Defender!!
Frisco will be the home of the country’s first and only museum dedicated to video games. The Videogame History Museum has up until now been a traveling operation, launched by three guys from different parts of the country who decided in 2009 to pool their collective obsession with classic home and arcade video games and create a non-profit. John Hardie, Sean Kelly and Joe Santulli have reached an agreement with the city of Frisco to house the museum initially in the already existing city-owned Frisco Discovery Center, and after a capital campaign it will likely get a building of its own, also in Frisco.
The city will pay the rent and for some renovations in the space the museum will take up for the time being; some grants are incoming for start-up costs, and the museum itself will match funds. The museum is slated to open in April, and will OF COURSE feature Pong. As well as Sega stuff, all Atari, Vectrex, Intellivision, et al, and every other classic and retro game and gaming system you can possibly remember from that era going forward, plus paraphernalia, prototypes, and other ephemera. I personally am hoping to once again play the original Defender in the museum’s promised recreation of a ’80s gaming arcade. Newsflash extra: I am terrible at Defender but I love it.
