It looks like I've mostly been misunderstood here. When I mentioned that arcades don't have a tradition, what I meant to say about arcades is that due to the 1984 law, they didn't go on to become a part of popular culture as much as in the USA for example. Personally, when I first moved to Germany, I looked online to try to find an arcade nearby, and was shocked to find that there appears to not be any more in all of Germany! Where I grew up in Harrisburg, PA, I'm pretty sure within a half hour I could still reach about 5 arcades that are still in business. It's really sad how things developed in Germany.

When I said that computer games have a bad reputation, I meant that the German press generally covers them in a negative light, focusing on violence and addiction rather than the positive aspects of these games (read Jane McGonigal, for example). Also, most Germans tend to equate coin-operated games with gambling machines due to the legal history here, which is very unfortunate. Also, I've generally come under the impression that these games are considered for kids here. I'm playing a racing game on my iPhone and someone I know comes up to me and says, "Oh, you're playing a kid's game!" Grrr.

It's hard not to take all of this criticism personally. The arcade section is just one part of the museum, so it's not possible to have tour guides who know all the topics of the museum equally well and from both the software and hardware sides, at least at this time. Remember that this museum only opened in the beginning of this year. In any case, I contacted the museum director/curator and he said he'll reply here tomorrow, since he's away on business today.

Hey everyone,

I've been reading this forum for about 5 years now and finally got an account! Anyway, I recently became an English tour guide for the Computerspielemuseum in Berlin. We're trying to cover the history of all computer and video games, so the arcade section has:

• Computer Space (!!)
• Pong (!)
• Space Invaders Part II
• Asteroids
• Centipede
• Poly-Play (!)

Unfortunately, our version of Computer Space doesn't work, although the curator did once tell me that they got it working for about 10 minutes once and it wasn't very fun... Also, note that our version has joysticks instead of the all-button version like Nuno has.

Poly-Play was the only arcade machine made in East Germany. You can find more info about it on Wikipedia. Also, on request, we can turn on the Pong machine, Vectrex and Virtual Boy. All in all, I think it's just about the coolest job you can have.

Note that arcade machines were essentially banned in Germany since 1984. So, as an American, I'm pretty much their arcade expert. To be exact, a law passed in Germany in 1984 which made gambling machines, arcade machines and pinball machines all equal in the eyes of the law. Thus, you needed to be at least 18 years old to put a coin in a Pac-Man machine... thank you Germany for protecting our youth!  Grrr... So basically, places catering to the 18+ crowd all bought gambling machines, because they were cheaper and earned them more money. That pretty much killed off arcade machines in Germany. Most Germans have only seen arcade machines abroad and I would imagine there aren't many Germans on this forum, although I'd love to be proven wrong!

Anyway, if you're in Berlin and want to visit the museum, let me know and if I'm free, I'll come over to the museum to meet you. Also, if you have any questions about the museum, I'd be happy to answer them!