Video games are disposable pieces of entertainment. Developers that don’t focus on backward compatibility may leave titles behind as external media changes, for instance from cartridges to discs. Sometimes projects get scrapped, such as BioWare’s Anthem 2.0; or studios shut down, such as Disintegration‘s V1 Interactive. Preservation efforts for game development are important, and the upcoming Preserved Play charity event will benefit the work of the Video Game History Foundation (VGHF).
The VGHF is a non-profit organization headed by former Gamasutra news director Frank Cifaldi and Pink Gorilla Games owner Kelsey Lewin that operates a research library, archives and restores media, and hosts educational efforts like pop-up museums to advocate games preservation. This work came to the attention of Jirard “Dragon Rider” Khalil, also known as The Completionist, who said he is “really passionate about making sure video games are around for the next millennium.” Game Rant spoke to Khalil about his Twitch charity livestream Preserved Play, and other events celebrating his show’s tenth anniversary.
Khalil said he has known Lewin for years and has been “obsessed” with Cifaldi’s work, including his stint as the head of restoration at Digital Eclipse for the Mega Man Legacy Collection, so he reached out “on a whim” to see if he could help their cause. He is well-known in Internet circles for a YouTube show started in 2011 dedicated to completing a different game every week, as well as adjacent projects. However, while Khalil’s channel currently has 1.4 million subscribers, he said when “I’m old and nobody cares about me,” he sees himself as a historian or museum curator with the memorabilia he has “quietly and slowly” been amassing.
“I think it’s important we start that work now, because in the 80s and 90s video games were a fad, and now they’re a lifestyle…If I can be a lightning rod that supercharges the [VGHF], I’m more than happy to do so.”
That “supercharge” will primarily come from his two-day livestream, which is scheduled between 10:00 a.m. PT and 6:00 p.m. PT on both March 27 and 28. Preserved Play will feature developers from studios like Yacht Club Games who have stories and historical insight from prior projects – for instance “artmancer” Nick Wozniak talking about his work as assistant director at WayForward on Thor: God of Thunder. There will also be a rotating cast of YouTubers, streamers, and other guests at the “chaotic” event that includes a Super Mario World Crowd Control segment, in which fans can donate to directly impact the game; a playthrough of Plants vs. Zombies with composer Laura Shigihara; as well as a “criss-cross” Zelda randomizer where he and another YouTuber must beat something in a synchronized way.
One major part of Preserved Play, which Khalil’s company released a trailer for today, will be a playthrough of Conker’s Bad Fur Day to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Director and Conker voice Chris Seavor, lead developer and engineer Shawn Pile, and Great Mighty Poo voice Chris Marlow will join him and share “possibly never-before-seen documents.” “As much as we’re raising money, I think the cool thing is we’re showcasing what the VGHF is doing,” Khalil said.
Early game builds or press releases proven incorrect by the final product are some of what the VGHF collects that Khalil highlights as rare things “nobody really knows exist” that he wants Preserved Play to show. While he acknowledges the foundation is not “struggling,” he wants to give it a spotlight using the audience he has curated over 10 years. If the event is successful and continues raising money, he said he will aim to keep the “party train” going beyond its pre-planned bookends because, “That’s just how I am.”
Khalil said the event will be a lot looser than IndieLand, another annual charity event hosted by That One Video Gamer (TOVG) since 2019 which raises money for the dementia research non-profit The Open Hand Foundation; founded by Khalil’s father Charles in honor of his wife Kaaren, who died due to complications from Frontotemporal Dementia in 2013. There’s “a lot of pressure to perform” during IndieLand, Jirard said, because it emphasizes showcasing the work of independent developers.
IndieLand 2020 shifted to being online-only due to the coronavirus pandemic, which also cancelled E3 and other major events, but Jirard said having a skeleton crew there showed him the benefits of a “less is more” approach for Preserved Play where the people can be its driving force. TOVG plans to try and host IndieLand live again in summer 2022, with Preserved Play coming back in the spring so the team can run multiple charity events similar to Games Done Quick’s AGDQ and SGDQ.
However, Preserved Play is just one activity celebrating The Completionist’s 10-year anniversary this September. As another part of what Jirard called his company’s equivalent of Nintendo’s “Year of Luigi,” a zine is being compiled from the work of artists and fans who applied before a March 5 deadline. It aims to give fans “a way to celebrate with me” by contributing art based on any aspect of the show’s history, including The Completionist Legacy live tour, collaborations with members of the YouTube creator community NormalBoots, video game parody boyband Big Bad Bosses, and more.
The official TOVG zine is partially inspired by “Super Zine Bros,” a 2017 fan-driven zine supporting dementia research based on the YouTube show Super Beard Bros. hosted by Jirard, Alex Faciane, and Brett Bayonne. It will donate all its proceeds to the VGHF; alongside all the money raised by Preserved Play on Twitch.
Ultimately Jirard wants the world to know that the tenth anniversary of The Completionist is less about celebrating the show as much as its community and the people who helped build it. “It’s about honoring the team that makes the show, my brother who has invested time and money, my producers, the people who have collaborated with me, the guys at Normal Boots and beyond, the friends I’ve made along the way.”
With Preserved Play, he hopes people take away an understanding of how important video games are to them. The YouTuber and CEO pushes for positivity in a medium many people stigmatize and want to regulate – as seen with Illinois state representative Marcus Evans Jr. attempting to ban violent games via an amendment to a state law filed last month. Jirard believes wider education and preservation efforts can help combat this, and said if anyone feels inspired to create a game or content based around one after watching the stream, “I don’t care how much money I raised.”
“I think video games can educate, inspire, tell stories, create things, destroy things…I’m hoping people who come by and watch the stream walk away with a sense of wonder in what could be.”
Preserved Play takes place March 27 and 28, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. PT to 6:00 p.m. PT on Twitch channel TheCompletionist.
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