Episode 179
Oprostite!
Can I get a price check? Let’s learn to say whether items are cheap or expensive.
How much does a macchiato cost at a kafić? How much does it cost at the airport?
These are important things for us to know when traveling Hrvatska.
Lesson
Price - cijena (The price of something.)
Cheap/inexpensive. - jeftin.
Expensive/dear - skup
Prices have gone up. - Cijene su porasle.
Cheapskate - škrtac
Spendthrift/big spender - rasipnik
A sale - rasprodaja
Discount - popust
World Cup tickets are very expensive. - Ulaznice za Svjetsko prvenstvo su jako skupe.
Super Slatko Report
In this edition of the Super Slatko Report, we’ll get a little summary of DJ Moe’s summer vacation in Croatia. He’ll focus primarily on his visit to the Video Game History Museum in Zagreb. All the gamers out there will definitely enjoy themselves.
As you may remember, I discussed the VGHM a bit ago in episode 165, where I covered its origins and its role in capturing history through video games. This idea of seeing history through the lens of video games made sense to me when I first read about it, but seeing it in person really brought it all front and center. The VGHM does an excellent job of showcasing the games and consoles over time, but the VGHM does an equally great job at providing the setting or surroundings from their respective time periods as well. I can’t tell you how many times I would walk down a row of classic consoles or games that sparked memories, to then fall into deeper connections with a song that was playing over head or a poster on a wall from one of the VGHMs many period display exhibits; needless to say I let it all in. Kind of cool that video games were able to take me there.
The VGHM is a little over a year old now. My visit comes just a few weeks after their 1 year anniversary celebration. The VGHM celebrates by hosting a talk with Don Daglow a pretty big name in the video game industry. This guy pioneered massive multiplayer online role playing games, think of games like Star Wars: The Old Republic and World of Warcraft, these games have millions and millions of people playing these games all across the world, Don Daglow had the first game to use that kind of technology, a game called Utopia. He’s also the guy that designed the use of a circle beneath a player in Sports games to show which player had possession. That idea is used all over! The reason it’s important to bring in a guy like Don Daglow to speak at a VGHM event is to further cement the credibility of the VGHM to the global video game community.
A newer exhibit that launched this past January of 2026, is the new history of gaming in Croatia. As you might remember from SSR 165, the museum is the brainchild of software developer Damir Šlogar, a Croatian video game industry veteran, collector, and technologist. Born in Croatia and educated in engineering and computer science, Šlogar’s career spans decades of work in software, game development, and digital innovation. He’s worked internationally, contributing to over 150 titles, including: Shrek, Barbie and Battlefield to name a few. With that body of work, one would think that his Croatian heritage and his experience would be sufficient grounding for the founding of the VGHM. Šlogar’s connection to video games runs deeper than that. This exhibit calls out the very beginnings of Croatias foray into this arena dating back to 1972 with an initiative called the Multimedia Center, also known as the MMC. The MMC came to be, wanting nothing more than to make computer knowledge and technology accessible to all, especially children and the younger generation. During this time the MMC became an outlet for users to create and develop some of Croatias very first computer games. The MMC had more than 10,000 people take advantage of this amazing new technological exposure, one of those people is none other than the founder of the VGHM, Damir Šlogar. I can’t speak for him, but the VGHM is probably his way of paying it forward, acting as his own version of the MMC.
This new exhibit also covers the first Croatian video game that came out in 1984 titled Kung Fu. You also get to learn about the first Croatian video game publisher that arrived in 1985 called Suzy Soft, that lived under the record label known as Suzy Records. As well as a call out to Cro Team, the first professional game development studio that came out in the early 90’s. Cro Team’s crown jewel was their video game Serious Sam, a first person shooter that takes place in ancient Egypt where you get to battle monsters. There is a playable version in the exhibit that is seriously fun, I had a hard time giving it up so my son so he could play and an equally hard time trying to then pull him off when another group of visitors wanted to give it a try.
Taking in the VGHM was in a word, amazing. There is a ton of games, consoles, and pop culture to take in not to mention their period exhibits and displays that need to be seen in person to truly appreciate. And if you’re hoping to play a video game or two, you will not be disappointed, there are multiple floors following the video game eras with plenty of games to try your hand at, not to mention an arcade where my son and I went head to head at Mortal Kombat for probably way too long. A classic show down, my son as Rayden vs. me as Scorpion. I wont tell who won the most rounds but I’ll give you a hint… get over here!…
I plan on posting some cool pictures with this SSR as well as some social media content to give you a small taste of what we experienced. My family and I had a blast including my wife and daughter who aren’t really gamers per se, though they do enjoy them, maybe not as much as my son and I; but they too had a great time. It was like hearding cats trying to keep everyone together in that place, we all kept getting pulled every which way by our curiosity; we had such a good time at the VGHM.
Before I wrap up, I wanted to give a very special thank you to a couple of people who were super kind with their time and hospitality; big thanks to Fran, Hrvoje and Annabella. Thank you for being so attentive and patient with our many questions and walking us through the exhibits, you guys are the best!
And that’s it for the Super Slatko Report.
