INSERT COIN: Inside Midway’s Arcade Revolution

NOTE: This exhibition is held at Cleve Carney Museum at the College of DuPage at 425 Fawell Blvd, Glen Ellyn, Illinois 60137

October 26, 2024 - February 15th 2025
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday: 12 pm - 6 pm (Closed 11/28 - 11/29, 12/24-01/02)
Tickets: General Admission: $12, Students, Seniors and Military: $10, COD Students: Free, Tuesday - Thursday, 12 pm -3 pm.

In 1983, the video game market crashed and the first era of meteoric video game arcade popularity, defined by Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Defender, was over. The Chicago-based manufacturers of coin-operated entertainment that had packed arcades with hits during the 1970s and 1980s, would also usher in the arcade’s rebirth in the 1990s. Known for innovative hits like Defender, Joust, and Robotron, Williams Electronics purchased the maker of Ms. Pac-Man, Tron, and Rampage – Bally Midway – in 1988, and renamed its video game division Midway Manufacturing after their more recognizable former competitor. An arcade renaissance ensued. Midway became the architect of the arcade’s resurrection after the crash with a golden string of game releases such as NARC, Smash TV, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam., Terminator 2, and Cruis’N USA.

This exhibition chronicles the stories behind these games and features behind-the-scenes video, art and ephemera from the making of these games, interviews with former Midway game designers, and the playable games themselves. Notable Williams, Bally Midway, and Midway artists and developers whose work is featured in the exhibition includes Bill Adams, Ed Boon, Brian Colin, Warren Davis, Larry DeMar, Sal Divita, George Gomez, Eugene Jarvis, Jack Haeger, George Petro, Jeff Nauman, John Newcomer, John Tobias, and Mark Turmell. Insert Coin is named after the acclaimed eponymous 2020 documentary by filmmaker and Director of Innovation at DePaul University Joshua Tsui. This project is organized by Jonathan Kinkley, Owner and Curator, Chicago Gamespace, and Joshua Tsui in partnership with The Cleve Carney Museum of Art at the College of DuPage, with curatorial assistance by Ethan Johnson.

More information is available on the Cleve Carney Museum website here.