National Videogame Museum Highlights Origins of Video GamesNational Videogame Museum Highlights Origins of Video Games

Deep in the heart of Texas, the National Videogame Museum is a tribute to the golden age of arcade video games and the emergence of home consoles.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

November 5, 2020

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National Videogame Museum

The National Videogame Museum, in Frisco, Texas, states its mission as “preserving the history of the videogame industry by archiving not only the physical artifacts but also the information and stories behind its creation.”

Museum director and co-founder Sean Kelly says he started the museum with his partners from a sense of responsibility to preserve an era that was important to them. “We always wanted to have this stuff,” Kelly told Syfy Wire in a video interview. “Even back in the ‘80s when this stuff was just coming out, myself and both of my partners, we all saw it as something that was cool and something that really impacted our lives, so it was something that we wanted to preserve.”

The popularity of contemporary video games and the strength of nostalgia for classic games make this seem obvious today, but that wasn’t the case when Kelly started collecting video games and their memorabilia.

“That was at a time that nobody else thought that,” he said. “All the programmers back in the day thought it was all throwaway. They were convinced that video games were going to be a fad in the ‘80s. We knew they weren’t going to be.

According to the Entertainment Software Association, consumers spent $36 billion on video games worldwide in 2017 and added $11.7 billion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 2015. The industry employed 220,000 people in the U.S. in 2017, and they had an average salary of $97,000 at that time.

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This information obviously confirms Kelly’s longtime view that video games are not a passing fad. Be aware, if you're planning a visit, that the museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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