A quarter-century of collecting culminates in the opening of Catalonia’s first dedicated video game museum. This meticulously curated space charts the history of interactive entertainment. The Museu del videojoc de Catalunya (MUVIC) opened its doors recently, offering a fascinating, and free, journey through the evolution of gaming consoles, all housed within an unlikely venue: a retro video game shop in Barcelona’s Gràcia neighbourhood.

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The museum, located inside Super Boniato at Carrer de Pérez Galdós 45 near Plaça Lesseps, originated from the private collection of Eduard Tornero. This 43-year-old Barcelona doctor’s passion for gaming began in his childhood.

A Lifelong Passion on Display

Tornero began collecting consoles in the early 2000s, initially reclaiming machines from his youth. This nostalgic pursuit soon evolved into a serious archival effort as he researched and discovered a world of devices that never reached Spanish shores. For years, his hobby remained solitary.

“For more than twenty years, I was collecting practically on my own,” Tornero told La Vanguardia. “I had no one to share this hobby with, and when I mentioned it to someone, they almost treated me like I was crazy.”

However, everything changed three years ago when he began collaborating with RetroBarcelona, Spain’s largest classic gaming and retro-computing event. As the organiser of the fair’s popular museum zone, Tornero found a community of like-minded enthusiasts. “Through my collaboration with RetroBarcelona, I started to meet other people with the same interests, and from that moment, it’s been exponential,” he said.

From Solitary Hobby to Community Project

This new-found community sparked the idea for a permanent exhibition. Alongside video game historian Marc Rollán (El Funs) and expert Iván Santillana (Tentáculo Púrpura), Tornero began dreaming of a physical home for his collection. “We got more excited each year and started to think about how much we’d love to have a permanent physical space, especially since Catalonia doesn’t have a museum on this topic yet,” he explained.

Finally, Tornero met Omar Bádenas, the owner of Super Boniato, which proved to be the final piece of the puzzle. Bádenas, a passionate restorer and seller of classic consoles, runs a shop inspired by the legendary Super Potato in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, specialising in coveted Japanese games. When Bádenas decided to move his shop to a larger location, the pair saw their opportunity.

“When I visited the storage unit where Eduard kept his collection, I suggested he had to exhibit it,” Bádenas recalled. “He, in turn, told me that if I moved to a bigger shop, we would talk.” The result is a unique museum-in-a-shop concept, a model Bádenas says is inspired by Japanese stores but rare in Europe.

Hidden Gems and Console Wars

Despite its modest size of just a few square metres, MUVIC packs a significant historical punch. Its display cases showcase the remarkable evolution of industrial design in gaming hardware. To manage the limited space, the museum features a rotating series of temporary exhibitions.

The inaugural show, “Hidden Gems of Japan,” perfectly complements the shop’s focus. It featured exceptionally rare consoles, including the 1975 TV Tennis Electrotennis – Japan’s first commercial home console – and Nintendo’s 1979 Block Kuzushi, the first console designed by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto. Another highlight was the 1994 Aiwa CSD-GM1, a bizarre boombox-Mega Drive hybrid with a CD and cassette player.

“These hidden gems from Japan are very unusual consoles that in most cases did not succeed in their home country, which is why most of them never even made it here,” Tornero noted, highlighting a key theme of the exhibit. “In the world of consoles, there are more failures than successes. For every success, you can find up to ten or fifteen ideas that failed.”

Historians Marc Rollán and Carolina Cárdenas provided detailed texts for each artefact, offering crucial context. This educational approach helps illuminate forgotten chapters of gaming history, such as the first Japanese “console war,” which was fought not between Nintendo and SEGA, but between Bandai and Epoch.

Preserving Digital Heritage

MUVIC’s creation reflects a growing recognition of video games as a significant cultural medium in Spain, a trend also evident with the opening of the OXO Video Game Museum in Madrid. It joins a roster of specialised local institutions, such as the Museu del Joguet de Catalunya (Toy Museum of Catalonia), in preserving a specific facet of cultural history. For those looking for unique cultural outings, the new museum is a perfect addition to a weekend agenda in Barcelona.

The response has proved immediate. “The other day, two lads came to the shop specifically to see the exhibition and spent almost an hour talking about all the consoles,” Bádenas said. This dynamic – a seamless blend of commerce, curiosity, and conversation – makes the space truly special.

While the first exhibition on Japanese rarities has concluded, the team has already announced its next theme: a deep dive into Nintendo’s history. For now, this small museum stands as a testament to a passionate community’s dedication to preserving digital heritage, one rare console at a time.