1UP Donates Collection Of CGW Issues, Games To ICHEG

Hearst-owned website 1UP.com donated a massive collection of Computer Gaming World magazines, games, and videotapes to the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong Museum Of Play (ICHEG). Meant to represent "the evolution of computer games over the past three decades", the archive includes over 100 issues of CGW magazine, from volume 2 in 1982 to 2006, when Ziff Davis (former owner of CGW and 1UP) transformed it into Games for Windows -- that magazine ceased publishing two years later. The collection also comprises 1,037 computer games that were received by CGW for review, many of which are in their original packaging. Those titles include landmark releases like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Night Trap, Marathon, the first John Madden game, Sid Meier's Pirates, and many other notable games. Located in Rochester, New York, ICHEG is comitted to collecting, studying, and interpreting video/electronic games and related materials. Its public collection offers over 25,000 electronic games and related materials meant to illustrate how games have been conceived, developed, sold, and used. Its eGameRevolution exhibit at The Strong's National Museum of Play follows the history of video games from Ralph Baer's first Brown Box games to modern consoles. It also features an old-fashioned video arcade, emulator stations, and "rare and unique artifacts from the history of video games". "The Computer Gaming World Collection is like a window into the adolescent years of computer gaming history," says ICHEG's director Jon-Paul Dyson. "The magazine acted like a town square, bringing game developers and users together; and, in the process, spurring innovation in the development of new types of computer games."