Video Game History Foundation secures $30k and revives dead tech in 2025 wrap-up

The Video Game History Foundation has successfully concluded its 2025 Winter Fundraiser, surpassing its $30,000 goal while deploying updated technology for recovering data from aging VHS tapes. According to the latest episode of the Video Game History Hour podcast, Director Frank Cifaldi and Library Director Phil Salvador confirmed the fundraising milestone was met with assistance from unexpected donors.

The foundation, a non-profit organization established in 2017, focuses on preserving the source material of the video game industry rather than just the retail products. While many enthusiasts focus on collecting sealed copies of games, Cifaldi and his team target the ephemeral history that usually ends up in a dumpster: source code, design documents, and promotional media.

Saving the Magnetic Media

One of the more technical achievements highlighted in the year-end wrap-up involves the foundation's work with VHS recovery. The team has implemented updated technology to better capture and preserve content from analog video tapes. This is a race against physics. Magnetic tape suffers from hydrolysis (often called "sticky-shed syndrome") where the binder holding the magnetic particles to the plastic backing absorbs moisture and deteriorates.

For historians, these tapes are often the only surviving record of early game marketing, developer interviews, or internal studio footage. A high-quality capture of a 1990 promotional tape can reveal details about cut content or beta versions of games that retail cartridges never show. The updated recovery tech likely involves advanced signal processing to stabilize the jittery, degrading video signals that standard VCRs struggle to read.

The "New Old" Game

The fundraiser also facilitated the release of a "new old game," a staple of VGHF incentives. In the world of game preservation, this typically refers to the digital release of a prototype or an unreleased title that has been stabilized and made playable. The foundation has a history of such work, often collaborating with developers to legally distribute software that was previously thought lost.

This aligns with the organization's broader mission. When the NES launched in North America in 1985, it revitalized a crashing market, but the history of how those games were made was rarely documented. By releasing these unreleased artifacts, the foundation provides a playable citation for researchers.

Portland Retro Gaming Expo and Beyond

Podcast Producer Robin Kunimune also guided the discussion toward the group's recent presence at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo (PRGE). The team organized a panel focused on the Nintendo Entertainment System, digging into the minutiae of the console's history. PRGE has grown since its 2009 founding into a primary hub for this level of historical discourse, moving beyond a simple swap meet into a venue for academic-level presentation.

The successful $30,000 raise ensures the foundation remains operational through the start of 2026. This funding covers the unglamorous reality of preservation work, such as climate-controlled storage for rotting paper and the server costs required to host terabytes of scanned magazines. The team noted that "surprise donations" played a significant role in hitting the target, suggesting that the industry itself is becoming more invested in its own history.

You can listen to the full breakdown of their 2025 efforts on the Video Game History Foundation website.