The Video Game History Foundation Launches Patreon to Build a Digital Library of Video Games
Remember the days when games used to come with paper manuals? The days of Nintendo Power magazines and physical guidebooks? When games only came on plastic cartridges that struggled to work unless you blew into them? If the Video Game History Foundation is successful, we might soon be able to revisit those days, and new gamers would soon be able to learn about them.
The VGHF is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the story of video games, from games themselves to the accompanying material and culture around them. Founder Frank Cifaldi strongly believes that “video games are more than just playable code. It’s the ephemeral material that was produced around it. It’s the marketing. It’s the stories. And all of these things are in danger of disappearing unless we actually go out and find it and make sure it’s safe.”
It’s certainly a welcome and ambitious project, which is why the VGHF is asking the gaming community to support its Patreon campaign. “Being an historian myself, I know the kinds of materials that historians rely on to tell stories, so that’s what we’re focusing on right now: gathering, digitizing, and making available video game artifacts, to whoever wants to access it,” Cifaldi states. “If you’re a historian, that means a wealth of material to work with. If you’re not a historian, that means lots of cool old video game stuff to look at and play with.”
If you would like to support the Video Game History Foundation, be sure to check out their Patreon page here.