TacoCat’s Travels (Finland) #19: Goin' Retro! 👾
Hey Steemit!
I'm posting this just before I go on yet another trip so there'll probably be a short hiatus on posts yet again, just a heads up.
29 April 2018. Sunday.
So at the end of the previous post, I mentioned that we discovered there was a video game museum near to our hotel on the way back from Estonia. If you've read my intro post or any of my OST posts you'd know that I'm super into gaming so I was really excited to visit this museum! It's probably one of the few museums I'd actually be interested in tbh. 😅
But first, breakfast! Yay for unintentional rhymes, amirite. 😄
We had a delicious filling breakfast courtesy of Clarion Hotel before checking out and heading to the museum, which was about a 10 minute walk away.
The museum was actually located within a shopping centre/mega store called Verkkokauppa.com, which sells electronics and household appliances. It was a building on its own, and the Helsinki Computer & Game Console Museum was on the 4th and 5th floors.
The floors weren't that big, and there was no air conditioning, I guess it's not very sustainable and they probably don't get many visitors since it's quite out of the way being located next to the port and all. But this wall was on the right of the elevator and it's pretty cool! I believe they're cover art of old PlayStation and Xbox games. And there were also these statues from Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, Jurassic Park (I guess.?) and COD. I had watched a Let's Play of Ratchet & Clank and I really enjoyed it so it was a pleasant surprise to see them here. 😊
That's so cool of Mr. Tommiska to donate his collection to put on display here for everyone to enjoy! What a nice guy 😄
Anyway, on the first floor of the museum (which is technically the 4th floor), there were the reeeeally old computers and game consoles, stuff I wasn't really familiar with since I wasn't around back in the 80s.
Old Atari stuff!
It's too bad the text on the labels were in Finnish and some of the lighting in the display cases weren't even switched on so it was hard to see. I was expecting a guide or something but since it was so small I thought there'd at least be an e-guide, but there wasn't. What a shame.
Oh well, here's some info on Atari I found!
Atari is a French corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972, currently by Atari Interactive. The original company was called Atari Inc. and was an American video game developer and home computer company founded by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Primarily responsible for the formation of the video arcade and modern video game industries, the company was closed and its assets split in 1984 as a direct result of the North American video game crash of 1983. Today, Atari is still known for creating one of the oldest video games, Pong, and famous retro arcade games like Asteroids and Centipede.
Old Commodores! I've never actually seen one in person so it was so cool!
The very famous Commodore 64 (or C64) is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International. It has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling single computer model of all time, dominating the low-end computer market for most of the 1980s.
There was a TV screen next to the elevators playing old video game commercials. 1 look at that font and you know how old it is. 😅
There was so much stuff I didn't recognise! I know of those old joysticks though.
After a brief look around, we went to check out the 2nd floor of the museum. There was some slightly more modern consoles here, and Nintendo stuff! So I was more excited.
Another wall of cover art and statues! Too bad the PS2 wasn't switched on.
Old computers! Oh damn I remember that blue iMac in my old classrooms.
The original Xbox! And some other consoles I've never heard of before
I remember seeing that small TV console on a YouTube video about R.O.B.!
There was also a GBA display!! Oh man this really hits close to home; I remember my cousin had this exact one, and my parents bought a GBA for my eldest brother but his looked more like this:
Just FYI, the screen is really that small and it did not have a LED backlight so you had to rely on an external light source to see the screen (so we couldn't play in the car at night). AND it ran on AA batteries!
My brother and cousin also played this exact Pokemon version - LeafGreen (while I played FireRed)! Oh man, so much nostalgia. 😅
A display case full of old Nintendo consoles!
I think that was the first time I actually saw a SNES, Super Famicom and GameCube in real life since I've never seen them in Singapore before. But looking at all these handhelds again really brings back soooo many memories (and also makes me realise how old I really am now 😔).
Old calculators..?
Is that a knockoff GameBoy.? 😅
Ah the original PlayStation... with GTA!
Old SEGA consoles!
