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When you reminisce and think of your brightest, fondest memories of childhood play, what comes to mind? You might recall hours in front of a Monopoly board or days spent crafting intricate models made from LEGO bricks, but are those truly your most treasured memories? Or is it the recollection of rowdy games of freeze tag in the front yard or wrestling with your little brother in a makeshift ring that you hold closest to your heart?
Perusing the submissions for […]

Continue Reading about Outside the Box: What We Remember About Play Published on:
March 31, 2011

Last fall, The Strong’s National Museum of Play began to look anew at some of the dolls, games, toys, and other playthings originally catalogued and photographed more than 30 years ago. Since that time, historians and collectors have added to the museum staff’s knowledge of how these toys were made, marketed, and played with. Studying these playthings again lets curators apply the latest research and become reacquainted with some of the wonders of the collections.
In working on this project, I […]

Continue Reading about Charles M. Crandall Toys—Vintage Playthings, Modern Play Published on:
March 29, 2011

More video games exist than can be played in a lifetime, so every gamer has to choose what is most enjoyable to play. The big question is how to make this decision. Here are some of the things I consider when selecting what games to play, and I hope you might find them helpful, too.
 1. The Series: I’m a huge Mario fan, and chances are I will race to pick up the latest release featuring the famous plumber. Whether or […]

Continue Reading about Choosing the Right Video Game Published on:
March 25, 2011

Time can be as regular as clockwork or supple as our shifting perceptions of it. Each year I note the winter solstice and hold onto the certainty that each day afterward is growing longer, minute by minute. As the days lengthen, I inevitably succumb to the seduction of the gardening catalogs that “like clockwork” begin to arrive in my mailbox. Though the ground remains buried beneath drifts of snow, these harbingers of spring fill my thoughts with images of lush […]

Continue Reading about Imaginary Gardens Published on:
March 22, 2011

Last spring, I graduated from college and found myself, diploma in hand, thrust into an unfamiliar world. I felt disoriented without a magical meal plan that guaranteed regular feedings or the overwhelming piles of homework that occupied my time. What good would a double major in history and sociology do me now? In this new world brimming with unwanted responsibilities, I began to reflect on my experiences. I “waxed nostalgic”—a phrase that once was associated with heartsickness, suffering in the […]

Continue Reading about Nostalgia: It’s Good for You! Published on:
March 16, 2011

Imagine the Oscars for toy and game inventors—with a glamorous gourmet meal. That provides a good picture of the Chicago Toy and Game Group’s annual Toy and Game Inventor Expo (TAGIE) awards presentation dinner in November. The Strong is a co-sponsor, along with many other significant contributors, of the event which coincides with the Chicago Toy and Game Fair and Toy and Game Inventor Exposition, where new and established toy inventors demonstrate their creations. Outside of New York’s annual Toy […]

Continue Reading about The 2010 TAGIE Award Winners Published on:
March 15, 2011

Over the last month, fellow CHEGhead Eric Wheeler and I attended two video game events—D.I.C.E. Summit and the Game Developers Conference (GDC)—featuring lots of information not only about the latest titles, but also about classic games and the history of the industry.
While at D.I.C.E. in Las Vegas I heard great perspectives on game history from Mark Cerny, Bing Gordon, Bill Budge, and others. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AAIS) also hosted their annual Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony, where […]

Continue Reading about Geeking Out on Game History at D.I.C.E. and GDC Published on:
March 14, 2011

Here’s a story about global toy distribution that’s driven by natural forces rather than consumer trends.
 There are few things I like better than heading to the beach to get lost in a good book. I read every day for my job at the museum, but my beach reading is play. Mark Twain was right when he said that “work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.” If […]

Continue Reading about A Tide of Tub Toys Published on:
March 8, 2011

If you’ve seen me grinning as I drop tokens in ICHEG’s eGameRevolution exhibit, you’ve probably concluded I’m a huge retro coin-op fan. Games like Galaga, Tron, and Centipede keep me coming back in hopes of a new high score. In my book, playing “Golden Era” arcade cabinets never gets old.
My attachment to these classics makes me worry when I read about the pending release of a new version of one of these timeless games. It’s hard to live up to […]

Continue Reading about New Pac-Man Game Coming to ICHEG Published on:
March 4, 2011