NIGP 03788: Video Game Machines

NIGP 03788 Video Game Machines is an Item code covering therapeutic and recreational gaming equipment procurement by state and local jurisdictions. State and local governments currently buy under this code modified gaming consoles stripped of network and connectivity capabilities for use in correctional and institutional mental health settings, as well as standard commercial-grade gaming systems for general recreational and educational programs. Recent solicitations show California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) dominating the procurement activity, repeatedly specifying Nintendo Switch consoles with disabled Wi-Fi, network, phone connections, and game cartridge readers — accompanied by digital game downloads, accessories, warranties, and technical support — for inmate mental health recreational therapy across multiple prison facilities. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has solicited a coinless arcade gaming system lease, and Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice and Mississippi Delta Community College represent non-correctional jurisdictional buyers seeking commercial-grade gaming systems and facility renovation. Salt Lake City Corporation is pursuing a VR law enforcement training system under RFP SLCI27030, which represents an expansion of the code's traditional scope into immersive scenario-based training applications beyond recreational therapy.

California—particularly CCHCS across its prison health care facilities—accounts for the overwhelming recent activity, with at least nine solicitations posted between May and September 2026 specifying modified Nintendo Switch consoles for correctional facilities. A representative sample includes California Correctional Health Care Services soliciting modified consoles with preloaded games for North Kern State Prison, Folsom State Prison, and California Health Care Facility Stockton under individual RFOs, each with response dates in July and September 2026; California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) requesting modified Nintendo Switch consoles for six units with game downloads and security modifications (RFO 0000040407, due September 30, 2026); and Salt Lake City Corporation (RFP SLCI27030, due November 11, 2026) with $322,770 total funding from DOJ COPS Office FY25 Safer Outcomes grant and city project funds for a comprehensive VR law enforcement training system including hardware, software, scenario library, instructor training, and five-year technical support. Georgia, Wisconsin, and Mississippi show secondary activity through single solicitations, placing geographic concentration heavily in California institutional procurement with emerging demand for VR-based training applications in law enforcement contexts.