The Video Game Museum of Rome (VIGAMUS) is an

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

video game museum This list of video game museums shows video game museums in the world. Video game museums Online video game museums See also * List of museums * Video game * List of computer museums A computer museum is devoted to the study of historic co ...

that displays the

history of video games The history of video games began in the 1950s and 1960s as computer science, computer scientists began designing simple games and simulation video game, simulations on minicomputers and mainframe computer, mainframes. ''Spacewar!'' was develop ...

. The first official announcement for the museum was at the Italian Videogame Developer Conference (IVDC) in 2010. The museum opened its doors to the public in October 2012. VIGAMUS is among the founding members and promoters o
EFGAMP
the European Federation of Game Archives, Museums, and Preservation Projects. This federation aims to find new opportunities of digital preservation, with a particular attention to video games. Located in a large exhibition center, the museum is divided into different areas of video game history, starting with the

Magnavox Odyssey The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. The hardware was designed by a small team led by Ralph H. Baer at Sanders Associates, while Magnavox completed development and released it in the United States in September ...

. The collection displays 440 pieces of video game ephemera and has more than 100 panels with information about the history and background of the items displayed. Fifteen video game retrospectives give the viewers first-person knowledge of making certain games. In addition to the regular exhibits, the museum also has different interactive areas for

arcade games An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade ...

console game A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connec ...

s, and an

Oculus VR Reality Labs, formerly Oculus VR, is a business and research unit of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook Inc.) that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as the Qu ...

room. Some of the unique items featured at the museum include the

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master disks and

Crytek Crytek GmbH is a German video game developer and software developer based in Frankfurt. Founded by the Yerli brothers in Coburg in 1999 and moved to Frankfurt in 2006, Crytek operates additional studios in Kyiv, Ukraine and Istanbul, Turkey. It ...

demo disks. The museum partnered with

to launch a graduate course aimed at

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

development. The museum also has its own magazine called VMag about the video game industry. VIGAMUS Steel Battalion

Video game tournaments and conventions

The museum often hosts themed nights or tournaments, such as their ''

Dark Souls III is a 2016 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Released for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, the game is the third and final entry in the ''Dark Souls'' series and f ...

'' Day and the 20th Anniversary of ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'' Tournament. The museum invites guests to play in a tournament to win versions of the newly released games or themed prizes. In November 2016, the museum partnered with the Leonardo Caltagirone Group to launch GAMEROME, a new video game convention.

Interactive areas

Console

The console interactive areas feature 36 stations for visitor use, with new games added frequently. There are different themed corners and rooms, such as areas for

The Witcher ''The Witcher'' (, ) is a series of 9 fantasy novels and 15 short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous witcher, Geralt of Rivia. Witchers are monster hunters given superhuman abilities for the ...

series of books and

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

, and the

SEGA is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

Corner.

Arcade

VIGAMUS has a large collection of Arcade cabinets from the '80s and '90s and some of their featured games include: *

Street Fighter II is a 1991 fighting game developed and published by Capcom for arcade game, arcades. It is the second installment in the ''Street Fighter'' series and the sequel to 1987's ''Street Fighter (video game), Street Fighter''. Designed by Yoshiki O ...

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' is a 2011 fighting game, the eighth installment in the ''Tekken'' fighting game series and the sequel to ''Tekken Tag Tournament''. It was released for the arcade game, arcades in September 2011. It received an updat ...

Neo Geo MVS The , stylized as NEO•GEO, is a video game platform released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was initially released in two ROM cartridge-based formats: an arcade system board (Multi Video System; MVS) and a home video ga ...

Oculus room

Launched in June 2016, this room houses the Oculus Rift DK2, sponsored by

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, visitors have a chance to play a variety of games in VR.

Video game tournaments and conventions

Interactive areas

Console

Arcade

Oculus room

References

Further reading