Videogame History Museum passes funding target

August 31st, 2011, 22:54 Posted By: wraggster

The curators of a proposed Videogame History Museum in Sunnyvale, California, have successfully raised sufficient funds to get the project off the ground through crowdfunding website Kickstarter.

Joe Santulli, Sean Kelly and John Hardie launched their Kickstarter project last month, and sought to raise $30,000 by September 1. With two weeks to go the project had raised barely half of its target, but a flurry of interest meant the goal was reached with almost a week to spare. At the time of writing, the project has raised $35,490, with 27 hours left on the clock.

"When I woke up this morning and saw that we had met our goal, my eyes literally welled up with tears and a chill rolled down my spine," Santulli wrote on Kickstarter on behalf of the team. He was one of the organisers of the first Classic Gaming Expo in 1998, and has been involved ever since, also taking the collection to shows like E3 at his own expense.

"What drives us to do [the Classic Gaming Expo] each year is pure and simple passion," Santulli writes. "The Videogame History Museum is fuelled by that same passion. It's truly heartwarming to see that so many of you not only share that passion with us, but that you see it burning strongly enough in us that even in these tough economic times, you've pledged your hard-earned money to help launch the Videogame History Museum.

Santulli, Kelly and Hardie have, over the years, collected some 30,000 pieces of videogaming history. The funds raised so far will go towards a Silicon Valley base of operations, and a mobile exhibit that will see them continue to attend trade shows to raise awareness and, hopefully, enough funds for a public museum.

In other words, while this goal has been passed, much remains to be done. "Kickstarter is just the beginning," Santulli writes. "A project like The Computer History Museum takes in and spends tens of millions per year. We're many, many years away from being in the same league as they are, but something of that scale is our ultimate goal and it will cost a lot to get there."

Despite the target being reached, Santulli asks that those interested in showing their support continue to make pledges to offset the deductions that will be made by Kickstarter and payment handler Amazon. For more, follow the source link below.

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/videoga...funding-target

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