Video Game Museum of Rome

The Video Game Museum of Rome (VIGAMUS) is an interactive video game museum that displays the history of video games. The first official announcement for the museum was at the Italian Videogame Developer Conference (IVDC) in 2010. The museum opened its doors to the public in October 2012. VIGAMUS is among the founding members and promoters of EFGAMP, the European Federation of Game Archives, Museums, and Preservation Projects. This federation aims to find new opportunities of digital preservation, with a particular attention to video games. Located in a large exhibition center, the museum is divided into different areas of video game history, starting with the Magnavox Odyssey. The collection displays 440 pieces of video game ephemera and has more than 100 panels with information about the history and background of the items displayed. Fifteen video game retrospectives give the viewers first-person knowledge of making certain games. In addition to the regular exhibits, the museum also has different interactive areas for arcade games, console games, and an Oculus VR room. Some of the unique items featured at the museum include the DOOM master disks and Crytek demo disks. The museum partnered with Crytek to launch a graduate course aimed at virtual reality development. The museum also has its own magazine called VMag about the video game industry.