Computertechnologie evolueert heel snel. De ene technologie lost de andere razendsnel af. Nu de internetgeneratie van systeembeheerders en computeraars aantreedt, en de oude garde langzaamaan afzwaait, raakt er veel kennis verloren. Kennis van hoe die oude systemen functioneren en bediend moeten worden.
Het museum heeft, naast het tonen van een brede collectie systemen, ook als doel deze systemen functionerend te houden en de kennis erover te bewaren. We hebben bijvoorbeeld een PDP11/44 staan met tapedrive en CDC drive, een aantal (micro)VAX-en, Holborn-systemen en nog veel meer bijzondere hardware.

The Computerspielemuseum opened the first permanent exhibition in the world for digital interactive entertainment culture in 1997 in Berlin. After that, it became responsible for 30 national and international exhibitions. Among these was the project “pong.mythos” sponsored by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, Germany’s most successful traveling exhibition in the history of computer games. In the last five years, over 470,000 visitors have seen this exhibition. The museum contains around 16,000 game titles, around 10,000 technical magazines, many historical home computers and console systems, which were sold in Europe, and an extensive amount of other documents, for example: videos, posters and handbooks. It contains one of the largest collections of entertainment software and hardware in Europe.

The Computerspielemuseum’s collection is the property of the Booster Club for Youth and Social Work. The new museum itself is run by Gameshouse gGmbH. Building the new permanent exhibition was financed by the German Lottery Fund in Berlin and from the Cultural Investment Program of Berlin’s Cultural Affairs Department, so the ERDF.

There are over 300 interactive exhibits illustrating the cultural history of computer gaming. One is the highlights is an actual video arcade from the 1980s with authentic arcade games from the decade that launched video games into popular culture. All console game systems are on display from the original Magnavox Odyssey from 1972 to more recent household devices like the Nintendo systems and all versions of the PlayStation family. An original exhibit in the museum is called the “PainStation”, where the loser of the game is subject to physical punishment such as heat or a mild electric shock.

The Retro Computer Museum is a registered charity dedicated to the benefit of the public for the preservation, display and public experience of computer and console systems from the 1960’s onwards. Charity registration no. 1146912.

Our main focus is on systems that were in use in the home, rather than big computer systems and mainframes of early computer development. We have systems ranging from the early Pong consoles through the Sega and Nintendo console wars and the home computers of the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64s and Amigas.

The Retro Computer Museum aims to provide Retro Gaming and Computing events and access to retro computer equipment for educational visits and tours. The Retro Computer Museum has held seven Retro Gaming events of its own to date, including partnership events with Snibston Discovery Museum. The Retro Computer Museum has also made appearances at the 2010 Vintage Computer Festival in Bletchley Park, and participating in the 2010 EuroCon event in Manchester with a line-up of British computers.

The Retro Computer Museum relies mainly on donations from its members and visitors. We have had over 200 systems donated as part of our collection, along with numerous books, software titles, peripherals, magazines, brochures, etc. We appreciate any and all donations, no matter how small. We also accept dead machines and peripherals as these can be used to repair existing systems. Please contact us if you feel you have something we may be interested in.