Top 5 at the National Videogame Museum

I don't like video games.  It's not that I dislike them, I just lost interest in them at some point as a teenager.  Outside of of a couple of apps on my phone (do those count as video games?) I haven't given them much thought.  But a recent trip to Frisco led to a stop at the National Videogame Museum and memories of joy sticking and button pushing came flooding back.  So here's my Top 5 Picks of Things on Display at the National Videogame Museum:

5.  Oregon Trail

There are plenty of older systems set up and ready to be played by museum visitors.  The one that caught my eye was perennial Middle School time killer, "Oregon Trail."  It took my right back to the days of tapping Y or N, buying dry goods and tack, and dying of dysentery.  Good Times.

4.  1981 Journey at Reunion Arena Ticket Stub

This one might be a little bit of a cheat.  There's a room in the museum that's made up like a kids bedroom in the 80s.  There's lots of attention to detail including this ticket stub for a Journey concert on Nov 8, 1981 at Reunion Stadium.  There's a lot of nostalgia in this tiny paper square.  There's also some Rangers and Cowboys stuff on the wall.

3.  Video Game Cereal

I remember a couple of these from childhood but some are more recent.  Pac-Man Cereal and Nintendo Cereal are the ones that ended up in my bowl on Saturday mornings.  I'm surprised that there's only been about half a dozen video game-based cereals so far, but sometimes it's the obvious tie-ins that are never quite so obvious.  

2.  Super Mario Movie Props

Nothing adds gravitas to a museum exhibit like a Certificate of Authenticity.  And it turns these seemingly mundane plumber's tools into a museum-worthy exhibit.  The 1993 movie was a critical and commercial failure and it's a little surprising to some of its props under glass but I guess this is definitely the right place to display them.

1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre Atari Game

If you think that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie might not be the most appropriate concept to base a kids' video game on, you're not alone.  This was released in 1983 and since the player plays the part of Leatherface (with the goal of murdering as many tourists as possible), it was very controversial and sales reflected that.  It has a cult following online but it's since it sold so poorly, it's an incredibly rare find.  Loved seeing it on display.

There's a lot more to see at the museum, including an arcade stuffed with games (including the original Star Wars game that I used to play every year at the Fort Worth Livestock Show) so when you get the itch to pump some tokens into some retro consoles, head to Frisco.

Pin Pal

Previously:

World's Largest Kaleidoscope  - -  World's Largest Jackrabbit 

If there are to be various World's Largest things then surely they would feel right at home in Texas.  While, I've so far been able to stop myself from beginning a blog entry with the phrase, "They say everything is bigger in Texas," it's getting harder and harder with the amount of great big stuff that populates the Lone Star state.  And with that, we head inside Pinballz Kingdom in Buda, TX to check out another great big thingamajig.

Now it's always tricky when you get into the "World's Largest" this and the "World's Largest" that.  Caveats tend to abound.  Many people play it safe by claiming they have the largest thing in the state or the country or they can even get cute and claim to have the second largest such-and-such.  But when signage is involved, you know they mean business:

There's a lot of great pinball machines out there but there's only one that can claim to be the "World's Largest."  OK, so these were commercially produced so there's technically more than one of them out there but I this is the one in Central Texas.  Behold...the "Hercules":

The place is full of tons of retro (and newish) pinball and arcade games but this one is the arcade's pride and joy and is positioned right in the center of the action.  In the interest of full disclosure, the Folks at Guinness claim that this machine in Italy is the real World's Largest but that location probably doesn't have the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game like Pinballz does so I'll head to Buda the next time I want to sink some quarters.