Strong Archive Visit

You're starting your first day of research at the Strong Museum National Museum of Play's archives as a video game researcher. [[Speak with the attendant at the ticket booth |ticket booth]] <img src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QkodnyiZiF0/maxresdefault.jpg" alt="Strong National Museum of Play exterior"; width="900" height="640"> Special thank you to the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play

You arrive at the ticket booth. You speak to the attendant at the ticket booth. [[Explain why you are here]]

"Hi! I'm Researcher. I'm here to work in the archives today. I had a scheduled appointment." "Oh, nice to meet you, Researcher! Let me call the archivist to come get you." Hey, you get entry to the museum and archive for free! What a win for you, Researcher. [[Wait for the archivist]]

"Hi, Researcher! I'm the archivist. Let's go upstairs." You take the elevator upstairs to the archive. Since you've called ahead, they've pulled the collections you are interested in checking out. "Which collection would you like to start with?" [[Atari Coin-Op Divisions Collection, 1972-1999]] [[Brøderbund Software, Inc. Collection, 1979-2002]] [[Ken and Roberta Williams' Sierra On-Line Collection, 1979-1996]] [[Ralph H. Baer Papers, 1968-2010]] [[Atari Design Concept Sketches]]

Hmmmm looks like you might find some good stuff here! (link-goto: "Let's take a look!", (either: "Rating Chart", "Competition notes", "Focus Group", "Atari in house magazines"))

You decided to check out the collection from Brøderbund. (link-goto: "Let's take a look through it!", (either: "Employee profiles", "Financial documents", "Into the red", "Manual"))

You are hoping to find more information on Roberta Williams, one of the most prominent women game designers in the 1980s. [[flip through the collection]]

Ralph wants you to know that he <i>is</i> the creator of the home video game. Not that Bushnell guy. You also struggle to read his handwriting. <img src="https://i2.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC01931.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height="1000" alt="Ralph Baer Patent notes"> [[Try to keep reading the handwriting]] [[Take a break]]

Hmmm there seems to be some good material here. (link-goto: "Let's take a look.", (either: "Neck Strain", "Hmm what is this?"))

You got to see some very detailed design notes. Your eyes are straining after reading that writing though. It is obvious that this is from the lawsuit with Atari based on the photograph. <img src="https://i1.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC01944.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height"1000" alt="Ralph Baer notes"> [[Let's take a break!|Time for a break]]

You've gotten some great content from your time with Ralph Baer's papers. [[Let's take a break!|Time for a break]]

Phew. Researching is hard on the eyes, the hands, and the back. Plus, your butt is asleep. [[Lunch!!]] [[Walk around the museum]] [[Check out the arcade cabinet floor]]

Good thing there is a food court downstairs! What a selection! [[Pizza Hut]] [[Subway]] [[Taco Bell]] [[Bill Gray's Skyliner]]

You wander around the museum's different floors. There is so much to look at since there are so many different types of play. [[Stop to look in a display case]] [[Keep wandering around the floors]]

Oh cool! There are several games you can play here! What do you want to play? [[Pac-Man]] [[Donkey Kong]] [[Centipede]]

As you're flipping through financial documents and information about 1983's AOE, you find this: <img src="https://i1.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC02212.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="1000" height="1000" alt="Atari model rating chart"> This is both amazing and appalling at the same time. [[Let's take a break!|Time for a break]]

You find some notes on the Atari competition in 1983. <img src="https://i2.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC02210.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="1000" height="1000" alt="atari competition documentation"> [[Let's take a break!|Time for a break]]

Wow, you found a focus group for Asteroids! <img src="https://i2.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asteroids-focus-1.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height="1000" alt="Asteroids focus group documentation"> [[Let's take a break!|Time for a break]]

This will be fine. <img src="https://i2.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ET-in-Atari-Life-Vol-1-No-8-1982.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="1000" height="1000" alt="Atari Life 1982 article on ET video game"> [[Let's take a break!|Time for a break]]

