The International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum (IVGHOF) announced plans today to launch a campaign to collect one copy of every arcade video game ever produced ~ a number that includes more than 4,500 coin-operated amusement devices produced since Computer Space in 1971 ~ and collectively weighing more than 1 million pounds.
Called the ''4500 GAME CAMPAIGN,'' the project will be officially launched during a ceremony at the NW Pinball and Gameroom Show in the Seattle Center on Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 6:00 PM. The NW Pinball and Gameroom Show is an annual event that celebrates the history of classic and arcade gaming. During the ceremonies, the Campaign will receive its first video game donation: the Asteroids machine used by John McAllister of Seattle when he recently broke the 28-year-old world record on Asteroids. The coin-operated amusement device will be accepted on behalf of the IVGHOF by Walter Day, a member of the IVGHOF Board of Directors.
The Ceremony was inspired by the support of members of the Seattle Metro Arcade Collectors (SMAC) and the NW Pinball and Gameroom Show.
www.nwpinballshow.com
''We wanted to help the IVGHOF become the 'Smithsonian Institute' of video game history,'' says Brian Cady, a member of the organizational board for the NW Pinball Show. ''So, we pooled our money together and purchased the Asteroids arcade machine that was used by John McAllister of Seattle when he recently broke the 28-year-old world record on Asteroids. Now we are giving the machine to the IVGHOF as the keystone of the ceremony to help launch the 4500 GAME CAMPAIGN.''
''Brian Cady's vision is right,'' explains Walter Day. ''We plan for the IVGHOF, now being developed in Ottumwa, Iowa, to become the 'Smithsonian Institute' of video game history. Someday, space may become a problem,'' admits Day. ''But we decided to shoot for the highest and preserve every game we could acquire. By casting such a big net, we hope to flush out the truly rare games ~ arcade games that have only one or two copies remaining in existence. Now is the time to act, before these rarer games are lost or destroyed.''
The 4500 GAME CAMPAIGN is a part of a larger IVGHOF initiative to collect and archive a copy of every game ever produced ~ considered to be around 100,000 different games, from the mass produced console titles of the modern era to the rare prototypes of the 1970s and 1980s.
The Launch Ceremonies are co-hosted by the Seattle Metro Arcade Collectors (a grassroots hobbyist organization called the SMAC that works to preserve the arcade legacy) and the organizers of the NW Pinball and Gameroom Show, a noted arcade and classic gaming event that attracts thousands of attendees every year.
The International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum is registered with the IRS as a 501C(3) not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization that can accept donations and issue tax receipts. The IVGHOF and the Citizens of Ottumwa co-host an annual event called ''The Big Bang,'' which is a four-day gaming festival coinciding with the Induction Ceremonies for the International Video Game Hall of Fame.
For more information, go to
www.ivghof.com
