National Videogame Museum, Frisco Texas

Sean Kelly plays Duck Hunt in a recreated 1980s bedroom at the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas. Jackie Finch photos.
Sean Kelly plays Duck Hunt in a recreated 1980s bedroom at the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas. Jackie Finch photos.

Play a Blast from the Past at National Videogame Museum

By Jackie Sheckler Finch
GoNOMAD Senior Writer

National Videogame Museum, Frisco Texas.
National Videogame Museum, Frisco Texas.

Joe Santulli plops down on a plush sofa, picks up a video game controller, and begins playing Frogger on a console television.

An avocado green rotary phone rests on a side table. A black velvet bullfight scene hangs on a wall. And an artificial ficus tree sits in a corner.

Sound like the 1980s?

If you wonder what time warp you might have entered, look at the scene across the hall.

Old Tyme controllers in the videogame museum.
Old Tyme controllers in the videogame museum.

In a recreated bedroom, Sean Kelly eases into a desk chair, leans back, and stares at a 19-inch Zenith TV to play the Duck Hunt video game from a new company called Nintendo.

Mad Magazine and More

The twin bed has a Pac-Man bedspread. Ferris Bueller smiles from a wall poster. Mad Magazine boasts a cover of Alfred E. Neuman. A neon-pink-haired troll sits on the dresser. And a young Depeche Mode band sneers from a photo.

A recreated 1980s bedroom boasts items from almost four decades ago.
A re-created 1980s bedroom boasts items from almost four decades ago.

Yep, definitely the 1980s.

Opened in April 2016, the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, Texas, is the brainchild of three guys – John Hardie, Kelly, and Santulli – who fell in love with gaming when they were kids and have been collecting video games and related paraphernalia for decades.

“The first game I played was Gunslinger when I was in the sixth grade,” Santulli said. “I didn’t get my first game until I was 14 years old.”

Sean Kelly (left) and Joe Santulli decided to start the museum to share their video game collection.
Sean Kelly (left) and Joe Santulli decided to start the museum to share their videogame collection.

Originally the trio offered some of their collection as a traveling exhibit at video game conferences.

But fellow gamers kept asking them to create a permanent home for their treasures. That’s what the three men decided to do.

“We were getting a bit older and getting tired of moving our stuff around,” Santulli said.

“We wanted a museum but we didn’t want it to be just a place that you walk through and look at. We wanted it to be very interactive so you could have fun and still learn something.”

Mission Accomplished

The National Videogame Museum traces the history of video games from the days of Pong.
The National Videogame Museum traces the history of video games from the days of Pong.

Already a popular attraction, the new museum features thousands of items located in 18 different stations.

“Each station tells a story,” Kelly said.

When I visited, people of all ages were enjoying the museum. I heard parents telling their children that these were games they used to play long before cell phones and computers became commonplace.

National Computer Museum

Stopping for a photo by a large entrance statue of video game character Mario, Mark Thompson of Dallas explained to his 6-year-old son Will that the 1981 Donkey Kong game with Mario was a big deal when he was growing up.

“I was the first one of my friends to have Donkey Kong and everyone wanted to play it,” Thompson said

Touch and Play Videogames

 A huge Pong machine pays tribute to the video game that started it all. National Videogame Museum Frisco Texas.
A huge Pong machine pays tribute to the video game that started it all.

Behind the entrance statue of Mario is a huge wall of consoles that visitors can touch and use. A 15-foot-tall Pong machine pays homage to the game that started it all.

Pong was one of the first video game systems playable at home.

“I had a Pong system game in 1975. That’s the game that got me hooked,” Kelly said. “But my parents kept it in the closet up on a toy shelf and only brought it down on Saturday nights.”

Although he had played Pong at a cousin’s house, Santulli said his parents wouldn’t allow him to have a video game for fear it would burn an image in their television screen.

“My Mom said when you can buy your own TV, then you can have that game,” Santulli said.

As technology advanced, video games became more sophisticated and gamers of all ages became entranced.

Joe Santulli points out some of the rare video game memorabilia. videogame museum
Joe Santulli points out some of the rare video game memorabilia.

“Some of the early games were very bad,” Santulli said. “The ET game in 1970 was so bad that they dumped them in a landfill.

ET is regarded as the game that destroyed the 1980s video game industry. All these companies were going out of business …The world shifted into computer games.”

Three of the most popular museum exhibits are the 1980s living room and bedroom, and the 1980s-style arcade room called Pixel Dreams.

The arcade rings with the gobbling sound of Pac-Man, plus Donkey Kong Jr., Space Invader, Mortal Kombat, Asteroids Deluxe, and much more.

The arcade is complete with ‘80s music, neon colors, and black lights. Visitors get four tokens to play whatever games they want and can buy more tokens. “We do have people who stay here all day,” Santulli said.

Having Fun and Learning

ET, the Videogame, was considered the worst game ever created.
ET, the Videogame, was considered the worst game ever created. National videogame museum

Interesting facts learned at the museum:

– The videogame industry is larger than the music and movie industries combined.

– The average age of a video gamer is 34 and 40 percent are female.

– Grand Theft Auto V generated $1 billion in sales within three days of its 2013 release.

Rare gaming artifacts also are on display, including the only Sega Neptune prototype, the Nintendo World Championship cartridge from 1990, the Atari Mindlink controller (one of only two in the world), the only known white-molded Atari 2600, and a Barbie-themed Game Boy (one of only two in existence).

A replica of Randy Pitchford’s office pays tribute to the founder of Gearbox Software and the creator of the games Borderlands, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem Forever. The exhibits bring together science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) values within video games.

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“For some it’s nostalgia,” said Kelly. “But it’s a lot more than just a game. It’s something that brings you back to a certain part of your life. It’s fun when you have different generations coming in here and enjoying something together.

For more information: Visit the National Videogame Museum website at www.nvmusa.org or the Frisco Convention and Visitors Bureau at www.visitfrisco.com

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