Tag: strong national museum of play

Video Game Hall of Fame inducts four games

The 2021 inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame include Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, StarCraft, Microsoft Flight Simulator and Animal Crossing. (provided)
The 2021 inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame include Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, StarCraft, Microsoft Flight Simulator and Animal Crossing. (provided)

The World Video Game Hall of Fame has found Carmen Sandiego. And three other games.

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? has joined Animal Crossing, Microsoft Flight Simulator and StarCraft as this year’s inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame located at the Strong National Museum of Play. They beat out finalists that included Call of Duty, FarmVille, FIFA International Soccer, Guitar Hero, Mattel Football, Pole Position, Porta, and Tron.

Nintendo debuted the Animal Crossing game in 2001, offering players leisurely gameplay set in real-time amid changing seasons.

“The freedom of play in Animal Crossing gave the game wider gender and age appeal than many other video game titles of its time,” said Research Historian Racquel Gonzales in a statement.

For nearly four decades, Microsoft Flight Simulator has provided millions of players endless hours of gameplay by providing highly realistic but intuitive recreations of real-life airplanes.

“It’s hard to overestimate what a groundbreaking program Microsoft Flight Simulator was when it debuted in 1983,” said Jeremy Saucier, assistant vice president for interpretation and electronic games. “For the first time, amateur and professional aviators could navigate the skies — without ever leaving home. And the joy of flight is universal, which is perhaps why Microsoft Flight Simulator has continued to captivate gamers for decades.”

California-based developer Blizzard Entertainment took the real-time strategy genre to new heights in 1998 with the debut of StarCraft. The single-player mode of the immersive, science fiction game proved popular, but the multiplayer mode, which included a ladder ranking system, turned it into the largest esports title of its day. StarCraft won multiple Game of the Year Awards and generated its own lines of novels, graphic novels, licensed toys, clothing and gaming accessors.

Released by Brøderbund in 1985, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? spawned one of the best-selling “edutainment” franchises, combining education and entertainment. Designed for the first generation of graphic-enabled personal computers, the title made learning world geography fun for millions of students as they searched for the whereabouts of the mysterious Carmen Sandiego. The game, which launched several sequels, also inspired a hit show on American Public Broadcasting in the 1990s and an animated series on Netflix, helping propel Carmen Sandiego and her world-traveling ways into the cultural zeitgeist.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame at the Strong was established in 2015 to recognize individual electronic games of all types—arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile — that have enjoyed popularity over a sustained period and have exerted influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society in general.

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Strong Museum to offer remote learning space

The Strong National Museum of Play has launched the Strong School Club to help working parents in need of a safe, supervised space for their child’s remote learning.

The 10-week club, which runs from Sept. 14 to Nov. 20, offers students in grade school an environment to attend their virtual school lessons, work on assignments and projects and complete their homework in socially distant settings.

The new program will offer one, two, three, four and five-day a week options for families and runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Strong School Club will provide supervision by museum staff, dedicated and social distant workspaces, free Wi-Fi access and activities in the museum after 3 p.m.

Early drop-off at 7:45 a.m. and after-care pick-up until 5:30 p.m. also will be available for an additional fee.

The daily schedule for each student will depend on their school district needs but will include time for their virtual lessons and project work, as well as breaks, lunch and activities in the museum. Parents will be asked to complete a daily written schedule form for students that lists virtual classes, including times and login information.

Museum staff will be able to provide some assistance to students but are not trained to work on specific projects or curriculum.

Students will follow the museum’s Safe Play policies, which include wearing masks at all times except when eating, staying six feet apart and cleaning their hands frequently. Students must complete a temperature check and health screen daily, and museum staff will regularly clean the spaces with hospital-grade disinfectant.

The Strong School Club is $50 for members and $55 for nonmembers daily. Pre-care and after-care are an additional $5 per day. More information is available at museumofplay.org.

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Longtime supporter donates $1 million to Strong Museum

The Strong National Museum of Play has received a $1 million gift toward the organization’s Powered by Play: A Campaign for the Strong.

Mary Valentine next to the Snoopy sculpture she donated to the Strong National Museum of Play. (photo provided)
Mary Valentine stands with the Snoopy sculpture she donated to the Strong National Museum of Play. (Provided)

Museum trustee and longtime supporter Mary Valentine pledged the funds that will directly support the museum’s expansion project—which includes a parking garage and new, 90,000-square-foot museum wing—as part of the larger Neighborhood of Play. The donation also will help to expand the museum’s senior programming.

