| rev:text
| - We came for the Game On exhibit, which was decent, but the upstairs "permanent" display was much more amusing to the kids overall.
The Game On exhibit pays lip service to the history of video games with the displays, but it's mostly a chance to play on quite a large number of different classic games. Predictably, kids in general seemed to congregate at the *newer* games. Many of them were also, predictably, not working well (controls broken) and the instructions on how to play them were occasionally inadequate, although because some of the games are awkward and slow by modern standards (try playing SimCity on a 1989 display with middle-aged eyes, if you want a headache). That said, still an impressive collection just to look at, and when we went on a weekday morning it wasn't so crowded that you couldn't play whatever you wanted without waiting too long. I especially liked the original Space War (which you couldn't play, and which didn't have enough explantory text, but which was still cool to see) and the very rare Puckman, without the "P" having been defaced.
The upstairs with the permanent exhibits is pretty standard (we've been to LOTS of science and kids museums in decades of child rearing) but in good order, with interpretation, and laid out with sufficient space that we weren't banging into random kids all over the place. There's also the huge bonus of a bunch of COMFY CHAIRS right by a window with a lovely view over the quai below, so the adults can slump a bit while the kids cavort. And as noted, the kids actually enjoyed this quite a bit more than the Game On exhibit, even though they'd seen most of the exhibits or a variation, before. It is primarily a younger children's version of a science center, to be sure. (We skipped the IMAX so can't comment on it, but they are all the same as far as I can tell.)
There's some cool kinetic art on the second floor right now, outside the exhibit area, which is worth staring at for about twenty minutes. I won't give anything away but plan accordingly.
The gift shop was pretty standard, but the food amenities are significantly better than average with both a snack bar AND the large food court just across the way from the entrance.
The major oddity, of course, is in an old quai building it's organized very rectilinearly, so there's a lot of walking (and the signage is not great). The staff at the directory stations were unusually glum for some reason.
Also an oddity: the only science museum I've ever been to with a condom machine in the men's room. They certainly know how to do science in Montreal.
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