Sure, there were displays of old hardware like this, and artifacts strewn around to remind you that You Were Young Once.pic.twitter.com/KgAe3iY47V
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
Sure, there were displays of old hardware like this, and artifacts strewn around to remind you that You Were Young Once.pic.twitter.com/KgAe3iY47V
But soon, I realized that there was much more. First hint: The old Pong machine had its innards exposed, because – well – weren’t you always curious? And you could still play it in that state! (Which actually felt a bit weird.)pic.twitter.com/Yr3Cd5aQHO
It wasn’t just old games – right next door, I sat down and played the entirety of The Stanley Parable, a game I’ve always wanted to try.pic.twitter.com/pdMsgBkiWO
There was the understanding that games can be so much more to people. In one area, there were small rooms recreating gaming spaces in the 1980s and 1990s,pic.twitter.com/03uOEh71aC
There was also a small penny arcade filled with a bunch of videogames. And again, just this one little detail – a physical list of high scores – told me the creators understood how these spaces functioned outside of just hardware + software.pic.twitter.com/E3Mziappq8
There were a bunch of other distinctive spaces, too, and after a while I realized that this whole place felt a bit like… a game itself.pic.twitter.com/7cqmKDb9xv
Some of the exhibits were haunting and thoughtful, like this meditation on the nature of play: four computers playing by themselves, forever.pic.twitter.com/RcKJjxlTr9
Does play have to be fun? In one of the corners sat that one game that would actually hurt you. (More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PainStation …)pic.twitter.com/D9T0s6m9L5
There was also the area of videogames as a world of art unto themselves – for example one station allowed me to play the classic ROM Check Fail (which you can check out here: http://www.farbs.org/romcheckfail.php …).pic.twitter.com/2MEqfC4eIk
(Alas, no Multibowl! I’ve always wanted to try it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multibowl )
There were areas that explored programming and gaming as forever intertwined, for example with the simulation of an old Ferranti computer and a very simple early game.pic.twitter.com/C4o3W4NqWp
I was also delighted to find a station with ELIZA (which I just talked about at a conference!) – it was particularly interesting to come back to it once in a while and see what other people typed:pic.twitter.com/gNY17yMNRt
The museum also understood that videogames are just a small part of the larger history of gaming – see, for example, this postcard turn-by-turn game of chess:pic.twitter.com/7XA3uNjCme
And then, there was also a goofy huge joystick you could even step on (remove your shoes first!) to play… YES. The Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man. Which was hilarious and PERFECT.pic.twitter.com/aSjQKWZPkm
There were also nods to where we were, with German accents all around:pic.twitter.com/RKOBYArpeL
Not to mention Poly Play – “the first and only videogame machine produced in the former GDR.” Of course, you could also run with it. Which I did. Spoiler: It’s *really* bad.pic.twitter.com/fZefSQm7V8
Or this early prototype of a driving game with a moving cabinet that was still working! (And actually scared me a bit, as it was much more articulated than I expected.)pic.twitter.com/b2oZqr4rJP
And speaking of playfulness with the UI: Many of the stations with simple information or videos were controlled using joysticks…pic.twitter.com/FHT3XJ1w0U
…and vice versa, many of the games were played using keyboards, an admission that was refreshing to see.pic.twitter.com/wZ8iP6D2cb
Overall, I was so impressed with the amount of respect and effort dedicated to the universe of gaming.pic.twitter.com/wX5TxqMzs5
Sure, you could come and spend an hour just having fun, but it wasn’t very hard to look around and gain something more: a profound appreciation for videogames as a whole.
There was so much creativity here, and many museums could learn from that. Whether you’re a museum, or just a regular human being: check it out if you’re ever in Berlin! http://www.computerspielemuseum.de/
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.