The International Center for the History of Electronic Games™ Collections

The International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) houses the largest and most comprehensive public collection of electronic games and game-related historical materials in the United States and one of the largest in the world.

Electronic games, platforms, and more

The ICHEG collections include more than 22,500 electronic games, platforms, and related materials that illustrate how the games have been conceived, developed, sold, and used. These materials include packaging, advertising, publications, electronic-game-inspired consumer products, literary and popular inspirations of electronic-game imagery, personal and business papers, and other associated artifacts and documents that represent or illustrate the impact of electronic games on people’s lives. The collection is the only assemblage of electronic games and related materials anywhere that resides alongside and is illuminated and enhanced by a comprehensive collection of other play-related objects and an extensive research library devoted specifically to play and related topics.

Artifacts that inspired an industry

The ICHEG collections are located in Strong National Museum of Play^®, whose collections include more than 100,000 role-playing games, board games, dolls, toys, and more, along with a research library of more than 100,000 volumes, including vintage comics and children’s books and the largest collection of toy catalogs in the United States. The games, toys, puzzles, books, comics, and other materials in these collections helped inspire the design and development of electronic games.

Key ICHEG holdings

Arcade video games
The most significant arcade video games ever manufactured—from Computer Space (1971) and Pong (1972) to Space Invaders (1978) and Pac-Man (1980) to Donkey Kong (1981) and Tetris (1988)—including the first machines to use microprocessors, ROM chips, and 3-D graphics
Video games
More than 10,000 individual video-game titles for consoles—from Atari Space Invaders (1980) and NES Super Mario Bros. (1986, North American release) through Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) and Sony PlayStation Gran Turismo (1998) to Nintendo Wii Sports (2006)—and for personal computers—from SimCity (1989) and Sid Meier’s Civilization (1991) through Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (1998)—including favorite and rare titles such as NES Nintendo World Championships gray game cartridge (1990)
Home game consoles
Examples of every major home video-game console manufactured since 1972—more than 100 consoles and hundreds of related artifacts from Magnavox Odyssey (1972) and Atari 2600 (1977) through Vectrex (1982), Nintendo Famicon (1985), and Nintendo Entertainment System (1985) through Neo Geo (1990), Sony PlayStation (1994), and Nintendo Virtual Boy (1995) to Microsoft Xbox (2001) and Nintendo Wii (2006)
Handhelds
Examples of all significant handheld game systems—more than 100 devices ranging from Milton Bradley Microvision (1979) and Nintendo Game Boy (1989) to Nintendo DS (2004) and Sony PSP (2004)
Children’s educational games
More than 5,000 children’s electronic educational games and software titles, including examples from Texas Instruments, Leapfrog, Jumpstart, and others
Children’s toys
Hundreds of children’s toys that combine digital and traditional play, including among others Simon (1978), Tamagotchi (1996), and Webkinz (2006)
Printed materials
More than 3,500 trade catalogs, arcade-game fliers, advertising pieces, periodicals, and other items, including more than 1,300 strategy guides
Don Daglow Collection
Design sketches, notes, early drafts of code, play test results, clippings, business papers, and reference materials related to the development of Neverwinter Nights, Utopia, and several unreleased games. Also included are videotaped Daglow comments and explanations regarding some items.
Ralph H. Baer Papers
Papers and prototypes donated by the inventor of the first home video-game system, Magnavox Odyssey, document the creation of electronic toys such as the handheld Simon interactive computer game

Online access to the collections

The International Center for the History of Electronic Games is in the process of making its collections catalog accessible online, thanks in part to grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Many artifacts are already available to view.

On-site access to the collections

Individual artifacts from the collections are incorporated into a variety of exhibits and displays at Strong National Museum of Play, where numerous examples are available for guests to play. On-site access to the full ICHEG collection is available to researchers by appointment.

CHEGheads Blog

In a weekly blog, the CHEGheads—three experts from the International Center for the History of Electronic Games—spotlight key and unusual artifacts from vast ICHEG collections and offer insightful commentary about the past, present, and future of electronic games.

Donate to the collections

The International Center for the History of Electronic Games is actively seeking additional examples of games, game platforms, handheld-game systems, toys that combine digital and traditional play, and supporting materials of all types, including other game-inspired consumer products, packaging, advertising, business and personal papers related to the design and production of electronic games and their use, and materials that chronicle electronic-game industry milestones.

ICHEG encourages inquiries from individuals and organizations that have important electronic-game-related materials that merit a permanent home where they can help inform present and future generations about the history of electronic games, how they started and evolved, and the impact they have on society.

Donation inquiries

To inquire about donating games, platforms, or other materials, please contact:

Jon-Paul C. Dyson
Director, International Center for the History of Electronic Games
jpdyson@museumofplay.org
+1 585-410-6341

Eric Wheeler
Curator, International Center for the History of Electronic Games
ewheeler@museumofplay.org
+1 585-410-6398