In October 2015, I was awarded a Research Fellowship from The Strong. I had access to the library, the archives, the museum itself, and the seemingly endless rows of shelves full of playthings of the past. Both my 14-year-old self and my current 30-something researcher self were in a happy place. My job is to study video games and teach about them—not a bad gig at all, I must admit—and I have been interested in the history and theory of […]
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MECC, The Company that Launched Educational Gaming
It is impossible to tell the story of educational computing without acknowledging the tremendous importance of Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation (MECC), the first organization to provide widespread access to games and other computer software for educational purposes. The Strong is proud to acquire and preserve the Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation Collection, 1968–2011.
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Barbie Hacks and Mods: On Swapping Voices, Removing Makeup, and Fighting Prejudice
Barbie has raised eyebrows since her debut at the 1959 Toy Fair. Modeled after the German Bild Lilli novelty doll, Barbie provided girls a playroom outlet for their dreams and aspirations. Inventor Ruth Handler knew that girls wanted to play at more than being a mother to life-sized baby dolls, but Mattel executives were skeptical. In the end, Handler was right and had the sales numbers to prove it. Little girls all over the country wanted to play at being […]
PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH … And Why Some People Do, Anyway
If you are a human with a job and colleagues, your coworkers probably send you links to various items on the Internet. These may include the occasional funny cat video, but most of the time the content probably has a legitimate connection to your job. In my case, people send me numerous articles about preservation and, thankfully, most of it is good news. Recently, however, my colleagues have enjoyed witnessing my apparently comical, yet anguished, reactions to forwarded links with […]
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“He Shoots! He Scores!”: Hockey Games for the Off-Season
Being a fan of a professional sports team can be a lot of work. Sure, you can casually flip through the television channels on a Sunday afternoon and watch a few minutes of football, or you can accept some free tickets to a baseball game just to appreciate the sunshine and some stadium hot dogs, but folks who call themselves “die-hard fans” really take their enjoyment of sports to a different level.
As a lifelong Pittsburgher now living in Rochester, NY, […]
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Playing Pirate
It’s 9:43 a.m. on September 19, and you’re eyeing the morning’s deadlines when the usually reserved graphic artist pokes her head into your office and says, “Ye’ll have me that copy before the sun is over the yard-arm, or I’ll have ye walkin’ the plank, ye swab, ye scurvy son of a sea dog.” With a flourish, she whips an X-Acto knife in her teeth. You notice that she’s wearing a tri-cornered felt hat with the Jolly Roger on the […]
An Ancient Game in a Digital Age
Recently for The Strong’s American Journal of Play, I reviewed Garry Fine’s new book on the sociology of chess, and I particularly enjoyed his discussion on the role of computers in chess.
Playing Catch
Several years ago, friends came to visit and brought along their Australian shepherd/border collie mix and this black Kong dog toy. (Kong toy? The inventor said the toy looked like “an earplug for King Kong,” and the name stuck.) The herder pursued the toy with agility and persistence. Our Charlie the Dog, a mini-goldendoodle (another mutt), inherited the dog toy when our visitors left it behind. Less intent than the shepherd, Charlie still liked the bouncy, chewy thing well enough. […]
A Shopping We Will Go…
Shopping. Chances are that word triggers a sensation of either joy or dread in your brain. Love it or loathe it, shopping plays a pretty hefty role in most of our lives, whether it’s a quick trip to the market for some essentials or a day-long event to find that one perfect item. Regardless of your shopping style—necessity or hobby—it’s hard to ignore that shopping represents a large part of our everyday culture, including how we play.
At The Strong, one […]