I recently had a chance to visit the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY and Participate in their summer of 2017 exhibits. There are 2 new exhibits at the museum that both feature arcade games, Raceway and Have a ball, and 2 permanent exhibits EGameRevolution and Pinball Playfields that also feature a wide variety of arcade games and pinball machines. Lets take a look at all 4 exhibits at the museum.
Have A Ball
The first new exhibit is Have a Ball! This exhibit chronicles the history of the ball, from the oldest ball in the world to modern versions of the ball, and how the ball is used. Featured here are many video, pinball, and redemption games that use balls. Have a ball is available until September 4th 2017.
A giant custom made Super Breakout.
Skee-Ball and Basketball, 2 classic games that use balls, most arcades are not without one or both of these.
Hungry Hungry Hippo’s. This classic and hard to find redemption game also features balls.
Here is a video walkthrough of the exhibit. Some other games featured in the exhibit: Flintstones Pinball, Ghostbusters, Angry Birds, Screw Ball (a new game from ICE, more on that later), Williams Hoop it up, Let’s Bounce, Circus Ball Drop and Super Mario Mushroom World Pinball.
Raceway
The second new exhibit is Raceway! This exhibit is also available until September 4th 2017. It features the history of racing games, from the first mechanical games up until modern hits like Super Mario GP 2 and Cruis’n Blast.
Some of the first driving games, Drive-Mobile and Drive Master. These games are on display so you cannot play them. Death race is also on display.
Atari Fire Truck and Pole Position 2.
Nice rare 3 player Super Sprint.
One often forgotten aspect of the arcade is the token machine, it was nice to see these old brown token machines around the museum, as I remember this is the kind of token machine I used to buy tokens from all the time as a kid, I am sure other’s have the same memory of this type of token machine being in the arcade all the time and going up to it to get tokens.
Some of the other game featured are Sega’s Outrun, Sega’s Turbo (original Turbo), Stun Runner, Daytona USA, Sega Super GT, Mario Kart GP Arcade 2, and Cruis’n USA.
Here is a video of Raceway:
Pinball Playfields
Pinball Playfields is a permanent exhibit at the Strong Museum that was added last year, as mentioned they do rotate games on a regular basis so there will be different games each time you come to the exhibit. Lets see what’s on the floor for summer of 2017:
Here we have a prototype Lord of the Rings machine.
Hercules, the world’s largest pinball machine and Video Pinball by Atari both make an appearance at this exhibit.
A nice row of pinball machines of all kinds.
Here is a video of the Exhibit:
EGameRevolution
EGameRevolution is a permanent exhibit at the Strong Museum that tells the history of all kinds of electronic games from the first games to modern games, including arcade games. This exhibit on the second floor of the museum contains a small room with games in it that is designed to look just like an arcade from the 1980’s. Here are some of the games that were found on my most recent visit.
The iconic Pong is ready to be played.
Galaga, Berzerk, Crystal Castles and Tekken 2.
The Real Ghostbusters
Playchoice 10, Robotron, Zaxxon and a few others.
A very rare game by Atari, Assault, can be played here. Another rare game Fix it Felix Jr is usually available for play at the museum.
Here is a video walkthrough of the exhibit:
Overall I had a great time at the museum as usual!
