ICHEG collects, studies, and interprets electronic games and related materials and the ways in which they change how people play, learn, and connect with each other.
ICHEG is located at The Strong in Rochester, New York. The Strong is a highly interactive, collections-based educational institution devoted to the study and exploration of play. The Strong is also home to the National Toy Hall of Fame, the World Video Game Hall of Fame, the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play, the Woodbury School, and the American Journal of Play. The Strong explores play and the ways in which it encourages learning, creativity, and discovery and illuminates cultural history.
Once per month, we formally accession new artifacts into The Strong Museum's collection. While most museums take in only a few hundred objects per year, we average close to 10,000! Here's a snapshot of today's meeting for the month of November, which totals 768 new items!!
Hey Baltimore! Digital Curator Andrew Borman is speaking at ArchiveCon on Saturday! This is a FREE game history event presented by MAGFest and MICA Game Labs.Check out the schedule here: http://www.archivecon.com/
Game History Conference Archive is a celebration of game history and culture that will take place on November 15/16 in Baltimore Maryland! The event will feature designers, artists and scholars from Bethesda Softworks, The Museum of Play, PBS Kids, The Library of Congress and many more!!! The event....
CALLING ALL SCOUTS!!
Boy and Girl Scouts can discover the intricate mechanics of pinball with Scout Pinball Pros on Sun. Dec. 8! Learn from The Strong’s resident pinball expert about what goes into designing a pinball machine. Use your new knowledge to create a simple pinball machine with recyclable materials, and marvel at pinball creations designed by RIT students.
This program is for scouts in kindergarten through grade 5. Troop leaders can call 585-263-2700 to register. Registration is open through December 3.
Did you know The Strong Museum offers research fellowships? It's true! Check out this results blog from one of our former fellows, Jana Rosinski, who utilized our archives to explore the design of early computer and video games for girls.
Jana Rosinski 2018 Strong Research Fellow Syracuse University, NY
Register for The Strong Museum's Video Game Creation Workshop now, and join RIT Assistant Professor Ian Schreiber for six fun-filled game design sessions!
https://www.museumofplay.org/calendar/video-game-creation-workshop
Anyone in Syracuse this weekend? Join curators Shannon Symonds and Andrew Borman for a presentation at RetroGameCon! Find us in the schedule on Saturday at 1pm under the title "It Belongs in a Museum!"
Happy Halloween, ICHEG friends! Is anyone dressing up as a video game character? Post your costumes here!
Happy 1st Birthday to our dear friends and partners at MAGIC Spell Studios! We are so grateful to be a part of the #ROC gaming community with MAGIC at RIT, and we can't wait to see what magic you produce in the coming years!
In 1958, physicist William A. Higinbotham developed Tennis for Two, a tennis simulation game, at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Widely cited as the first video game created purely for entertainment, the game was shown at a public exhibition and was played on an oscilloscope with aluminum controllers. Last Friday, we were honored to welcome his son, William B. Higinbotham, to the museum! While here, he viewed an official replica of Tennis for Two, designed by Brookhaven engineers.
Just FYI, in case any ICHEG friends were planning a visit today! We'll be open at our normal 10am time tomorrow.
The museum is closed today for the Play Ball gala.
GAME TIME! How many pinball games can you find?
Check out this custom-built display featuring various playfield toys, plastics, and parts from Williams and Bally pinball machines. Only 30 or so of these displays were made, all uniquely designed to the buyer’s preference. Many thanks to donor Larry DeMar, Director of Engineering at Williams for 19 years!
Curator Shannon Symonds will be speaking at the University of Rochester next Tuesday, Oct. 29, about ICHEG's mission, with a special focus on our Women in Games initiative. Thanks to the Mellon Digital Humanities Fellows for this opportunity!
Register here: https://cutt.ly/xeheiSw
Time to test our newest arcade game before releasing it to the public! (Still photos in the comments.)
Coming to The Strong Museum and not sure where to go? Look for Dragon!Shannon in the awesome brand new parking garage to guide you!
We're so proud to be supporting Lual's journey!
A mother's sacrifice gave him a rare gift that pushed him from a Uganda refugee camp into a future of video game development.
Here at ICHEG we obviously do not condone the retconning of history. But if we DID, I can promise we'd be adding these names to our video game lexicon....
