Frank Cifaldi

Frank Cifaldi
Cifaldi at the 2024 Game Developers Conference
Born (1982-05-22) May 22, 1982 (age 41)
Occupation(s)Video game archivist, historian, and developer
Known for

Frank Cifaldi (born May 22, 1982)[1] is a video game preservationist, historian, and developer.

Cifaldi founded Lost Levels, a website that collected information about unreleased video games, in 2003.[2] This began his career in the video game industry, and after years of writing about and producing games, he founded the Video Game History Foundation in 2016.[2] He is currently the director of the organization,[3][4] and has assisted in projects including Digital Eclipse's Mega Man Legacy Collection[5][6] and The Disney Afternoon Collection remasters.[7] Cifaldi would leave Digital Eclipse around 2020 to work on the Video Game History Foundation full time.[8]

He is also known for his extensive personal collection of video game periodicals.[9][10] Cifaldi has also researched early video game advertising,[11] early Nintendo prototypes,[12] and the official Super Mario Bros. release date.[13] He presented on games preservation at the 2016 Game Developers Conference.[14][15] Cifaldi is additionally a former features editor of Gamasutra,[16] and a former host of the Retronauts podcast.[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Cifaldi, Frank [@frankcifaldi] (May 22, 2022). "I'm 40 today for some reason??" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2022 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b Stephen, Bijan (September 1, 2022). "The Collectors Who Save Video-Game History from Oblivion". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on September 4, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  3. ^ Bowman, Mitch (February 27, 2017). "Inside The Video Game History Foundation". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  4. ^ Alexandra, Heather (February 27, 2017). "New Non-Profit Has Plans To Save Gaming's Past". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Alexandra, Heather (December 12, 2017). "Why Some Video Games Are In Danger of Disappearing Forever". Kotaku. Archived from the original on February 10, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  6. ^ Sarkar, Samit (June 8, 2015). "Mega Man Legacy Collection remasters first six games this summer". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  7. ^ Hall, Charlie (April 18, 2017). "Why is The Disney Afternoon Collection so good? Because one of the devs helped pirate it as a kid". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 19, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  8. ^ Yarwood, Jack (March 5, 2024). ""A True Original" - Digital Eclipse on 'Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story'". Time Extension. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  9. ^ Corriea, Alexa Ray (September 25, 2014). "These Lord of the Rings games were never released". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 29, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  10. ^ Hamilton, Kirk (January 29, 2014). "The First And Only English-Language Review Of Super Mario Bros". Kotaku. Archived from the original on January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  11. ^ Alexandra, Heather (December 19, 2016). "It Took Five Years For One Man To Find The First NES Advertisement". Kotaku. Archived from the original on August 28, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  12. ^ Hall, Charlie (August 16, 2016). "This could be the first code Satoru Iwata ever wrote for Nintendo". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 27, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  13. ^ Hamilton, Kirk (March 28, 2012). "Nobody Knows When the Hell Super Mario Bros. Was Released". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  14. ^ Orland, Kyle (March 20, 2016). "How the demonization of emulation devalues gamings heritage". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  15. ^ Hall, Charlie (March 18, 2016). "Emulation isn't a dirty word, and one man thinks it can save gaming's history". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  16. ^ Kohler, Chris (April 9, 2007). "Take Frank Cifaldi's Job at Gamasutra". Wired. Archived from the original on June 17, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  17. ^ Parish, Jeremy (October 27, 2015). "Cover Story: Retronauts Looks Back 30 Years to the NES Launch". USgamer. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2018.

Further reading[edit]

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