Italy is one of the growing number of countries with its own video game museum, as the GAMM game museum has opened in Rome.
The museum is open to the public in the historical center of Rome at Piazza della Repubblica. GAMM aims to highlight the cultural and artistic value of video games as interactive works allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a path based on the combination of history, technology, and the exploration of gameplay.
“GAMM is a wonderful celebration of video game culture that showcases a journey for preservation digitally and physically in a modern space,” said Marco Accordi Rickards, director of GAMM, in a statement. “With its iconic setting within the heart of Rome, the Museum will also be a forum for entertainment, hosting cultural events and occasions. We very much look forward to welcoming visitors from around the globe and sharing pieces of game history.”
Hall of famer
Meanwhile, gaming pioneer Don Daglow was inducted into the GAMM Video Game Hall of Fame during the Checkpoint, the Festival of Interactive Experiences in Rome this week.
Daglow is a pioneering game designer, writer, producer and studio GM who has worked on every generation of video game consoles, starting in the era of the original Atari VCS in the 1970s. His teams have shipped over $1 billion in game products, and in addition to his personal projects he serves as an advisor to online, mobile, PC and console game teams.
Daglow is one of three game makers (with John Carmack and Mike Morhaime) to receive both a Technical Emmy Award (2008, for creating Neverwinter Nights) and a DICE Award (2002, Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering by Stormfront Studios for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers).
Daglow is the longest-serving active developer in the video games industry (1971 – present). He produced two of the first three sports titles ever published by Electronic Arts. To date he has worked on over 100 games, including the Carmen Sandiego series, Earl Weaver Baseball, Madden NFL Football, NASCAR Racing, Neverwinter Nights, Prince of Persia, Sim City, the SSI “Gold Box” Dungeons & Dragons games, Tony La Russa Baseball, Intellivision Utopia, and World of Tanks.
Born from Vigamus
Born from the extraordinary success story of Vigamus – The Video Game Museum of Rome, which has hosted over two million visitors from around the world since its inception in 2012, GAMM will be open seven days a week, and will span approximately 700 square meters, divided into two levels and three thematic areas.
GAMM offers an immersive and interactive journey through the world of video games, combining cutting-edge digital content with a collection of unique, valuable artifacts. It promotes the interactive medium as a form of cultural art and expression.
The exhibition area of GAMM – Game Museum features three main different interconnected levels, allowing multiple immersive experiences:
- GAMMDome is an immersive path throughout digital interactive stations with contributions from industry experts. It focuses on four concepts: experience, exhibition, education and entertainment. The path interconnects digital contributions with a physical exhibition of unique objects, consoles, pieces and donations that made the history of games.
- PARC Path of Arcadia is the second thematic area of the museum, dedicated to the golden age of coin-op games, spanning from the late ’70s through the ’80s, with some forays into the early ’90s.
- HIP Historical Playground is one the second level of the exhibition space. This area is entirely dedicated to gameplay, offering an immersive experience that deeply explores game structure, interaction mechanisms, and game design rules, with a detailed analysis of the historical evolution of video games, the technologies used, and the various target audiences.
The museum is designed not only for video game enthusiasts but also for families, young people, tourists, schools, academies, and industry experts, and for anyone interested in discovering the unique cultural medium that has, over the years, captivated and moved people of all ages and backgrounds. The museum will be open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays also from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Tickets to the museum will cost 15 euros.
Kabuto is a technological start-up with a heritage rooted in over 25 years of experience in the field of interactive works. It was founded by the team behind Vigamus Group. GAMM game museum aims to continue the group’s history in preserving, promoting, and expanding the cultural and artistic value of the interactive medium as a cutting-edge museum space. The journey has seen the development of several key assets, including the Vigamus – the Videogame Museum of Rome, which opened its doors in 2012, and the Vigamus Academy, offering specialized training since 2014.
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