I haven’t watched much Jeopardy! since my personal hero James Holzhauer left the show, but had I tuned in last night, I would probably have found myself wondering if I had taken leave of my senses, following this question about Tetris in the category “Video Game-Pourri.”
Check out this awesome donation from Guy Welch, the Senior Marketing Director at Xbox! According to Guy, this special edition Gears 5 Xbox One X "is the first mass produced console from Xbox that combines semi-opaque resin with two-sided paint and printed graphics." The 3D effect on the skull is amazing in person!
Today we were thrilled to welcome Lual Mayen back to The Strong Museum! Lual told the inspiring story of his journey from a childhood lived in a refugee camp in northern Uganda, where he walked three hours every day just to charge his laptop, to his current work designing games for peace and conflict resolution.
"Video games can never be art." Thus spake famed critic Roger Ebert. Well, we can agree to disagree on that, but here's another question: Can video games make people engage in social, political, and moral discussions? Peter Licari, a research fellow at The Strong Museum, says yes. Read more in his guest blog:
Video games have become increasingly popular over the last few years. In fact, a recent survey suggests that approximately 2/3rds of American adults partake in the pursuit. But even with this emerging success, gaming continues to be dogged by decades-old accusations. Many of the medium’s most arde...
Thanks to everyone who made our second annual Women in Games event an amazing success!
(L-->R, Back: Kellee Santiago, Ann McCormick, Ryh-Ming Poon, Robin Hunicke, Keisha Howard, Jen Taylor, Kiki Wolfkill, Meggan Scavio, Elizabeth LaPensée; Front: Jacinda Chew, Emily Greer, Reiko Ninomiya, Jennifer Oneal)
Get a sneak peek of one of our esteemed speakers for tonight's Women in Games event! Jen Taylor (voice of Halo's Cortana and Mario's Princess Peach) joined Shannon Symonds for an interview on Good Day Rochester.
Strong Museum's second annual Women in Games celebration is happening tonight, honoring women who have made contributions to the electronic gaming industry. Several of those women will be on hand for a discussion tonight. The event runs from 6-9 p. m. at the museum. Tickets are $15 per person. Jen T...
If you can't make tomorrow's epic Women in Games event, you can stream it live! Tune in from 6 to 9pm EST on one of these three platforms:
https://www.facebook.com/TheStrongMuseum
https://www.youtube.com/MuseumofPlay
https://www.twitch.tv/museumofplay
We are THRILLED to announce that the National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded its prestigious Chairman's Award (the only one given this year) to The Strong for our Digital Worlds experience, a two-part exhibit that will explore gaming's influence on cultural history, as part of our upcoming expansion!
Chairman's Special Award from National Endowment for the Humanities to fund creation of "Digital Worlds" exhibit
Have you played The Original Mobile Games? This awesome collaboration between ICHEG, Second Avenue Learning, and MAGIC at RIT is now available on the Nintendo Switch, and you can check out a fun-filled playthrough by the Game Grumps here!
Our heroes spend some time playing the game of choice of United States senators in the 1800's. Click to SUBSCRIBE ► http://bit.ly/GrumpSubscribe MERCH!! ► ht...
You've got questions, we've got answers!
(The default answer is 42, but we'll probably come up with something better 😀)
#AskaCurator day is here! Send your toy, doll, game, or video game questions to us via Twitter! @museumofplay
Happy National Video Games Day! Here at ICHEG, we talk a lot about what games are most influential or have had the most impact on the industry, but today, let's just take a moment to talk about our favorite games of all time! Leave yours in the comments.
The Strong Museum just released the 12 finalists for the 2019 National Toy Hall of Fame! One of the nominess is the smartphone, one of the most popular ways people play video games today. What's your favorite?
ROCHESTER, New York—Which toys will make it into the hallowed halls of the National Toy Hall of Fame this November? Will Matchbox cars speed across the finish line? Can My Little Pony gallop past the pack? Will the coloring book draw up a victory? Can Risk conquer the competition and reign supreme...
"It's Thinking."
20 years ago, the Sega Dreamcast launched in the United States. Coming out of the gate with one of the strongest launch lineups ever, including titles like Sonic Adventure and Soul Calibur, and with the 56k modem pre-installed, the Dreamcast was ahead of its time. Sadly, it was short lived, but its legacy lives on.
