At Gamereactor we already knew the OXO Video Game Museum in Málaga better than anyone else through a series of articles and exclusive resources obtained by taking guided walks through the building in the Plaza del Siglo in first person. Now, as announced in the summer, it was time for the inauguration of its Madrid branch, also in a central square, in Postigo de San Martín street, next to Callao. The event was held the day before yesterday and today, on December 4, the premises opened its doors to the general public, just in time for the Christmas season.
The presentation was led by Santiago Bustamante, cultural director of OXO Video Game Museum, who gave way to the representatives of the different video game agents and associations, and was concluded by Javier Ramos, CEO of the production company Kaiju Group.
Still smelling of fresh paint, the museum welcomed the first guests within the narrow walls of the Elizabethan palace that was once home to the La Central bookshop. With some spaces and services still to be completed, the exhibition has a very different reading depending on whether visitors are familiar with the original in Malaga or not. Naturally, the surprise factor is downgraded for the former like the one who starts a New Game+, but it is true that the new surroundings clothe the collection with a more romantic elegance.
What in Malaga are three plus one floors, here are for now two plus one. What’s more, OXO Madrid replaces the rooftop restaurant with an underground cave that might as well be straight out of The Abbey of Crime, and there’s no expectation of a dining space per se.
The museographic narrative is similar, albeit more compressed in the new, less diaphanous space. A large area dedicated to the history of videogames, from OXO to the present day (including retro computers, arcade, and consoles highlighting major classics and milestones); another area for temporary exhibitions (in this case celebrating 30 years of PlayStation); and a final zone for VR, experimental video games and futuristic concepts.
All this, in addition to the inevitable shop and the space for talks and events where the opening ribbon was cut, a space that, as in Málaga, should be periodically filled with acts and activities that reinforce the more altruistic and educational mission of the museum as such, and that should therefore complement its more commercial and/or sponsored offer in the long run.
Speaking of the latter, the price of admission to OXO Video Game Museum Madrid rises from 17 euros in Malaga to 21 euros in the capital, undoubtedly one of the most talked-about decisions on the eve of the inauguration.
We will soon update this entry with a gallery of exclusive photos from inside the new OXO video game museum in Madrid.