February 2014 Newsletter

Do you Smile when you shop at Amazon? You should, because Amazon's new Amazon Smile program donates 0.5% of your purchase to the non-profit organization of your choice. The catch is, you have to sign in to Smile every time you go to the Amazon site. There's a Chrome addon that will automatically redirect you into Smile whenever you access Amazon, and we had an addon written for Firefox that does the same thing. Of course, you can designate any charity, but we're hoping you will think of us first. Install your addon of choice, go to Amazon Smile, specify Digital Game Museum as your charity, and it's done! (And you won't have any weird toolbars to remove later, either!)

Judith Haemmerle, Executive Director

What do museum folks and furries have in common? Apparently a deep love of video games!

Over the previous weekend, the Digital Game Museum had the privilege of being the chosen charity at Further Confusion, a furry convention, in San Jose, CA. This convention boasts being the second largest furry convention in the US, with an attendance of over 3000 people. Given that this year’s theme was videogame inspired (Further Confusion vs. The World), the museum felt right at home amidst theme-costumed foxes and game enthusiasts alike.

The booth featured a series of brawler (also called beat-em-up) games over the eras, culminating with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, many of which were playable. Rarely was there ever a console unmanned during the three days spent there, and our special con t-shirts were practically flying off the shelf. The community was warm towards us, respectful, and excited to see games from their childhoods and the present displayed in an informative and enjoyable way.

It was an honor to be selected, and the museum raised more funds during the time there than we ever have at any other event! Mingling with attendees was a joy, and the conversations we had there led to valuable donations (appropriately, we were given a Jaguar!) and connections we are thankful for. With the different panels and events we participated in, the wonderful facilities, the great work by the staff at the Marriott, and the amusing sights, this was truly a fun weekend.

-Laura Allan

One of the casualties of war is often a country's cultural history, either through destruction or theft. One such casualty was the 3.1 meter square painting taken from a Korean Buddhist temple to Japan during Japan's colonial rule of Korea (1910-45). It came to the U.S. via Japanese art dealers and was eventually confiscated by the U.S. Government during WWII. When its location at the U.S. Hermitage Museum & Gardens was discovered by the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, they requested that it be returned to Korea, but safely shipping a large, fragile artifact isn't cheap. The Korean branch of Riot Games (League of Legends) stepped up and paid all the costs. It's a story with a happy ending, and it's great to see gamers supporting a museum. Bravo, Riot!

Learn more at the original news story.

Covering an event like FurCon or Maker Faire takes a lot of dedicated volunteers. Here are some from FurCon, left to right: Laura (aka Cheese), Chris, Judith, Ben, Jeff and Sean. Not shown but also hardworking: Crissy, Lindsey, Taylor and Brian. These volunteers loaded things at DGM, set up the booth, chatted with visitors all 3 days, and finally took everything apart and unloaded back at DGM. Thanks! You can see the event photos and exhibit, “Brawlers,” online.

What video game is being played by the grandson in the movie The Princess Bride?

Watch our website for the answers next month!

What Brawler game has a black cat throughout the game, in posters, in a spacesuit, and driving jet-powered busses?

Viewtiful Joe, Capcom, 2003