With 18 exhibits spread throughout the approximately 11,000 square foot space within Frisco Discovery Center, the National Videogame Museum strives to provide an interactive experience that archives and preserves video games, nonprofit cofounder John Hardie said.
“We're not museum guys—we don't really like museums because unless you're really into the subject matter, they can be very boring and stuffy. It's no fun to just read about it,” Hardie said. “Everywhere you go in this museum, there's something to pick up, there's something to play with and have fun with.”
Hardie co-founded National Videogame Museum, a nonprofit, with Sean Kelly and John Santulli in April 2016.
The set up
At the museum, the video game industry representation spans from the late '70s to early 2000s, Hardie said. Museum attendees can learn about and play games like Pong—played on home televisions in the early '80s—and Oregon Trail, which was a popular home computer game, and more.
Hardie said his first video game experience was playing Pong on his grandmother’s television in the living room.
“After a few months, grandma realized that the image of Pong was there when she was watching the six o'clock news—the image was burned into her screen,” Hardie said. “That was the end of that video game.”
Other exhibits include arcade games, a head-to-head wall where gamers can sit side-by-side and play video games from various points in history, virtual reality and more.
An exhibit titled "1980s Bedroom" features posters of generational pop culture figures, cassette tapes, vinyl records, collectible sports cards and hand-held games like Simon.
An '80s themed bedroom exhibit features decade-specific pop culture memorabilia. (Karen Chaney/Community Impact)
Who it’s for
Hardie said museum enthusiasts range from non-gaming moms to hardcore gamers. He said gamers are drawn to the experience for a variety of reasons including game prototype displays. The museum founders knew moms would be harder to attract so they intentionally made them their target demographic.
“Kids will play anything and dads were easy because back in the '80s, mostly men played video games and they're going to buy right into the nostalgia,” Hardie said. “We get a lot of comments [from moms] saying, ‘I took my kids to the video game museum and they had to drag me out of there.’ We really feel like we're for the entire family.”
Making an impact
The museum awards five scholarships each year in the following categories: Frisco resident, Texas resident, student graduating from a Title I school, women in tech for a high school graduate and women in tech for a college undergraduate. Scholarship amounts range from $2,500 to $5,000 per recipient. Applications will be accepted until June 1.
Quote of note
Although all three founders are involved in running the museum, Hardie is a Frisco resident and is able to interact with visitors more than the other two founders. He said he loves chatting with visitors and appreciating the big picture.
“We've done our job as far as bringing video games and that happy, nostalgic feeling to people. A lot of times they're telling their kids, ‘This is what I had back in the day,’” Hardie said. “One of the things I most like about it is that we've been able to achieve something that makes people happy.”
