UM CVGA

This afternoon the CVGA is hosting a "Documenting Rural America" class session. Their game selections are:

Far Cry 5
Firewatch
Gone Home
Harvest Moon (various versions)
Oregon Trail
Red Dead Redemption
Rune Factory 5
A Short Hike
Silent Hill
Stardew Valley
The Walking Dead (Telltale)

Welp, out of our four PlayStation 2 consoles, only one will still play CD-based games 😕

Yesterday we welcomed the class Architecture in Media and Popular Culture to the CVGA. Their games list was:

Anno 1800
Burnout Paradise
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Cities: Skylines
Cyberpunk 2077
Control
Dying Light
Human: Fall Flat
Jet Grind Radio
Monument Valley
SimCity
The Witness

Today we are hosting another 200-level History class in the CVGA. Their game list is:

• The Saboteur
• Battlefield 1
• A Plague Tale: Innocence
• Civilization Revolution
• God of War
• Valiant Hearts: The Great War
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
• 1979 Revolution: Black Friday

• Circus Maximus : Chariot Wars
• Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire
• Valiant Hearts: The Great War
• Oregon Trail
• Die with Glory
• Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• Hakuoki : Kyoto winds
• Assassin’s Creed: The Rebel Collection
• Trek to Yomi

Our first hosted class session of the semester—a 200-level History class—is this afternoon. Here's their games list:

• Call of the Sea
• 1943: The Battle of Midway
• Pirates!
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• A Plague Tale: Innocence
• Red Dead Redemption
• Call of Duty: Finest Hour

A Playstation TV with several cords plugged into the rear

Spent some time yesterday setting up and testing a recently-donated Playstation TV.

Welcome Back! Our hours for Winter semester are:

Mon - Thu: Noon - 8pm
Friday: Noon - 5pm

Closed on holidays and during 'spring' break.

YouTube video by The Video Game History Foundation The Untold Story of the Nintendo Entertainment System

Merry Christmas! If you'd like to spend 45 minutes celebrating video game history with me, we're about to debut The Untold Story of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I worked on his ALL YEAR, and I genuinely think it will reshape how we all think about the system. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJvp...

The CVGA will be closed from December 10 through January 6 for the intersession. We re-open on Wednesday January 7 on our Winter schedule (same as our fall schedule). Enjoy your break!

A Panasonic 3DO with the top of the case removed

Our Panasonic 3DO stopped working (possibly bad capacitors). We will hopefully acquire a replacement…

The CVGA is closed for the remainder of the week. We re-open on Monday December 1.

Enjoy your holiday!

New games arrived last week in the CVGA:

PS5
NBA 2K26
Cronos: The New Dawn
God of War: Ragnarok
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
Silent Hill f

Switch
Sonic Racing: Cross Worlds

Switch 2
Donkey Kong Bananza

Xbox Series X
Dead Rising: Deluxe Remaster
Hell is Us
FC26

We've added Donkey Kong Bonanza for Switch 2! (more on the way...)

Current Leaderboard for the CVGA Game Challenge! Can you do better?

Join the Video Game Challenge in the CVGA featuring classic favorites Katamari Damacy and Bubble Bobble! Test your skills, compete for the highest score, and see your name rise on the leaderboard. Top scorers for each game win a prize! Everyone gets a sticker! Through Nov 14. (U-M students only.)

Switch 2 is now available in the CVGA. Handheld, or reserve station 1 to play on the large screen.

(The only Switch 2 game we currently have is Mario Kart World; more games are on order)

YouTube video by The Video Game History Foundation Discovering Activision's early history | VGHF Library Highlights

Introducing the William Volk papers, a new digital collection in the VGHF Library!

Explore thousands of documents, developments schedules, and memos from the early history of Activision.

Read more: gamehistory.org/william-volk...

Good news: Our SEGA Saturn is working again (at least for now...) Thanks to @backofficeshow.bsky.social vid on YouTube for the inspiration: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcSS...

Alas, the optical drive on our SEGA Saturn has died. As a result, Saturn games can't be played until we repair or replace the console.

(Our Japanese Saturn still works though!)

Four people sit in chairs playing Overcooked 2

We’re hanging out at the 3rd floor of Shapiro until 4pm for Party For Your Mind @umichlibrary.bsky.social

Current Umich students/faculty/staff can reserve a station at umich.libcal.com/reserve/umcvga

Guests (i.e. everyone else, including alumni) must request a reservation at forms.gle/6J7RH5rUtUEJ... (at least one business day in advance)

Welcome Back! Our hours for Fall semester are:

Mon - Thu: Noon - 8pm
Friday: Noon - 5pm

Closed on holidays and during fall break.

The CVGA will be closed from Wednesday August 13 through Sunday August 24 for the intersession.

We will re-open with our Fall schedule on Monday August 25.

Heads-up: The CVGA will be closed Thursday and Friday this week (July 17 & 18). We resume regular summer hours on Monday.

Betty says Reggie won’t be the Super Nintendo champ for long, now that she has a new asciiPad controller.

Here’s something you don’t see every day - an ad for asciiPad featuring the Archie gang and in the tried and true Hostess style (1993).

Last night I got access to a digitized film reel from 1969 that shows off a computer artillery game called Potshot. And to explain why that’s a big deal, I need to talk about Dartmouth and the BASIC computer language.

A dark grey Interact Home Computer; with x chiclet keyboard and built-in cassette deck. and two detachable joystick controllers

One of the rarest items in our collection: an Interact Home Computer, from Ann Arbor-based Interact Electronics ca. 1978

The CVGA will close early (at 4pm) on July 3rd, and is closed on July 4.

A bunch of Atari 2600 game cartridges in a large plastic bin

A bunch of Atari 2600 game cartridges in a large plastic bin

A bunch of Intellivision and ColecoVision game cartridges in a large plastic bin

Extra game cartridges (duplicates in our collection)