From vacuum tubes to virtual worlds, Dr. Flori Pierri, Associate Curator of Science and Technology at the MIT Museum, joins us to explore their unexpected journey into the world of video game preservation. Dr. Pierri oversees diverse collections from science photography to physics homework, and, of course, video games. MIT Museum has had a recent focus on computer games and a focus on play, starting with the Michael Dornbrook Collection and plans for a 2028 computer game exhibition. Dr. Pierri shares the importance of using original equipment for exhibits and the new challenges of preserving born-digital objects. They also discuss the museum’s efforts to engage with both the public and with researchers, including a collection of unreleased Infocom game materials.
You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website.
Mentioned in the show:
Whirlwind I: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whirlwind_I
Royal Game of the Dolphin: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Game_of_the_Dolphin,_1821.jpg
Milliways: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Claude Elwood Shannon, Bell Labs, “father of information theory”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon
See more from Dr. Flori Pierri:
Bluesky: @flori-p.bsky.social
Website: https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/collections-search
Video Game History Foundation:
Email: podcast@gamehistory.org
Website: gamehistory.org
Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg