Today marked the arrival of the Starlight Fun Centre into the National Videogame Archive…

This remarkable piece of kit was kindly donated by Nintendo and was originally designed to spread a little joy around children’s hospitals. This all-in-one entertainment unit includes a Panasonic TV, a combination DVD/VHS player and a Nintendo Game Cube console, with pads and games.

The games Luigi’s Mansion, Mario Party 4 and Wario World are all included with the unit. It’s a fantastic example that illustrates how games are played in different environments to provide fun and escapism.

Alongside the first ever Sony Eye Toy camera, the other big acquisitions that helped launch the National Videogame Archive were the prototype Rock Band guitar and drum kit. Generously donated by Boston-based studio Harmonix, the prototypes are unique objects and are the first instruments built to test the control system before mass production. Building upon the innovation of Guitar Hero, Rock Band has allowed the non-musicians among us to taste the highs of performing music live, helped broaden music taste, redesigned the concepts of game interaction and raised the bar for accessible party games. Take it away Alex Navarro and Ike Adams…

Alex Navarro & Ike Adams of Harmonix Donate to the National Videogame Archive from gamecity on Vimeo.

The instruments recently made an appearance in the National Media Museum’s quarterly publication ‘Archive’. Featured on a one-page spread showcasing new acquisitions, the magazine helps to publicise the sheer breadth and diversity of the Museum’s collection. Made up of over 3 million objects, it is one man’s job to photograph the collection – this man is Paul Thompson. His expertise and attention to detail is demonstrated in this fantastic image of the Rock Band instruments that was captured especially for the Archive article.

Seeing someone perform Rock Band in expert mode is pretty awe-inspiring. Just check out the crazy skills of this talented 5 year old:

But why play just one instrument when you can play all four?

You can read more about the history of Harmonix and the impact of Rock Band over at Gamasutra.