outside the (Console) Box Published on:
July 24, 2009

The debate over violence in video games is one that has shadowed, and at times nearly overshadowed, the electronic games industry (despite the fact that they account for a relatively small percentage of the game market). When did all this fuss begin and where has it led?
Ever since Exidy Inc. released Death Race—a mid-1970s arcade game where players steer pixilated race cars around a graveyard in an attempt to run down undead monsters—there has been increasing public concern about […]

Continue Reading about Graphic Violence as a Motivator for Game Players? Published on:
July 16, 2009

Some years ago, I watched Maggie Jane, my four-year-old niece, play with a few of her toys. She was seated on the living room floor, surrounded by talking adults who occasionally directed questions to Maggie about things like her preschool and her swimming lessons. Maggie respectfully answered their questions, but she was clearly engrossed in playing with her Barbie dolls and the plastic giraffes from a zoo play set. She had paired them—one doll with one giraffe—and made up stories […]

Continue Reading about Play’s the Thing—Really Published on:
July 14, 2009