A few weeks ago, I went to the Computerspielemuseum with a few friends of mine. The entrance is 8 Euros, and the place is still quite small, but the visit is worth the cheddar.
Your are greeted by these statues, growing in numbers it seems. There is also a little shop with geeky t-shirts and books and the like. Then you get to do a little quiz where you may drop your knowledge on the unsuspecting viewers.
The different generations of consoles and homecomputers are presented, and after that, the big gaming franchises in these little boxes. Pick your favorite memory, and be astonished at how many there actually are.
Highlights then include vintage arcade stations of 70ies and 80ies classics
as well as truly ancient magazines
…until you reach one of the uncontested highlights: The Painstation (TM). You get to sign a non-liability-paper, while the guy handing you the paper and instructions gleefully warns you that the Painstation (TM) causes real pain and everybody watches you being whipped, zapped and burned. Then, two people opposed to each other put their hands on the station while playing an increasingly difficult game of against-each-other-Pong. Miss the ball and yout get whipped, zapped and burned:
It is a bit difficult to catch on a photo, but here is the hand of a match winner -
I lost almost instantly, four times in a row, because I couldn’t help but quickly pull the hand away at the first sign of danger, even though the first few punishments aren’t even painful at all.
Now then, in the meantime I was able to take a picture of the very first issue of classic Dungeons & Dragons:
and talk with one of the classic parsers…long time since I had a conversation with a computer.
Finally, an old acquaintance…reminded me of the TV-heads in the bar in Back to the Future II.
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Computerspielemuseum
Karl-Marx-Allee 93a, 10243 Berlin
Phone: +49-30-60988577
Mail: service@computerspielemuseum.de
Open: Any day except on tuesdays 10 – 20 h.
