The Project Odyssée team visits Before Mario

Some time ago, I received visitors from France who were interested in viewing the Before Mario collection and discussing the collecting and exhibiting of video games. They made a video diary about their trip, which also involved visits to other collectors and collections. This video was just published on YouTube.

The group included Benoit Theveny (known as "Tev" on YouTube channel Ici Japon and the side channel Ici Japon Corp.) and Ludovic Charles. This duo are the initiators of Project Odyssée, a crowd-funded video game museum planned to open near Paris, France in 2026.

Benoit and Ludovic were accompanied by some associates, including Florent Gorges, who is a good friend of mine and the publisher of my Before Mario book.

I am flanked here by Benoit (left) and Florent (right)

As part of the research for the upcoming museum, Benoit, Ludovic, and their team are meeting with collectors, visiting existing museums, and experiencing firsthand what types of exhibitions work and which don't. All of this is to gather the information and inspiration needed to create one of the best video game-related museums.

The team was temporarily distracted by birds living alongside Sander's houseboat

Before they arrived at my place, the caravan had already stopped by fellow Dutch collectors Don (of the website Consolevariations) and Sander (see his past episode of Meet the Collectors).

The team at work, filming Sander's collection

It was a lot of fun to show this group around my collection, as they were so interested in Nintendo's history and very knowledgeable as well.

Even though the space is not very large, it is packed to the brim, with much to see wherever you look.

While talking in the video about an old Nintendo promotional calendar, I did make a small gaffe: I mentioned the calendar dated back to 1904, while I should have said it was from Taishō 4, which is 1915. Oops!

One of the things we looked at was the many box variants of the Nintendo's 1966 Ultra Hand.

No fewer than six different Ultra Hand boxes exist, some of which are very rare.

Another item with multiple versions is the Nintendo Ultra Scope, from 1971, also released as Ultra Cope.

I try to keep most vintage toys in working condition, including this Nintendo Eleconga from 1972.

For some of us, this gathering was also a reunion from the Before Mario Gamescom exhibition back in 2015.

Sander, Erik and Florent in 2024...

Although we always stay in touch, it is not often that we meet in person. So this was a nice opportunity to catch up face-to-face.

... and nine years earlier, in 2015

We finished the wonderful afternoon with a little sightseeing and diner at the North Sea beach.

You can watch the video by the IJC team, just released below. It is really worth watching from start to finish. In case you want to skip forward, the Before Mario part starts at 16:08.

In case you are interested to learn more about the upcoming museum, follow the team on the above YouTube channel, or check out the Project Odyssée crowd fund page here.