The Video Game History Foundation's free digital archive of video game magazines has reached a significant milestone, now containing over 5,000 issues. This expansion includes a new focus on Japanese magazines, with the archive now supporting their preservation and accessibility.
The initiative to incorporate Japanese publications involved consulting with professional archivists in Japan, who guided the integration of preferred libraries for document transcription into the foundation's existing text mapping toolset. This approach allows for the preservation of content that might otherwise be lost.
To make the Japanese content accessible without relying on potentially inaccurate automated translations, the foundation has enlisted Japanese-fluent volunteers. These volunteers are tasked with identifying and listing major articles and interviews within each issue. This method aims to provide a practical and efficient way to share the contents of these magazines.
The archive's first Japanese addition is Neo Geo Freak, a magazine that ran from 1995 to 2000. The foundation has indexed the major articles and interviews from the complete run of this publication in English.
This expansion beyond English-language magazines represents a considerable step forward in the Video Game History Foundation's mission to preserve and provide access to historical video game media. The foundation previously announced its goal to digitize and archive 100,000 magazines within five years.