If you don’t like museums, find them boring, or generally don’t think they appeal to you then don’t worry. If anything, the National Videogame Museum (NVM) feels more like that familiar call or message from a friend asking if you’re free to come over for a gaming, board games, or card games night. And if that doesn’t resonate, then it simply boils down to having a good time with friends.
The NVM is more an experience than a museum—you get to interact with almost all of it, rather than just observe. We’ve also come away with a philosophy that we need more Rock Band games (or Guitar Hero).
The NVM boasts a huge array of interactive exhibits—there is genuinely something for everyone to try, learn about, or fondly remember. Reiss, my flatmate Leon, and I ended up forgetting we were even in a museum as we ended up moving from game to game in nostalgia-hitting fashion, but we also discovered some hidden gems like Drink More Glurp.
During our two and a half hour time slot, notable titles we learnt-about andplayed included numerous versions of Donkey Kong, The Dreamhold, Hot Type, Epistory Typing Chronicles, Gang Beasts, Buzz Jungle (who can forget those Buzz PS2 buzzer peripheries) Snake Pass, Super Rub a Dub—developed by Sheffield studio, Sumo Digital—Zool, Super Hexagon, Switch N Shoot, Wipeout, Diddy Kong Racing, Micro Machines V3 (Reiss’ PS1 recommendation, that I now wish had a remaster), Outrun, Forza Horizon, QWOP, Trap Adventure 2, Wii Sports, Portal 2, Luigi Time, Mario is Missing (yes, this is a thing and it was developed to teach geography in schools), Luigi’s Mansion 1, New Super Luigi U, Luigi’s Mansion 2D: Eternal Night (a prominent fan-made spinoff, as some other exhibits were), Super Arcade Football, Tetris, Rock Band 3, Pac-Man, and Drink More Glurp.
And breathe.
As you can tell, this museum has a lot of variation. And that’s just what we had time to look at… I suspect we’ll be going back again to check out what we missed, including the controversial Xbox Kinect —maybe a good thing depending on who you ask.
Additionally, aside from the games available to play, each one has information on the developer, release date, and general information about how to play. There are also traditional exhibits of cabinets full to the brim of gaming memorabilia—I can now say I have witnessed the holy grail, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy (its VR headset released in 1995), with my very own eyes. Other fascinating pieces include a master copy (the disc used to store a game before going ‘gold’ on a production line) of Doom II signed by the development team. They even have a huge PlayStation 2 development kit used by Sony internally before the release of the official, and much smaller, PS2, that gives the PS5 a run for its money in terms of size alone!
The NVM has plenty going on, with Wii Sports and other sporting games only added in February, and its current celebration of Sonic event ongoing. Reiss and I are confident the museum will continue to adapt and welcome all gamers old and new with open arms and unique events going forward—all the staff were very welcoming and engaging to talk to, with some having ambitions to work in the industry on a closer level in the future. These guys care and it shows.
The museum is usually open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with booking encouraged to make sure you get an allotted timeslot. Over Easter (April 2nd-18th) though, they are open everyday. Tickets are £11 or £9 for students. Check them out on Instagram @thenvmuk too!
I’ve wanted to visit this museum ever since my first year at Sheffield Uni back in 2018, so I’m glad we finally found the time to do so. Throughout our trip, we constantly found ourselves talking over our own memories of specific games, as we revisited them as if a lost part of our childhood or teenage years had been safely returned.
Heck, bringing a parent or grandparent would probably do much the same when they visit the original arcade machines or even at the site of the Nintendo 64, Atari 2600, ZX Spectrum, or the Wii from many Christmases ago, when nearly everyone had one.
I cannot recommend this place enough. There is simply too many systems, games, and pieces of gaming history available to see and experience, and who likes spoilers anyway? Go and enjoy it as soon as you can.
