Photoreview:"Game On"@ Chicago's Museum of S&I
(Click on photo thumbs to enlarge...tried to post the actual pix, but couldn't)
Yesterday I visited the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago…a day trip my family had planned months ago. By pure coincidence, it was also the opening day of the museum’s “Game On: The History, Culture and Future of Video Games”exhibit…a coincidence I took full advantage of. While the wife and daughters were checking out the Fairy Castle and chick hatchery, I had nearly 2 hours to play and photograph the exhibits.
As it was the first day of the show, they had press kits on the entrance table and were nice enough to give me one…this info is straight from the kit. “Game On” runs through September 5, 2005 and requires a $5.00 ticket on top of the standard museum fee. Featuring well over 100 playable arcade and console games, the exhibits are arranged in 16 “levels” with themes like “Early Games,” “Making Of,” “Multiplayer Mayhem,” and “Future Games.”
The entrance features the 4 faces of a supposed gaming family (Mom, Dad, Sis, Bro) and these graphics are used throughout the show. The concept was that each family member would introduce you to the exhibits, but unless you had the press kit, they just came off as someone’s depictions of zoned-out gamers as a show theme.
The first exhibit was an actual DEC PDP-1 Computer, which the first true video game, Spacewar!, was developed on.
Space Wars was playable on a modified Vectrex next to the PDP-1, but unfortunately both Computer Space machines on display were not functioning.
Next was the original Pong, which was also not playable, but there was a set-up allowing you to play pong on a projected screen.
This was followed by a section with all of the most popular early arcade machines, including Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Ms. Pacman, Galaxian, etc. There was also a MAME console with 20 popular arcade games to choose from, playing on a projected screen.
After starting with an arcade focus, the show swung heavily to console gaming. And it started off right…
Following the granddaddy of home gaming it went on to playable displays of what “Game-On” considers may be the 10 most-influential video game consoles of all time…
I imagine DPers might take issue with a few of these choices...where's that Channel F!
From the familiar Odyssey, to the offbeat Spectravideo SVI-318 (never heard of this one…and why does it have a Saturn controller?), to the the desirable PC Engine, and even the common Game Boy (the Super Game Boy controller (see inset) was new to me…probably Japanese, as the switch in the middle is labeled “SGB/SFC), this section was very popular.
Next up was a section that focused on game genres and featured dozens of playable home consoles from the 2600 to the PS2…I thought it did a good job showing how games had advanced over the years, but still fell into a few basic categories.
Preproduction items were the star of the next section, dealing with game development. Featuring Dragon’s Lair, Tomb Raider and Golden Tee…there was not much to play, but lots of interesting, behind-the-scenes stuff to see! Chicago’s contributions to video games also had a section, paying tribute to Midway and other local gaming companies.
If you’ve always wanted to try out a Steel Battalion rig without dropping $200, this is your chance. Dual DDR pads and an Eye Toy were also set up for play.
There was a nice selection of handhelds and tabletops under glass…along with a number of game & watches, Game Boy SPs and tabletops welded to a table for play. Multiplayer games were also featured, including one of the best, a 6-player Saturn Bomberman on a large projected screen.
A rather large section on sound in games was followed by a rather small section on the influence of movies on games. Not much there beyond the 3 arcade machines pictured above, but the playable Tron and Star Wars made it more than worthwhile.
Another rarity most people haven’t seen was one of 3 surviving Poly Play machines from behind the Iron Curtain. It wasn't working at the show, and according to the placard, it sounds like it never worked that well to begin with!
The show ended with a few relatively unexciting displays on cultural influence, character design, game ratings, gaming magazines, and a section on new releases that didn’t quite live up to it’s potential…
I guess if the biggest glitch is that latest games are just a bit late on opening day, then the exhibitors did a pretty good job over all.
I found “Game On” to be well worth the trip and the expense, with plenty to see and do. With so many playable games throughout the exhibit, Star Wars was the only game I had to wait to get on. In addition to being entertaining, it was also very informative…with many unique bits of gaming hardware and history to soak up at your own pace. As a console gamer, I also appreciated the roughly 80/20 split of the exhibits in favor of home consoles over arcades.
If you live near Chicago or will be visiting before September 5th, I think you’ll enjoy the Museum of Science and Industry’s “Game On”exhibit. There are things there for gamers of all ages, and plenty more I didn’t cover. The 2 hours I spent there flew by, and I’m already planning to ask the wife and kids if they want to go back sometime and see the, umm…Fairy Castle again!
Rich
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Graham Mitchell
. Now I'm going to have to track down Beatmania and controllers for the Wench. 
Really, I think, aside from a few broken controllers, the whole thing is well done. My girlfriend, who is not nearly into retro gaming as I am, enjoyed it, and that's kind of the barometer I go by for these things. 