What are some of your memories of the Sega Dreamcast? Or perhaps you were too busy playing Final Fantasy VIII, which also launched on 9/9/99?
We are thrilled to add another guest speaker to our Women in Games: Create event: Kellee Santiago! Her credits include being the co-founder and president of thatgamecompany, head of developer relations at OUYA, and producer at Google Play. She is currently head of developer relations at Niantic.
Buy your tickets for our October 3 evening event and our October 4 student symposium here!
Thursday, October 3 6–9 p.m. $15 per person SELECT About the Program
Inquiring minds want to know: What do you think will be the most influential game released in 2019?
Check out this awesome video from Brenda Laurel, one of our speakers from the 2018 Women in Games panel. Hope to see you all on October 3 for this year's event!!
Hear from Brenda Laurel, cofounder of Purple Moon and 2018 Women in Games presenter on the importance of The Strong’s Women in Games initiative.
#WomeninGames #museumofplay
Hey ICHEG friends! Now that I have your attention...Today is Fan Appreciation Day at The Strong Museum! We're planning on getting to 100,000 followers today, and right now we have 99,879! Will you help us reach out goal? As extra incentive, here's curator Shannon Symonds posing with a molded head of Arnold Schwarzenegger, donated by Ken Fedesna, who used it in his creation of the Terminator 2 arcade game!
Every year in early January close to 200,000 people descend on Las Vegas to attend the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Strong Scholar in Residence and RIT professor Steve Jacobs joined the throng this year. Read about his experience in our latest blog:
“Playing” at the Consumer Electronics Show Posted August 23, 2019 by Stephen Jacobs Scholar in Residence at The Strong and Professor of Interactive Games and Media at the Rochester Institute of Technology Every year in early January close to 200,000 people descend on Las Vegas to attend the a...
Our Women in Games event takes place Oct. 3 and 4 at The Strong Museum. Microsoft's Bonnie Ross shares some of her thoughts on attending last year's inaugural event in this awesome video!
This is "190726_FHD_Strong_Women in Games Bonnie Ross_1.10_V1_Social_MFA" by Facehead Digital on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people…
When’s the last time you thought about everyone’s favorite old-fashioned magnetic media storage device, the floppy disk? Has it been years? Decades? Or never? For archivist Julia Novakovic, it's sometimes every day! Check out her blog post to learn more about our preservation efforts for this at-risk media:
When’s the last time you thought about everyone’s favorite old-fashioned magnet
Check out this write-up on video game preservation, featuring an interview with our own JP Dyson!
Games are key to understanding modern culture, but archiving them can be surprisingly challenging
Awesome donation from Paul Marzagalli of inXile Entertainment: Copies of two different special editions of The Bard's Tale IV!
Some fun on this lovely Friday morning...the best OG survival game!
It's official! We are pleased to announce our confirmed speaker list for Women in Games: Create!, a panel discussion and reception at The Strong Museum on October 3.
• Jacinda Chew - Studio Art Director, Insomniac Games
• Emily Greer - Founder & CEO, Double Loop Games
• Keisha Howard (Moderator) - Founder, Sugar Gamers
• Robin Hunicke - Co-Founder & CEO, Funomena
• Elizabeth LaPensée (Associate Professor, MSU; independent game designer)
• Ann McCormick - Founder, The Learning Company
• Jennifer Oneal - Studio Head, Vicarious Visions)
• Meggan Scavio - President, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
• Jen Taylor - Voice Actress (Cortana, Princess Peach, Toad)
• Kiki Wolfkill - Head of Halo Transmedia and Entertainment, 343 Industries
We're so thrilled to welcome these 10 innovative and inspiring women to The Strong! Get your tickets now!
Celebrate the contributions of women to the electronic games industry, past and present, during the second annual Women in Games celebration on October 3. Enjoy an evening of discussions with female innovators and leaders from the video game industry, including Jacinda Chew, Robin Hunicke, Elizabet...
In March 2019, 2019, The Strong Museum research fellows Tom Boellstorff and Braxton Soderman spent two days examining materials related to Intellivision for information to be used in their upcoming book, tentatively titled Intelligent Visions. Read about their experiences here!
Intellivision in the Archive Posted July 31, 2019 by Tom Boellstorff and Braxton Soderman Tom Boellstorff and Braxton Soderman, 2019 Strong Research Fellows University of California, Irvine In March 2019, we spent two days at The Strong conducting research related to Intellivision, a home video g...
