NCHEG Adds Videotopia Arcade Machines to Museum of Play Exhibits

Strong's National Center for the History of Electronic Games announced that it has acquired 114 vintage arcade machines from the Electronics Conservancy. The machines will be put on permanent display at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. The machines are currently part of Videotopia, an international touring exhibit in which museum attendees can observe and play a selection of influential arcade games. Since Videotopia's opening at Strong's National Center for the History of Electronic Games in May, the exhibit has attracted tens of thousands of players. While Videotopia is slated to close on January 3rd, 2010, Strong has acquired the Electronics Conservancy's collection of arcade units. The Center plans to open a smaller video game display on the museum's second floor following Videotopia's closing, and will introduce a major permanent exhibit in 2012 dedicated to Videotopia's arcade games. Tentatively titled "The Revolutionary World of Electronic Play," the future Strong arcade machine exhibit will cover 15,000 square feet. Strong notes that a traveling version of the exhibit is also in the works. "I am very excited that The Videotopia Collection has found a permanent home at the National Center for the History of Electronic Games," said Keith Feinstein, president of the Electronics Conservancy. Feinstein continues: "Just as filmmakers watch prints of classic films rather than colorized versions on television and painters travel great distances to be able to see the brush strokes of the great masters rather than merely looking at copies in books, the game artists of the future will find this collection an invaluable resource. I am pleased and relieved that the collection has found such a caring, appreciative, and nurturing home."