The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) has launched its highly anticipated Digital Library, offering a treasure trove of gaming history for researchers, historians, and curious visitors. This new online resource, years in the making, features an extensive collection of magazines, game development materials, marketing materials, and more. The VGHF Digital Library is now in early access and available for free at library.gamehistory.org.
With over 30,000 curated files and more to come, the VGHF Digital Library provides access to industry ephemera from the foundation’s physical collection. This includes more than 1,500 full-text searchable out-of-print video game magazines, never-before-seen game development assets, artwork, promotional materials, and other gaming relics. It stands as one of the largest repositories of game industry history in the world, spanning more than 50 years.
Frank Cifaldi, founder of the Video Game History Foundation, expressed pride in the project, stating, “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.”
The VGHF Library is designed to be a unique destination and research tool, allowing users to search for specific games, authors, publishers, and other metadata across public and previously internal materials. Whether you’re looking for a chronological list of mentions of your favorite game, references used by designers for classic games, or footage from the show floor of E3 2000, the library has something for everyone.
Highlights of the VGHF Library include guidebooks and ephemera from game events, an extensive international collection of FromSoftware promotional materials, 100 CDs of art and press releases from GamePro’s magazine archive, over 100 hours of footage from the production of the Myst series, and the Mark Flitman papers, a treasure trove of documents from Flitman’s career at video game publishers like Konami, Acclaim, and Atari.
Phil Salvador, Library Director at the VGHF, emphasized the importance of access to raw materials for studying game history. “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.”
The VGHF Library is a powerful resource, and its dedicated team is committed to continually updating its features and offerings. Community members can follow the foundation on BlueSky, the blog, or gamehistory.org for more information and ongoing news and updates. Game developers who wish to contribute their materials to the library can reach out to info@gamehistory.org.
The Video Game History Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was founded in 2017 by gaming veteran Frank Cifaldi. Supported by generous donations from the video game and historical communities, the VGHF continues to build resources like the Digital Library to make video game history accessible to all. Those who wish to donate can do so by visiting gamehistory.org or joining the VGHF Patreon. The foundation also offers other ways to help fund their work, including a vintage video game magazine subscription program.