“Mary Valentine has been a booster, advocate, collections donor, financial supporter and most importantly, friend, to the museum for many years,” said Steve Dubnik, president and CEO. “We appreciate her ongoing generosity and her many other contributions to the museum. Gifts like this help the Strong continue to grow and share its important mission more widely.”

In honor of her donation, a planned terrace and café space adjacent to the new outdoor play garden will be named the Valentine-Cosman Terrace and Café. The new space will host a series of ongoing musical performances.

Valentine joined the museum’s board in 2019, having previously donated a large collection of games to the museum. She co-owned a game store with her late husband, Andrew Cosman, a lifelong game enthusiast and collector. In 2014, Valentine had established the Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Research Fellowship to provide financial support for scholarly play research about games and related topics of play across the Strong’s collections of toys, games, board games, electronic games and more.

In 2017, Valentine established a tuition-assistance program for needs-based students to enjoy enrollment in the Strong’s Woodbury School. The following year she donated additional games and a Snoopy sculpture that was installed outside the museum’s Field of Play exhibit. Valentine also has supported the Strong’s Play Ball fundraising gala, Happiest Hour fundraisers and the museum’s Collections Committee, which helps with acquisitions and maintenance for the collection.

“The Strong holds a special place in my heart,” Valentine said in a statement. “My late husband and I shared a passion for play and games, and there’s no other place in the world like the Strong at preserving and studying that history. We’re also big advocates for increasing educational opportunities, and the Strong is doing great work teaching through the power of play. The museum’s expansion project will only add to their preservation capacity and allow for hundreds of thousands of more people per year to experience the magic of play.”

The Strong’s expansion project is estimated to draw an additional 400,000 guests to the Rochester area, bringing total attendance at the museum to nearly 1 million, and it is expected to have an annual economic impact of $130 million on the region. The project is slated for completion in 2022.

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Play Walk to open with ‘Lights on Afterschool’ event

The Greater Rochester After-School Alliance (GRASA) on Thursday will partner with the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Healthi Kids, the Greater Rochester Summer Learning Association (GRSLA), United Way of Greater Rochester Inc. and the Children’s Agenda to host a “Lights On Afterschool” event.

The goal of the event is to showcase the value, impact and necessity of after-school programming on the community and youth.

During the afternoon event, children will participate in the Play Walk Ribbon Cutting, the Play Walk being a new downtown trail that connects the Strong National Museum of Play to Central Library and ROC the Riverway projects. The new space gives youth and families a place to play and have fun before traveling to the library.

The celebration will continue at the library with hands-on activities and demonstrations made by kids and volunteers to show what they’re learning at after-school experiences. GRASA will also join with the Monroe County Industrial Development Corporation, the Monroe County Youth Bureau, Rochester Museum & Science Center and the Boys & Girls Club of Rochester to announce a six-month STEM education partnership, called Rochester Kids Engaging in Technology and Science (ROCKETS).

The initiative is designed to expose children to fields of study they can build a career on and build capacity for afterschool programs all over the city.

“Lights On Afterschool” is a nationwide celebration Oct. 24, expected to attract more than 300 youth and their families.

Museum of Play receives NEH grant, award

The Strong National Museum of Play has received a nearly $1 million grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The museum was the only project to receive the Chairman’s Special Award.

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The Strong’s Digital Worlds project will tell the story of how video games have shaped the way people connect, play and learn. (Provided photo)

The $700,000 funding will support the implementation of the tentatively titled “Digital Worlds,” a 24,000-square-foot exhibit planned as part of the museum’s expansion that will explore the influence of electronic games on cultural history.

“With the help of this grant, the Strong will be able to build a truly one-of-a-kind experience that will make the museum even more of a national destination,” said Steve Dubnik, president and CEO of the Strong. “Support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and other organizations is vital in helping transformative projects like ours to be successful so that we can share the cultural impact of play and electronic games with the world. We’re honored to be selected for the Chairman’s Special Award and appreciate NEH’s recognition of the importance of video games to our ever-changing social history and cultural fabric.”

The Chairman’s Award recognizes major exhibits that present significant topics in the humanities. The NEH supports humanities research, education programs, cultural preservation, films, exhibitions and virtual reality projects across the nation. This year, the agency awarded $29 million for 215 projects.

In Level Up, guests will be fully immersed in the world of video games. (provided)
In Level Up, guests will be fully immersed in the world of video games. (Provided photo)

“NEH grants help strengthen and sustain American cultural life in communities, at museums, libraries and historic sites and in classrooms,” NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede said in a statement. “NEH is proud to help lay the foundations for public engagement with America’s past by funding projects that safeguard cultural heritage and advance our understanding of the events, ideas and people that have shaped our nation.”

