A shot of a physical library containing many gaming history research materials, representing the Video Game History Foundation's new online library

Video Game History Foundation Opens Free Online Gaming History Library

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Published: January 30, 2025 11:24 AM

The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) has launched a brand new online library that contains a massive repository of gaming history research materials, and it won't cost you a penny to access.

In an announcement on its website, VGHF says it's been building, cataloging, processing, and digitizing its collections since it started in 2017, and that the library is now "ready to open [its] (virtual) doors to the public for the first time", albeit in Early Access.

As for what the library contains, it'll give you access to "a curated selection of materials" from the wider VGHF library, including unseen game development materials, iconic games' press kits and promos, and "over 1500 full-text searchable out-of-print video game magazines".

A promotional Metal Gear Solid 4 booklet included as part of the Video Game History Foundation's new online library
The Video Game History Foundation has launched a massive new gaming history library that anyone can access online.

Specifically, VGHF points to what it calls "the Mark Flitman papers", a series of digitized documents and file backups kept in the basement of retired game producer Mark Flitman.

His collection includes work he did for companies like Konami, Acclaim, and Midway during the 90s and 2000s, and it's all available right now for you to view online, along with tons of other materials.

The library also includes "over 100 hours of footage" from developer Cyan's work on the Myst series, including never-before-seen interviews with the development team behind the likes of Myst and Riven.

You can access all of this material via an interface that allows you to search for the material you want, view digital items directly in your browser, and even search for text within articles, making this one of the biggest online repositories of gaming information available right now.

As you might expect, the library will also be adding new materials to its archive over the coming years, so even if you don't find what you're looking for now, you may well do in the future.

It's the Video Game History Foundation's self-proclaimed mission to preserve, celebrate, and teach gaming history, and it's doing so through initiatives like the new online library, as well as digitizing rare game prototypes and more.

VGHF is one of several organizations currently aiming to bring game preservation to the forefront of conversations within the industry; it joins the likes of GOG and its Preservation Program on that front. Good show, say I.

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Joe has been writing for TechRaptor for several years, and in those years has learned a lot about the gaming industry and its foibles. He’s originally an… More about Joseph