The Secret of Monkey Island is going to have cut content and other secrets revealed in an upcoming premium livestream from the Video Game History Foundation.
The Video Game History Foundation is an organization that aims to preserve content from the history of gaming, including things like the original source code of games that were developed decades ago. Following its launch in 2017, the organization has had several notable successes including the uncovering of a SimCity prototype for the NES and a lost Days of Thunder game.
Now, the VGHF has announced that a new initiative: the Video Game Source Project. This project aims to explore the source code and stories behind some classic titles before it's lost forever. The organization has also named the first game to receive this treatment: The Secret of Monkey Island.
The Secret of Monkey Island and the Video Game Source Project
The preservation and examination of source code is important for several reasons. Aside from potentially uncovering cut content, it can also give insight into design choices that were made during the course of development. Surprisingly, there hasn't been much in the way of serious efforts to preserve the source code of older games.
"Simply put, source is the intellectual property of its owner, and in almost all cases, is seen as a trade secret within the industry," read a blog post on the VGHF's website. "If competitors had access to a game’s source, aspects of the game could easily be cloned."
"Many developers we’ve spoken to have been surprised to learn that there is historical interest in this material, which is often sitting forgotten on floppy disks or other deprecated media in desperate need of backing up," the blog post continued.
The Video Game Source Project aims to save whatever games it can before they disappear into the aether forever. The first game to be explored by this project is The Secret of Monkey Island, a classic adventure game from Lucasfilm Games that has been followed by many sequels over the years.
We also happen to be coming up on the 30th anniversary of The Secret of Monkey Island, making it the perfect time to dive into the franchise's history. That's why the VGHF is having a special livestream event that will explore the first two games in the franchise in a discussion with the game's creator Ron Gilbert.
You can get tickets for The Secrets of Monkey Island - 30th Anniversary Livestream for just $10; proceeds will go towards supporting the Video Game History Foundation's continued work. As for the games, you can buy the updated remasters of The Secret of Monkey Island and The Secret of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge on DRM-free retailer GOG for $3.49 or your regional equivalent, a 65% discount off of their normal price.
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What do you think about the Video Game Source Project? What games would you love to see explored in detail? Let us know in the comments below!