Digital Worlds will tell the story of how video games have shaped the way that people connect, play and learn. It will include two distinct areas, tentatively called Level Up and High Score. In Level Up, guests will be fully immersed in the world of video games and assume the role of a character on a quest, while in High Score, guests will learn about the evolution of the video game industry and how the games are made.

“Video games are perhaps the most important medium of the 21st century. Just as the novel fueled imagination in the 19th century and film and television defined the cultural narratives of the 20th century, electronic games today are rapidly driving cultural and social change,” said Jon-Paul Dyson, the Strong’s vice president for exhibits and director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games. “We look forward—with the help of NEH—to continuing to tell that important story to visitors from around the world.”

The exhibits are slated to open in 2022.

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Museum of Play to offer SNAP discount

The Strong National Museum of Play has begun a discount program to make the museum more accessible. Residents who qualify for SNAP can show their card and identification at the admission desk to receive the discounted rate. (Courtesy of The Strong, Rochester, New York)
The Strong National Museum of Play has begun a discount program to make the museum more accessible. Residents who qualify for SNAP can show their card and identification at the admission desk to receive the discounted rate. (Courtesy of The Strong)

The Strong National Museum of Play has begun a discount program to make the museum more accessible.

Individuals who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in New York can receive general admission tickets to the museum for $3 per person. The discount is part of Strong’s community outreach programs coordinated with area human service nonprofits, schools and health care organizations.

“The Strong recognizes the need to reduce barriers and make its resources available to all in our region and state,” Strong President and CEO Steve Dubnik said in a statement. “Many in our community rely on SNAP to feed their families, and this discounted admission rate—made possible by the generous support of donors—will share the educational power of play with a wider audience.”

The SNAP program helps low-income working people, seniors and disabled residents supplement their food budget and is part of the Federal Nutrition Assistance Program.

“Monroe County is incredibly proud to be the home of the Strong National Museum of Play, which greatly enhances our efforts to support stronger families by providing our youngest residents with so many exciting opportunities to learn, grow and connect through play,” Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo said. “By making the museum experience even more affordable and accessible for local families, the Strong is ensuring every child will have an opportunity to make memories with family and friends to last a lifetime.”

Residents who qualify for SNAP can show their card and identification at the admission desk to receive the discounted rate.

“The Strong is a diamond in our city’s crown and draws visitors from all over the country and abroad,” Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said. “Making it more affordable to members of our own community benefits our children, for whom play is an important and natural way to learn.”

The museum currently is undergoing a transformational renovation project. The Strong’s expansion is slated for completion in 2020, and is the driving force behind the Neighborhood of Play—a new walkable neighborhood, revitalizing the downtown area surrounding The Strong. The expansion is part of a three-phase, $108 million development project that will feature a national chain-branded, family friendly hotel adjacent to the museum, the construction of residential housing and other mixed-use space and the creation of a road connecting Woodbury Boulevard to Union Street.

The Strong is one of Monroe County’s top visitor attractions.

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Revitalization grant will help Strong museum expand

A bird's eye view of the Strong National Museum of Play's Neighborhood of Play expansion.
A bird’s eye view of the Strong National Museum of Play’s Neighborhood of Play expansion.

The Strong National Museum of Play will receive $20 million in funding through a Finger Lakes Forward Upstate Revitalization Initiative Grant to support its $60 million expansion, which broke ground on Thursday.

The funding will help attract new and returning visitors to one of Rochester’s most popular tourist attractions. The expansion project, which includes the construction of a new downtown parking garage, is expected to create 40 new jobs at the Strong.

“Tourism is critical to driving the Finger Lakes economy, and the Strong Museum is a key attraction for the entire region,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a press release. “With these upgrades, this project will help to build economic momentum, attracting visitors from across the globe and fostering regional prosperity for generations to come.”

The Strong’s expansion is slated for completion in 2020, and is the driving force behind the Neighborhood of Play—a new, vibrant, walkable neighborhood, revitalizing the downtown area surrounding The Strong. The expansion is part of a three-phase, $108 million development project that will feature a national chain-branded, family friendly hotel adjacent to the museum, the construction of residential housing and other mixed-use space and the creation of a  road connecting Woodbury Boulevard to Union Street.

The Strong also plans to add a 100,000-square-foot wing onto its existing facility, which will become the home of the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

Planning for the project began in 2013 when the City of Rochester moved forward with filling in the Inner Loop, creating pockets of developable land. In 2015, the Strong undertook extensive market research, which showed the museum could attract nearly 400,000 more people to Rochester—in addition to its current annual attendance of 550,000—with expanded facilities and broader marketing efforts in nearby markets such as Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Toronto.