ICHEG is so grateful to be supported by many local game design studios and universities, including developers at Workinman! Learn more about this awesome team here:
You know the characters: from Spongebob Squarepants to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
Did you know The Strong Museum offers research fellowships? It's true! We recently welcomed Whitney Pow of Northwestern University, who studied the contributions of transgender women to the video game industry, and Ian Larson of UC Irvine, who researched video game console and software clones. Interested in applying? Check out the application and requirements here: https://www.museumofplay.org/research-publications/research-fellowships
The Nintendo Game Boy is 30 years old today in North America! What are some of your favorite memories of the #gameboy?
We're thrilled to unveil the newest exhibit at The Strong Museum, honoring the work of Scott Adams, designer of the very first text adventure game for the home computer, Adventureland! Scott was joined by members of his current game studio, Clopas: Roxanne Adams (VP of Operations), Nathan Johnson (Game Developer), and David Ababio (COO).
We are SO EXCITED to announce the release of The Original Mobile Games on the Nintendo Switch! Play your way through early handheld games, using virtual artifacts from The Strong Museum's collection, developed in conjunction with Rochester Institute of Technology and Second Avenue Learning.
Available Now The Original Mobile Games Nintendo Switch $1.99 Eligible for up to Gold Points when you buy this game digitally. You may also use Gold Points toward this purchase. Close x Eligible for up to points Learn more Buy digital Game info Buy digital The Original Mobile Games collection puts 1...
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Time to test our newest arcade game before releasing it to the public! (Still photos in the comments.)
To celebrate Martin Luther King Day, join us in honoring Jerry Lawson, creator of the Fairchild Channel F (the first console to use interchangeable cartridges) and the first African-American to found a video game company.
Available anywhere books are sold!
In case you missed it, watch the 2018 induction ceremony now!
Check out the Nintendo Labo robot toy-con!
2017 World Video Game Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Thirty years ago, George Lucas and Jim Henson joined forces to give us the movie Labyrinth, a coming of age fairy tale that is now all the more bittersweet with the lost of its star, rock icon David Bowie. So today, join us in celebrating this film with a clip from the 1986 Nintendo Famicom adaptation. Not many gamers on this side of the world were able to enjoy it when it originally made the scene. Were you one of them?
For today's ICHEG Throwback Thursday, we have a special treat for all the Star Wars fans waiting for the clock to strike midnight and the release of The Force Awakens! Check out this video Atari shot to promote its original Star Wars arcade game in 1983. We just digitized this from The Strong’s extensive Atari archives. Enjoy, and may the Force be with you!
ICHEG Cataloger Shannon Symonds has a not-so-secret obsession: She loves the 80s cult classic Labyrinth, a movie starring glam rocker David Bowie, actress Jennifer Connelly, and a whole slew of Jim Henson's muppets. When the opportunity arose to acquire Tokuma Soft's Japanese Labyrinth game for the Nintendo Famicom, she was ecstatic! Please join her in enjoying this video capture of the gameplay, courtesy of our RIT co-op students. Fans of the movie will love the interactions with the Worm and Wise Man, will love battling evil biting fairies and the crazy Fireys, and will recognize the background music as midi versions of songs such as Magic Dance and Chilly Down!
Calling all TI-99/4A fans! One of our ICHEG co-op students recently took video captures from the colorful shooter Super Demon Attack, published by Imagic in 1983. Players make use of lasers to destroy hordes of alien creatures descending from above. The game originally ended after 84 progressively difficult attack waves, as programmer Rob Fulop believed no one would ever survive that long. However, when a child beat the game two days after its release, Fulpop altered the code so the game never ends, though the difficulty remains the same after the 84th attack wave. Did you ever make it to the final wave?
If you're looking for a good laugh to start your day, check out this video capture from our ICHEG co-op students: Parodius Da!: Shinwa kara Owarai e (It's Parodius!: From Myth to Laughter), developed and published by Konami for the Famicom in 1990. The title is a portmanteau of "Gradius" and "Parody," clearly identifying it as a humorous version of the Gradius series. Where else can you battle giant clowns in space or a cat/pirate ship hybrid?
Play your way through the history of video games in eGameRevolution! Why wait?
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