Digital Archives for Video Game History är redo att lanseras den 30 januari

Starting January 30, 2025, the Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) will open its digital archives to the public, marking a major milestone in video game preservation. The archive will feature over 1,500 out-of-print game magazines, promotional materials, game development assets, and more, offering researchers and enthusiasts an invaluable resource for studying the history of video games. This collection is part of the VGHF's ongoing effort to digitize and preserve gaming history, which began when the organization was founded in 2017.

Unlike other archives, the VGHF’s digital collection is designed to add value to the preserved materials by allowing users to search for specific games, publishers, authors, and even niche terms like "Metroidvania." This will make it easier to trace the evolution of gaming terminology and discover lesser-known aspects of the medium’s development. While the archive is still a work in progress, users will have access to a growing database of both processed and unprocessed materials, ensuring the resource evolves as new content is digitized.

While the VGHF’s physical archives contain playable video games, current copyright restrictions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibit remote access to these titles. As a result, the digital archives will focus on visual assets, such as screenshots, promotional art, and other non-playable materials. However, this limitation does not detract from the value of the archive, which remains a crucial tool for preserving the broader context of video game history.

The VGHF’s mission has always been to preserve not just the games themselves but also the ephemeral materials surrounding them, such as design documents, press kits, and promotional posters. These often-overlooked artifacts offer critical insight into the cultural and commercial forces that shaped the video game industry. Since its founding, the VGHF has donated digitized materials to institutions like the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the National Videogame Museum, helping to ensure these materials are available for public study and exhibition.

The VGHF has also been actively involved in the Video Game Source Project, launched in 2020. This initiative seeks to collect and preserve the source code and assets for classic video games, allowing researchers to access the building blocks of these iconic titles. The VGHF has already added games like The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge to this project.

With the opening of the digital archives, the VGHF is making significant strides in ensuring that video game history is not lost to time. The organization continues to rely on public donations to support its preservation efforts, offering everyone an opportunity to contribute to this vital cause. The launch of the digital archives on January 30 will make this wealth of information accessible to a much broader audience, allowing future generations to explore the history of video games in unprecedented detail.