Shane shot us an e-mail about an awesome looking exhibit at the Strong National Museum of Play called Videotopia.

The exhibit is described as "a completely hands-on exhibit that lets you relive the thrill of playing the very first arcade video games while exploring their art, science, and history. This international touring exhibit—the largest and most comprehensive of its type—opens May 30.
 
Enjoy this unique opportunity to replay the video games of an earlier era—or play them for the first time! Some 100 restored and new arcade video games await you, from the first machine ever, to the first machines to utilize microprocessors and 3-D graphics, right up to today’s greatest simulator games, with all the classics and favorites in between. From Pac-Man and Donkey Kong to Space Invaders and Tetris, these amazing machines captured the American imagination and launched a powerful and continuing force in American culture." 

And be sure you've gotten a good nights rest, because not only do you have this awesome display to play with, but your geekness will be on sensory overload as the Strong Museum also is home to the National Toy Hall of Fame and the National Center for the History of Electronic Games!

Strong National Museum of Play

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That's right founder of Twin Galaxies Walter day hits the big 6-0 with a 2 day party this weekend (May 16-17). Looks like there's going to be quite a celebration for the occasion. Sadly I will be no where near Fairfield, Iowa to partake in the celebration, but I do wish him a Happy Birthday and hopes he enjoys his day of honor.

Festivities are to include cake, ice cream, Walter's fun movies and music on Saturday, then on Sunday a movie party showing of "Chasing Ghosts". This  Sounds like an awesomely good time to me.

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 One of the best games for the Atari 2600 gets a make-over, and is freely downloadable for play on your PC. The creators of the revised game have this to say:

The remake will stay as true to the original as possible, while also incorporating some modern niceties. Such niceties include:

• upgraded, "16-bit" like graphics
• actual sound effects (rather than just beeps/boops)
• ambient, mood-setting sounds for each special area
• a more convenient Front End and user interface
• windowed mode, full screen mode
• music
• Gameplay Based upon and Inspired by the Original

So be sure to check it out and let us know what you think. Big thanks to Kevin Steele for pointing this out to us.

http://slashx.googlepages.com/adventure2600reboot

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The World's Only Magazine Devoted to the Home Game Room!

May 2009 Issue Contents: Coinocopia - Wildwood NJ, Knoebel's Amusement Park, and more... The Many Incarnations of Star Wars (Part 1) The Wayback Machine: Get Outta My Face! Tales of the Sliverball: NuCore and Pinball 2000 GameRoom of the Month: Mickey Ragsdale Reviews: Pinball Decals, Inc.'s decals and Coleman Pinball Gear's PinStraps I Remember Them Well: Bally's 3-In-Line and Bazaar The Last Word: GameRoom, Unplugged by Arthur Annis

www.gameroommagazine.com

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That's right, in case you haven't heard yet, King of Kong movie legend Steve Wiebe has just officially taken the Donkey Kong Junior World Record. This was announced by Twin Galaxies on April 24.

The new World Record mark was accomplished on March 14 and verified by Twin Galaxies Chief Referee David Nelson.  Steve's new World Record mark of 1,139,800 points takes the Donkey Kong Junior crown from fellow Washington state native Ike Hall, who was crowned the DKJ World Champ in August 2008 with a score of 1,033,000, taking the crown that Billy Mitchell had held on the game since 1985.

We at Retroblast would like to congratulate Steve on this achievement.

Twin Galaxies Announcement

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Somehow, I completely missed these as a kid, or at least I managed to block them out of memory.

Our resident Queen High Slapper, Sez pointed these out to us as seen over at fanboy.com.

"In 1983 they had a series of “Video Arcade Gum” which came in individual boxes that were shaped like (you guessed it) video arcade games! I’m surprised that this product never took off because I don’t remember seeing it back in the day. The games they featured included Donkey Kong, Q*bert, Zaxxon, Frogger and Centipede"

Be sure to check out the flickr album for more pics.  Very cool stuff!  I'd almost be willing to buy a case today, although, I'm sure the gum has long since lost it's ability to be chewed by any mortal human being.

Vintage Video Arcade Gum .

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Just in time for summer!  Come home from work, grab a nice cigar, the laptop, and a rocks glass full of these little invadie cubes and along with your favorite adult beverage and head out on the patio to relax while your drink basks in the coolness that is invadie worthy.

From Thinkgeek comes the Ice Invaders Icecube Tray .

"It was 30 years ago when the first Japanese geek shouted "スペースインベーダー!!"and dutifully dropped 100 yen coins into that stand-up video game cabinet. Though only green and black, 2 dimensional, and lacked any breast-physics at all, Taito's Space Invaders was still one of the most successful video games ever....if you've read this far, you're a Space Invaders fan, and will want to buy this food-grade silicon ice-cube mold! Make your own little invaders, and drop them in your drinks. What more needs to be said?"

And for you White Russian drinkers, why not try some Tetris blocks as well!

ThinkGeek Invaders Icecube Tray

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 Jeff Rothe of Rotheblog.com gave us a heads up that he'll be hosting a live chat with none other than Steve Wiebe himself this coming week:

 "The latest in my series of live chat sessions at Coinopspace.com, Steve Wiebe is going to be joining us on April 15th 2009. The only requirement to chat with Steve is to be a member of the website and you can ask any respectful question you want."

Be sure to sign up.  I'm sure it'll be a lively chat.  As the underdog of King Of Kong, Steve has become a bit of a cult celebrity with a strong following of supporters.

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After a lot of hard work on several peoples parts, HyperPin has made its first public release. HyperPin is a front-end for pinball simulator cabinets and this initial version includes a crazy amount of custom content, making its installer weigh in at a hefty 890mb. Inside you'll find support for Future Pinball and Visual Pinball, high-definition video preview support for hundreds of tables and artwork for each tailored specially for HyperPin. UncleWilly has also gotten permission from various authors to modify their Visual Pinball tables to suit play on a vertical 16:9 monitor thats typically used for the playfield display.

I'm pretty excited to give it a try. Of course, now I feel the need to build myself a pinball simulator cabinet - especially after seeing what some people over on the Future Pinball forum have been building. Thanks HyperPin guys, my wife officially hates you all now!

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Seems like retro gamers have plenty of material on DVD to drool over lately, here's the latest compilation from our friends at Coin-Op TV...

COIN-OP TV DVD Volume 2 brings more unique interviews and event coverage to you from events all over the world! Volume 2 includes interviews with Eugene Jarvis (Robotron and Defender creator), Cliff Bleszinski (Gears of War), Tommy Tallarico (Video Games Live), Falcoon (King of Fighters SNK), Donald Hayes (World Record Holder), Leonard Herman (Author of Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames), Jeff Anderson (Videotopia), Adam Wood (World Record Holder from The King of Kong movie), Man-Faye and other cosplayers from Anime Expo 2006, numerous artists from the 'I am 8-bit' art shows from 2005 and 2006 like Craola and Jon Gibson (Nerdcore Calendar), a Galaxian tribute and more!

All episodes have been re-mastered for DVD featuring over 90 minutes of content! Bonus content with never before seen audition tape with Cyndee San Luis (host on upcoming volume 3 release) and Top 5 Arcade Games with Hailey Bright!

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