The Video Sport Historical past Basis (VGHF),nonprofit group devoted to the preservation and celebration of the historical past of video video games, has formally launched the VGHF Digital Library.
The archive is at the moment in early entry and open to anybody within the studyof video recreation historical past without cost at library.gamehistory.org. You possibly can try the launch video on YouTube.
Researchers, players and most of the people may have entry to greater than 30,000 curated recordsdata (with tons extra to return) of business ephemera straight from the VGHF’s bodily assortment, together with greater than 1500 full-text searchable out-of-print video recreation magazines, never-before-seen recreation improvement property, art work, promotional supplies, and extra gaming relics.
That makes it one of many largest repositories of recreation business historical past on the earth. Anybody with a necessity or curiosity for studying extra about how gaming has advanced is inspired to bookmark and entry the wealth of knowledge and distinctive bodily assertion items spanning greater than 50 years.
“We’ve been working on this project since we founded the Video Game History Foundation in 2017, so we’re extremely proud to start providing access to our digital library and continue our mission to make video game history accessible to anyone,” mentioned Frank Cifaldi, founding father of the Video Sport Historical past Basis, in a press release. “We believe that with the right tools, anyone can be a video game historian, and we can’t wait to see what new stories our archive inspires. We also hope this inspires those in the video game industry to consider the importance of preserving their work and contributing to initiatives like ours.”
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The VGHF Library is designed as a singular vacation spot and analysis software, permitting customers to seek for particular video games, authors, publishers, and different metadata throughout public and beforehand inside supplies.
It looks as if a really fascinating place the place recreation followers may spend hours going by means of the bodily and digital archives. You possibly can test it out:
- Wish to discover a chronological checklist of mentions of your favourite recreation?
- See what designers used for reference when designing traditional video games primarily based on properties like Batman, Sonic the Hedgehog, the Myst sequence, and extra?
- Search by means of traditional magazines similar to Sport Informer, GamePro, Subsequent Technology, PSM and extra?
- Or possibly dig into video footage from the present flooring of E3 2000?
The VGHF Library additionally hosts extra sophisticated digital supplies, like classic artwork property and data despatched to magazines to be used of their publications, or viewing web sites and displays as they have been initially seen.
Different highlights of the VGHF Library embrace:
- Guidebooks and ephemera from recreation occasions, together with searchable directories and maps from the primary 12 years of the Digital Leisure Expo (E3).
- An intensive worldwide assortment of From Software program promotional supplies, collected by citizen archivist Kris Urquhart, with a blessing from FromSoftware to donate them to the library.
- 100 CDs of artwork and press releases from GamePro’s journal archive.
- Over 100 hours of footage from the manufacturing of the Myst sequence, together with never-before-seen interviews with the Cyan staff.
- The Mark Flitman papers, a treasure trove of paperwork collected over the course of Flitman’s profession at video recreation publishers like Konami, Acclaim, Atari, and extra.
“At the Video Game History Foundation, we think the best way to study game history is to have access to the raw materials,” mentioned Phil Salvador, library director on the VGHF, in a press release. “Our vision has always been to open our collections to everyone, whoever and wherever you are, and after years of work, today we’re taking the first step towards that open digital future. We sincerely think this tool is going to change how people study video game history. We cannot wait to see what historians, researchers, authors, YouTubers, fans, and everyone in-between will discover.”
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The VGHF Library is a robust, one-of-a-kind useful resource, and its devoted staff is dedicated to repeatedly updating the options and offeringfor years to return. Neighborhood members can observe the basis on BlueSky, observe the weblog, or gamehistory.org. Sport builders who want to contribute their supplies to the library can attain out to data@gamehistory.org.
The inspiration is a 501(c)3 non-profit group, based in 2017 by gaming veteran Frank Cifaldi. A former recreation journalist, Cifaldi began the VGHF with a bodily house in Emeryville, California and has continued to construct extra sources together with the Digital Library which launched in January 2025.