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From Atari To Playstation 4, The Video Game History Museum In Frisco Will Have It

Great Beyond
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The Atari 2600 was a video game console that was released in 1977.

Mario, Zelda, and Master Chief have finally found common ground - in Texas. The Video Game History Museum has taken its operation to the next level with a permanent home in Frisco.

Joe Santulli is one of the founders of the Video Game History Museum, and he talked about their plans for the space.

Interview Highlights: Joe Santulli…

…On the decision to bring the museum to Frisco:

"Our initial thoughts were, let’s put the museum as close to the computer history museum as possible -- and silicon valley being pretty much where the video game industry was born – so we wanted to put it right there. As we looked around, we realized it’s not always that important that it’s right there where it was born. We really want to be in a place where we’re most appreciated and most seen."

…On hosting future gaming tournaments at the museum:

"I can't stress enough how important that is to us. Those arcades that are gone now were really the social centers at the time, and we want to try so hard to bring them back."  

…On his first experience playing a video game:

"My cousins…had one of the first Pong systems I’d ever seen. It was on a black-and-white TV and it was just a really simple Pong back-and-forth type of game, and I just remember being so mesmerized by that…Of course, my parents wouldn’t let me have my own Pong because they saw what happened to my cousin’s television set. Those fixed images, those lines going constantly back-and-forth in the same place, eventually left a burned image of Pong into their TV."

On the next step for the Video Game History Museum:

"We really want this place to be where you can get your fix of gaming, but at the same time, learn about the history, be able to participate in lectures and study groups. We’d love to have classrooms come in and show them how a game is designed. We want to be able to have archival facilities and libraries so if you walked in and asked, ‘show me a blueprint of an Intellivision controller, I want to see how one is built,’ we should have all that stuff on file. Or, ‘I want to see the strategy guide for Punisher on Sega Genesis,’ we pretty much want to incorporate anything gaming – just an all-around archive dedicated to the history."

The Video Game History Museum is set to open in May 2015 at the Texas Discovery Center in Frisco.

Justin Martin is KERA’s local host of All Things Considered, anchoring afternoon newscasts for KERA 90.1. Justin grew up in Mannheim, Germany, and avidly listened to the Voice of America and National Public Radio whenever stateside. He graduated from the American Broadcasting School, and further polished his skills with radio veteran Kris Anderson of the Mighty 690 fame, a 50,000 watt border-blaster operating out of Tijuana, Mexico. Justin has worked as holiday anchor for the USA Radio Network, serving the U.S. Armed Forces Network. He’s also hosted, produced, and engineered several shows, including the Southern Gospel Jubilee on 660 KSKY.