That was also the first time I saw a SEGA Genesis (or MegaDrive here in Finland) and SEGA Dreamcast, which was the rival of Nintendo's SNES and GameCube respectively.
On this floor, the TV screen was playing old Nintendo commercials! I did not know they had a cereal to accompany their games! 😅
So there was also a roof terrace on the top floor and we went to check it out as well.
Tbh it wasn't that great. Sorry for the poor quality as the weather wasn't very pleasant that day as you can see. There was this cool looking jet though.
Anyway after all that, we collected our luggage back at the hotel before walking back towards the main bus station in Helsinki. We had lunch in the station at our usual place, Singapore Hot Wok!
This was taken moments before I devoured that deliciousness. 😋
We didn't have much time after that and soon it was time to board the bus back home!
And with that we've come to the end of our short weekend trip! Man, can you believe these past few posts were only just 3 days in real time. Anyway, stay tuned to my next post where we explore more of Finland!
Thanks for reading!
To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!
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I'm old, so the top part of your post has many old items I used or worked on in the 1980's. I did play pong for too many hours and I was not good at it.
I lugged the computer above the blue Imac around for 6 months while I was an auditor for one of the big firms back then. I hated that heavy thing!
After you got to the newer items, I recognize nothing. Gaming seems to have passed me by. But what a fun museum and the breakfast looks like it was very yummy as well as the Hot Wok food. I am hungry now after seeing that.
Hey @fitinfun, I'm glad u got to reminisce some of the older items.
Wow I cant believe you had to actually lug that heavy computer around! You must be quite relieved that we have laptops now.
The newer items are more from my time so I remember them better. Yes the museum was fun and the food was delicious too! 😋
Thanks so much for reading for your lovely comment! 😊
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I am glad! The shape was so awful to handle and I had to move it in and out from where I worked each day and not leave it the car overnight. It had a strap your were supposed to cross over your chest and then the computer would be on your hip. Oh the agony! I'm glad you made me realize how good I have it now :)
Oh man that does sound awful! I'm really glad you dont have to deal with that anymore too! 😄
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Wooaw. Great experiences and an educative trip. You really did amazing. Your clicks on the other hand is superb. I really enjoyed myself with your post. Keep out the tour spirit
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Hey ferrate aww thanks so much for reading and for your lovely compliments! I'm so glad u enjoyed my post 😊
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You are welcome
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I've been to Clarion in Prague many times and they have the largest variety of breakfast options that I've ever seen in a hotel. As this is the chain, I assume it was the same in the hotel where you've been 😊
I do recognise a few of these oldies but mpst of them I haven't seen before. I actually owned the supervision on the left! It was so cool but well, you could only play it during daylight if I remember correctly. And Pokemon! Haven't heard of it for too long! Thank you for bringing up some nice memories 😊
It looks like you had a great day and you summarized it for us very well!
Have a great trip and I'm looking forward to seeing you around when you're back!
Oh wow I didnt know Clarion had hotels in Prague too thags cool! Yes the breakfast had a really large spread and we had pleasant stays in both their outlets in Helsinki! 😊
Ah I see. The supervision must have been like the GameBoy then, with no backlight. Yes Pokémon was a big part of my childhood!
Thank you so much for reading and for your lovely comment! (:
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Hey @curie thank you so much again for the upvote! Hope u have a great day too! 😄
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This is super retro and cool!
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Yes it was so cool to check out all the old consoles and stuff!
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Hi @taco.cat
Your post is really interesting and I would call it a real report from the past in the Helsinki Computer & Game Console Museum. I've been to Helsinki, but honestly it would never have occurred to me to go and visit this museum! And you're right: by retracing the history of all those objects we have the perception of passing time and how much technology is faster than us! Truly a beautiful description! Congratulations and Thanks for sharing with us!
Hey @road2horizon!
Yes I think not many people have actually visited this museum before since it's quite far away from the city centre. Seeing all these old tech really shows how far we've advanced in such a short period of time! Our generations really get a unique experience using all these and the devices we have now.
Thanks so much for reading and for your lovely comment! 😊
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