Funding for the mixed-use development project will come through public and private investments. Indus Hospitality Group will invest  $21 million to construct a 100-room hotel in the city’s east end. Konar Properties will invest roughly $30 million to fund the development of 240 rental townhomes and apartments, as well as 18,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the parcel.

The museum has launched a $60 million capital campaign—Powered by Play—to help fund the project. The Strong has raised nearly half of the funds to date, which will cover the first phase of the project, and museum officials said it will continue to raise funds for the second phase in the coming months, drawing on local and national support for the project.

“The Strong’s planned expansion—which market research shows can draw an additional 400,000 guests per year to the region and put the museum’s attendance near 1 million annually—will be the cornerstone of the Neighborhood of Play, a vibrant place to live, work and play,” said the Strong’s President and CEO Steve Dubnik.

Dubnik said the museum’s expansion is estimated to add an additional $130 million annually to the Finger Lakes’ economy.

“Indus is fortunate to be embraced by the communities we serve, and we are proud to be a part of our region’s exceptional hospitality industry,” said Jett Mehta, president and CEO of Indus Hospitality. “We are happy to become a part of the downtown Rochester business community and its promising growth and revitalization.”

Indus Hospitality owns and operates more than 50 properties, primarily hotels and restaurants in the Rochester, Finger Lakes and Western New York regions. Its brands include Hampton Inn, Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham and Holiday Inn Express & Suites.

“The Strong Museum of Play is one of Monroe County’s top visitor attractions, welcoming generations of children and families from all over the world to our community to explore the wonders of play,” Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo said. “This expansion promises to enhance the museum’s already stellar guest experience and help it do even more to attract visitors, jobs and investment to our area.”

The Finger Lakes region welcomed more than 14.5 million visitors in 2016, which generated more than $1.6 billion in direct spending, officials said. Tourism efforts in the region support more than 33,000 jobs across its nine counties.

“The Strong Museum expansion will take us a long way in our efforts to create more jobs, safer and more vibrant neighborhoods and better educational opportunities,” Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said.

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Popular Strong exhibit Rockets, Robots and Ray Guns to return

The Strong National Museum of Play's Rockets, Robots and Ray Guns exhibit returns June 9. (Photo provided)
The Strong National Museum of Play’s Rockets, Robots and Ray Guns exhibit returns June 9. (Photo provided)

Next month, the Strong National Museum of Play will open Rockets, Robots and Ray Guns, a popular exhibit that will remain on view through Sept. 3

Back by popular demand, the original exhibit explores the ways science-fiction books, toys, movies and video games have captured people’s imaginations and shaped the way they play. The exhibit couples artifacts from the Strong’s collections with dynamic hands-on activities including:

• Aliens and Monsters—Create aliens or monsters on light tablets or listen to an original radio broadcast of the War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells;
• Future Perfect—Play Cold War arcade game Missile Command or view artifacts such as a Katniss Everdeen figure from the Hunger Games series;
• New Frontiers—View colony play sets and seek out new galaxies on rare arcade games;
• Ray Guns—See a sampling of toy versions of ray guns, phasers and heat rays;
• Robots—View an array of toy robots and learn about the influence of Japanese toys on the development of real robots;
• Rockets—learn about trajectory and velocity by creating and launching an air-powered, paper rocket;
• Space Heroes—discover the men and women of space and battle enemy starships in arcade games like StarBlade.

The exhibit is produced by the Strong’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games in partnership with Rochester Institute of Technology. Opening weekend is June 9 and 10.

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Tomb Raider, Spacewar! among four added to Video Game Hall of Fame

The games in the fourth class of the Strong's World Video Game Hall of Fame include Spacewar!, John Madden Football, Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy VII (photo provided by the Strong National Museum of Play)
The games in the fourth class of the Strong’s World Video Game Hall of Fame include Spacewar!, John Madden Football, Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy VII (photo provided by the Strong National Museum of Play)

Four iconic video games have been inducted to the Strong’s World Video Game Hall of Fame.

John Madden Football, Tomb Raider, Spacewar! and Final Fantasy VII have been chosen from a field of 12 finalists that also included Asteroids, Call of Duty, Dance Dance Revolution, Half-Life, King’s Quest, Metroid, Minecraft and Ms. Pac-Man.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame recognizes electronic games that have reached iconic status, have longevity, have geographical reach and have exerted significant influence on the design and development of other games.

“Play is critical to learning and human development,” said Jon-Paul Dyson, vice president and director of the museum’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games, at a press gathering Thursday.

