Video Game History Foundation begins new preservation project starting with Monkey Island cut content

The gaming history buffs of the Video Game History Foundation have unveiled a new project called the "video game source project" for preserving content from game development. They're kicking it off by going to the human source of The Secret Of Monkey Island. On October 30th they'll be hosting an event where Ron Gilbert, one of the original creators, will dig into cut content and stories from yon old adventure game.

VGHF has a number of preservation projects, though this one in particular is focused on collecting and preserving the "source" of old games. To be clear, that's not necessarily source code they they're talking about. Sometimes it is, but they describe source as "the raw materials used in [a game's] production, including but not limited to source code, art, documentation, and records of correspondence".

They say that source materials, especially for older games, can be tough to find. "Source material that is past its prime is often forgotten or, worse, destroyed, since long-term archival practices within the commercial industry are incredibly rare. We have lost countless archives due to office moves, closures, accidents, theft, and forgotten knowledge—there might not be anyone left on staff who remembers where the old files are, or how to retrieve them."

To that end, they'll be celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Secret Of Monkey Island by having Ron Gilbert share some old source-y bits from the original game and its sequel The Secret of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. VGHF say that the 90-minute livestream will include a "never-before-seen content, including deleted scenes and unused art" along with stories about development and an audience Q&A session.

The livestream will be a paid event which you can find tickets to over here for $10, all of which they say will benefit their non-profit organization. VGHF say that the stream will be archived so you can view it later if you've bought a ticket as well.

The effort to archive gaming history is certainly getting increased awareness thanks to all sorts of initiatives such as the VGHF, the Museum of Play, and the many projects attempting to preserve Flash games.

The evening of Monkey Island secrets will take place on October 30th at 4pm EDT / 8pm GMT, so long as I've not mucked up that twilight zone of daylight savings mismatch.