Press Releases

ROCHESTER, New York—Do you have a favorite video game that deserves to join icons such as Pong, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, The Legend of Zelda, and The Oregon Trail in The Strong’s World Video Game Hall of Fame? Video game lovers everywhere are urged to submit nominations for induction online. Submissions for nominations must be made by Tuesday, February 28, 2023. Finalists will be announced in March, 2023, and inductees will be revealed at via a virtual special on May 4, 2023.
The World Video Game Hall of Fame at The Strong […]

Continue Reading about 2023 World Video Game Hall of Fame Nominations Due February 28 Published on:
January 30, 2023

Play your way through the history of electronic driving games and experience America’s long fascination with the need for speed at the original Raceway Arcade exhibit, opening Saturday, December 10. 
Start your engine and zip through the evolution of driving games in this highly interactive and artifact-rich exhibit designed for racing enthusiasts of all ages.

Challenge friends to the two-player Daytona USA (1994), three-player Super Sprint (1986), and the two-player favorite Mario Kart Arcade GP2 (2007).
Be the first to the finish line in arcade classics such as Out Run (1987) and Cruis’n USA (1994).
Grab the wheel in the modern […]

Continue Reading about Original Raceway Arcade Exhibit Opens December 10 Published on:
December 7, 2022

You’re Not Being Lazy—Just Seeking a Meaningful Life According to the American Journal of Play
ROCHESTER, NY—Enjoy an extra-long bath? Like to take in the spring flowers? Sit silently often with a good cup of coffee? Spend half the morning in bed with a book sometimes? Some may call that wasting the day or missing opportunities, but according to the latest issue of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Play, idleness may be the highest form of human good, the perfect intersection […]

Continue Reading about Being Idle is Just Wasting Time? Think Again. Published on:
December 6, 2022

Rochester, NY–The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) and The Strong National Museum of Play have teamed up for the first time to present Let’s Play: A Winter Celebrationon Saturday, December 10.
Families are invited from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for musical performances throughout the museum featuring RPO musicians as well as student groups, an instrument petting zoo, a musical story time, and music-related arts & crafts. All are included in the regular museum admission: $19 (ages 2 and over); free for […]

Continue Reading about The Strong Museum and RPO Team Up for Winter Celebration, December 10 Published on:
November 30, 2022

For more information, contact: Sara Poe, The Strong, spoe@museumofplay.org
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Calling all gamers! Join The Strong and Rochester Institute of Technology for Gaming for All: A Women in Games Celebration of Diversity in Games on Thursday, November 17 from 6pm – 9pm. This special evening of big-kid fun celebrates the untold contributions of women, people of color, differently-abled people, the LGBTQIA+ community, and other under-represented groups to the world of video games. Tickets for the event are $16 and include access to […]

Continue Reading about Gaming for All: A Women in Games Celebration of Diversity in Games Published on:
November 16, 2022

For more information contact: Sara Poe, The Strong, spoe@museumofplay.org
ROCHESTER, New York—It’s official! The ancient top, cultural phenomenon Masters of the Universe, and beloved Lite-Brite have been inducted today into the National Toy Hall of Fame. The honorees, unveiled during a special ceremony at The Strong National Museum of Play, were chosen from a field of 12 finalists that also included bingo, Breyer Horses, Catan, Nerf, piñata, Phase 10, Pound Puppies, Rack-O, and Spirograph.
About Top: Since ancient times, the spinning top […]

Continue Reading about National Toy Hall of Fame Inductees for 2022 Announced Published on:
November 10, 2022

ROCHESTER, NY—Rochester’s most playful fundraising gala returns! Join Honorary Chair and longtime museum Trustee Aaron Newman for an evening of fun and festivities highlighting the power of play in Rochester and beyond at The Strong’s Play Ball on Friday, October 21, from 6 to 10:30 p.m. Be a piece of the puzzle as the museum looks to the future; funds raised from Play Ball support the museum’s outreach programs and play-based educational mission.
“As someone who is always seeking out adventure, […]

Continue Reading about Play Ball Gala Returns October 21 Published on:
October 11, 2022

ROCHESTER, NY—Can libraries save free play? In the past decades, academic pressures have increased, parent anxieties and surveillance have grown, and legal constraints on free-roaming children have tightened, all leading to a well-documented decline in free play opportunities for today’s youth. As children have become more homebound and opportunities for play with friends outside of school have plummeted, public libraries have come to hold an increasingly important role as emerging centers for play, according to an article by Peter Gray, […]

Continue Reading about Can Libraries Save Free Play? New Issue of the American Journal of Play Explores Expanding Role of Libraries Published on:
September 27, 2022

ROCHESTER, New York—Which toys will make it into the National Toy Hall of Fame this November? Can Breyer Horses gallop across the finish line? Is this Lite-Brite’s year to shine? Will the Masters of the Universe muscle their way to glory? Can Spirograph draw up a victory? Or will Phase 10 play the winning hand?
The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York, today announced the 12 finalists for induction into the hall: bingo, Breyer Horses, Catan, Lite-Brite, […]

Continue Reading about National Toy Hall of Fame Reveals 12 Finalists Published on:
September 14, 2022

The following 12 toys are finalists for 2022 induction into The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame. Only three will take their honored places in the hall this year when they are announced by The Strong on Thursday, November 10, at 10:30 a.m.
Bingo
American bingo is descended from a lottery game first played in Italy around 1530. The game came to be known as lotto and was played in France and in Germany as a teaching tool. A marketer copied the […]

Continue Reading about Meet the 2022 National Toy Hall of Fame Finalists Published on:
September 14, 2022