In The Round River Drive, a short story written by James MacGillivray and published in the Detroit News-Tribune in 1910, legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his rowdy crew march through the wilds of Michigan, in search of a cache of virgin trees to fell.  Tucked away in the basement of the Art, Architecture & Engineering Library, Duderstadt Center building at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor is a treasure-trove of classic video and computer games that, while not virginal, is of such size and breadth as to give even the most looming, Bunyanesque gamer pause. In a large spacious room, those wishing to count the rings of video game redwoods can run the gamut from first-gen to latest-gen systems, all available for hands-on play.  It is the UM Library Computer + Video Game Archive, and it is a must-visit if you’re ever in the Ann Arbor area.  You can check their hours of operation and what services they offer here at their website.

As mentioned, there is pretty much every classic and modern game system, along with most of their available games, ready to play… although everything has to stay within the archive.  I spent some time there recently, and here are some pics from my visit:

The CVGA is a colossal collection of gaming goodness, which no one with even a passing interest in video game history should miss.  The public is welcome to come in and play, with visitor parking located nearby the Duderstadt Cente at UMich.  You won’t regret exploring this video game museum of Bunyanean proportions.