Spacewar! was developed in 1962, a time when computers were both bulky and costly, Dyson noted. The game, developed by Steve Russell, a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tech Model Railroad Club, featured two starships firing torpedoes at each other. Its competitive aspect helped it to spread from computer center to computer center across the globe.

When Electronic Arts rebooted its John Madden Football in 1990, it redefined the modern sports video game, transforming the virtual gridiron into an action game that thrived on individual confrontations between virtual players.

In a video that featured National Football League players touting the game, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said he played the game in the mid-1990s.

“Madden games were the best of the best,” Brady said.

Released in 1996, Tomb Raider combined action-adventure game aspects with platform games and puzzle-solving to provide gamers with a unique cinematic 3-D universe. Thanks in part to female protagonist Lara Croft, and Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of her in a blockbuster movie, the franchise has sold more than 58 million units worldwide.

“The Guinness World Records cites Lara Croft as the ‘most recognized female video game character’ of all time,” Strong Curator Shannon Symonds said. “the character is not without controversy for her early status as a sex symbol, but she’s evolved with the franchise to become the epitome of a strong female hero.”

Final Fantasy VII debuted in 1997, introducing 3-D computer graphics, full-motion video cut-scenes and a complex storyline to the franchise. The game sold more than 10 million units, making it the second most popular game for the Sony PlayStation.

The four inductees are part of the $100 billion video game industry. The Strong is the only collections-based museum in the world devoted solely to play and holds the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of dolls, toys, games, electronic games and other artifacts of play.

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Strong receives grant for developing video game exhibits

strong-marbleThe Strong National Museum of Play has been awarded a $75,000 planning grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The grant will assist with the development of exhibits that explore the history, influence and experience of electronic games and will be the centerpiece of the museum’s proposed expansion, slated to open in the summer of 2020.

“This support from the NEH—which is crucial to museums and educational institutions across the nation—will help the Strong develop a first-of-its-kind installation that illustrates the impact of technology on play,” said Jon-Paul Dyson, the Strong’s vice president for exhibits. “The space will include interactive experiences that bring the art and narratives of video games to life, along with rare artifacts from the museum’s collections that will encourage guests to explore the evolution of gaming technology.”

The grant was one of nearly 200 awarded nationwide to support projects that explore broader human experiences. The projects “deepen our understanding and appreciation of the traditions, values and historical figures who have shaped our country,” said Jon Parrish Peede, senior deputy chairman of NEH.

The grant will allow an interdisciplinary team from the Strong to work with an international group of leading humanities scholars to plan, develop, evaluate and revise an exhibit script that will guide the implementation and installation of the exhibits.

“Video games are the most innovative, transformative medium of the 21st century,” Dyson said. “Just as the novel fueled imagination in the 19th century and film and television defined the cultural narratives of the 20th century, electronic games today are rapidly driving cultural and social change.”

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New Strong exhibit shows kids different career choices

The Strong National Museum of Play will open a new, permanent exhibit March 10 that will allow children to role-play in inspiring spaces that include a number of physical challenges. (photo provided)

Beginning this weekend, kids will have an opportunity to try on a career for size when the Strong National Museum of Play opens its permanent Imagination Destination exhibit.

The new exhibit will allow children to role-play in inspiring spaces that include a number of physical challenges. Kids can assume the captain’s chair and take command of the bridge of the U.S.S. Strong, a futuristic spaceship that features lights and sounds reminiscent of science-fiction movies.

Kids can climb into the cockpit of an emergency helicopter with working controls and set off on a search-and-rescue mission, or don a construction vest and head off to one of two hands-on work sites where they can attach siding to a house or travel down into the sewers to inspect city pipes. As they crawl through the dark, winding environment children will see real cockroaches.

“Imagination is so vital for human development in so many ways, both for children and for adults,” said the museum’s vice president for exhibits, Jon-Paul Dyson. “It’s through pretend play that kids really gain crucial skills in imagination, creativity, empathy and the ability to see the world in new ways.

“A good grounding in imaginary pretend play is a wonderful start for kids to master these essential, 21st century skills,” Dyson said.

The toddler play area in the new, Imagination Destination exhibit at the Strong National Museum of Play. (photo provided)
The toddler play area in the new Imagination Destination exhibit at the Strong National Museum of Play. (Photo provided)

Children can see what it’s like to be a Broadway star by going backstage and donning a costume, then delivering an on-stage performance in the newly renovated theater.

For the little ones, toddlers can step through a giant magnifying glass and shrink down to the size of a bug, crawl through an oversized, honeycomb maze and meet giant, plush bumblebees.

The 4,400-square-foot permanent exhibit— across from the museum’s Wegmans Super Kids Market—was made possible in part by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. Entry is included with general museum admission fees.

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