Skip to main content

The Video Game History Foundation Library opens its archives for the first time

library.gamehistory.org — Now in early access

Today, the Video Game History Foundation announced an early-access launch of its digital archive, including magazines, catalogs, behind-the-scenes content, and much more — and it’s completely free to access. The VGHF has more than 1,500 searchable video game magazines, all of which are currently out of print. You can even check out industry trade magazines that the general public rarely sees.

Recommended Videos

A particular point of interest among these files is what the VGHF calls the Mark Flitman papers. Flitman is a retired game producer with a career spanning multiple companies including Konami, Acclaim, Midway, and Mindscape. He allowed the VGHF to digitize more than two decades’ of material for posterity, giving viewers a sneak peak into the game development scene in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Fans of Myst will also find over 100 hours of footage from the series’ production, including original FMV content, much of which is planned for inclusion in the upcoming The Myst Documentary.

Gameplay from Myst remake.
Myst

In the midst of a video game preservation crisis, the launch of this digital archive makes the history of one of the world’s most popular pastimes much more readily available. There’s a bit of something for everyone, like the first 100 CDs from the GamePro Magazine archives and even maps from the first 12 years of E3.

The mission of the Video Game History Foundation is to bring video game history “back to life.” The non-profit organization gathers and collects promotional materials, instruction manuals, and much more for its research library, but VGHF also seeks to preserve the original source code for as many games as possible.

The Video Game History Foundation has made much of its collection available for free; anything that can be publicly accessed has no charge. You can also request specific materials, but the team warns it could be slow to respond due to high demand after the launch.

Unfortunately, you can’t play the video games in the archive. US copyright law makes sharing those files a murky area, but the VGHF says it is “fighting to change this law in coordination with the software preservation community.”

Patrick Hearn
Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…
Most difficult secret endings in video games to get
V rides a motorcycle while shooting at a mech in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.

Your ultimate reward for overcoming all the challenges and tribulations of a game is the final cutscene. The best games of all-time all have amazing endings that leave you with a strong impression one way or another, or perhaps set itself up for an eventual sequel. But for almost as long as games have had actual endings, there have been secret endings. From the best NES games to the best PS5 games, more and more titles have hidden away extra content that players could unlock if they put in a little extra effort. Typically, this means meeting specific requirements like collecting every item, doing every task, or a combination of the two. They're not usually easy, but some games take that to a ridiculous level. These games have hidden endings so hard to get, you're better off just watching them on YouTube.

Final Fantasy X-2

Read more
Best video game controllers of all-time, ranked
A Super Nintendo Controller on a purple and black background.

It doesn't matter if you're playing the best game of all-time or one of the worst if you're holding a terrible controller. These are our gateway into the world of gaming, and depending on how they are designed can completely change how we look at a console. The best NES games wouldn't have taken off if it weren't for its controller, and we've only been iterating on them since then. Graphics are important, but the best consoles of all-time wouldn't have succeeded without a great controller. Let's go back through the ages and pick out the best controllers we've ever held.
Atari 2600

We have to hand it to Atari for keeping it simple but functional early on. A lot of competing consoles around now tried to get crazy with controllers, adding things like number pads and spinning dials. This joystick and button is about as limited as you can get for a controller but is more than enough for the type of games that were coming out at the time. It served as a great starting point to build off of.
NES controller

Read more
This rare SNES game was lost to time. Now it’s getting a second life
Save State promotional image with Rendering Ranger: R² [REWIND] key art.

No game deserves to be lost to time, not even an obscure retro shooter that only ever came out in Japan. Ziggurat and Limited Run Games are bringing back Rainbow Arts' Rendering Ranger: R², and Digital Trends can exclusively confirm its [Rewind] re-release will launch during the first quarter of 2025.

Rendering Ranger: R² is a 2D platformer released by German developer Rainbow Arts in November 1995. It was a technical marvel for the Super Famicom, but because it came out so late during that console generation, it only got a very limited release in Japan. For most, its legacy is just that of being one of the rarest Super Famicom games, but it meant a lot more to others. Zigguraut and Limited Run Games, two of the companies partaking in the current wave of retro re-releases and revivals, are partnering to bring this game back as Rendering Ranger: R² [Rewind].

Read more