Oh look! It's Baer's Brown Box! <img src="https://i0.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-11-at-8.26.32-AM.png?w=596&ssl=1" width="500" height="600" alt="Brown Box in a museum case"> [[Start over|Begin]]

As you wander, your mom calls. You try to quietly chat with her about how things are going. When you look up, Big Bird is staring straight at you with lighting straight from a horror film. (text-style: "fidget")[You got lost on Sesame Street.] <img src="https://i1.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-11-at-8.26.48-AM.png?w=598&ssl=1" width="800" height="800" alt"Big Bird looking out a window"> [[Start over|Begin]]

<img src="https://i2.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-11-at-8.26.06-AM.png?w=597&ssl=1" height="600" width="700" alt="Pac-Man arcade cabinet"> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dScq4P5gn4A" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> Want to try another? [[Donkey Kong]] [[Centipede]] [[Start over|Begin]]

<img src="https://i2.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-11-at-8.26.14-AM.png?w=601&ssl=1" height="600" width="700" alt="Centipede arcade cabinet"> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oQhUKhgWUac" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> Want to try another? [[Pac-Man]] [[Donkey Kong]] [[Start over|Begin]]

I mean, the breadsticks <i>are</i> pretty good. <img src="https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/17/c2/c5/81/breadstick-and-personal.jpg" height="500" width="500" alt="Pizza Hut pizza and breadsticks"> [[Start over|Begin]]

I see you're attempting to eat a little healthy. Ish. <img src="https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/delish-subway-sub-1521220946.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="Subway meal"> [[Start over|Begin]]

Congrats on your cheap, delicious, but definitely not real food tacos. <img src="https://www.tacobell.com/medias/taco-bell-2020-DLT-02.jpg?context=bWFzdGVyfGltYWdlc3wxMjI0NjV8aW1hZ2UvanBlZ3xpbWFnZXMvaDA2L2hmNi84OTcwMjM0NTI3Nzc0LmpwZ3xmNTBkMDc3NTY3ZWU4NjAxYzk2ZDgxY2Y4YTBjZGRhZDg2ODYxMjNjYzZmZmM1ODk2Y2MxMTE3ZDMxMWNjODkw" height="500" width"1000" alt="Tacos from taco bell"> [[Start over|Begin]]

Cool! You head into the old-style diner. Wait, is that Leonardo in the window!? <img src="https://makleen.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/bill_grays_02.jpg" height="1300" width="1200" alt="Bill Gray's Skyliner"> [[Start over|Begin]]

Well, that's some interesting design. <img src="https://i0.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC01600.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height"600" alt="Atari design document">

It's neat that they were even considering what type of neck strain a player might have while playing. <img src="https://i0.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC01609.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height="600" alt text="Atari design document">

There are some news articles saved about Roberta. You take a look through them <img src="https://i0.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC01671.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height"1000" alt="Roberta Williams article"> [[Woz!]] [[Time for a break]]

Oh neat. You find a fan letter to Sierra from Woz! <img src="https://i2.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC01661.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height"1000" alt="fan letter from Woz"> [[Time for a break]]

You find an article about the crash and the competition. <img src="https://i1.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC01908.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height="1000" alt="internal documentation from Broderbund"> [[Time for a break]]

Broderbund has a ton of employee questionnaire profiles that will be very helpful in understanding demographics of the company. <img src="https://i1.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/employee-profiles.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height="1000" alt="employee profiles of Broderbund employees"> [[Time for a break]]

You find the first manual for personnel at Broderbund. This gives you some insight into their corporate culture and every day functions. <img src="https://i1.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC01777.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height="1000" alt="employee personnel manual"> [[Time for a break]]

Broderbund's collection even has handwritten budget documents. Yikes. I guess it could've been worse--they could've been Atari. <img src="https://i0.wp.com/anneladyem.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC01809.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1" width="800" height="1000" alt="broderbund financial documents"> [[Time for a break]]