This museum archives and lets you play hard-to-find and lost video games.
OAKLAND, Calif. — As video games and game consoles are replaced by new, faster, more technologically advanced versions, older versions end up in warehouses, sold at yard sales, or thrown away, never to be played again. often.
However, those old video games may be lucky to end up at Auckland's Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment, or The MADE for short. This nonprofit organization is like the afterlife of a video game that was thrown away and forgotten.
“More than 80% of the games ever made are lost. You can't buy them commercially, so if you don't have them already, they're gone,” says tour guide Mason Young. I did.
Since 2008, MADE has been actively searching for and archiving historical video games for people to play in museums.
“We aim to inspire a new generation of digital entertainers, and a really good way to do that is to get people to play games,” Young said. “We have a living history of gaming consoles on display on our floor.”
Consoles like the APF FUN TV were the first of many electronic consoles that could play games like Pong in 1976.
“These first-generation consoles have games built in. There's no software or cartridges to load,” Young said.
Take a trip through Bartel's backstreets:
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► See allback road video
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If we follow the chronological progression of video games, we find some well-known and popular games such as Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog, but then we move on to less popular games such as Atari's E.T. You will also meet.
“There's a very funny story about how this game wasn't a success, so they made a bunch of copies and had to destroy them,” Young said.
In the beginning, early game developers released a lot of unpopular games. Young says it was an attempt to make a quick buck, but just because it was bad doesn't mean it's not important to some people.
“I had 13 Super Nintendo games, and whether they were trash or not, I played them all and buried them in the ground, because those were the games I had. That's why we keep it because trash games aren't trash [everybody]. “One person's trash is another person's treasure,” Young said.
MADE not only has consoles and games, but also one-off gaming gimmicks such as the first-generation 3D Nintendo headset from 1995.
“This can cause eye strain in certain people, and that's something to avoid at all costs,” Young says.
Another failed gaming device is the Donkey Kong Bongo.
“So you beat the drum and move, and you clap to attract the enemy,” Young said. “My hands start to hurt after a while.”
MADE games aim to bridge the gap between old and new gamers. It's a way to bond and learn about where the game came from and where it is today.
MADE is open Wednesday through Sunday.
Another place to play on the back roads: Motown Raceway, Modesto's slot car track, isn't just for kids. Adults embrace their childhood love for small hot rods.
