International Center for the History of Electric Games^®
at The Strong^® Receives $500,000 Grant
for Continued Growth and Development

ROCHESTER, New York—The International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) at The Strong is pleased to announce that it has received a grant of $500,000 for the continued growth and development of ICHEG, the nation’s foremost center for collection, preservation, and exhibition of video games. The grant was awarded by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, which is headquartered in Rochester, New York.

According to ICHEG Director Jon-Paul Dyson, “This grant will accelerate ICHEG’s already ambitious video game acquisition and preservation efforts and enhance our dissemination of information about the impact of video games on culture and society as we expand online access to digitalized collections, create original interactive exhibitions, and encourage research about electronic games.”

In addition to furthering collecting, display, and online activities, the grant will enable ICHEG to bring leading industry figures together for scholarly and public conferences concerning the impact of video games on society; provide fellowships for scholars and others to conduct research in ICHEG collections; support the publication of special video game themed issues of the American Journal of Play, The Strong’s scholarly quarterly; and enhance the ability of staff to represent ICHEG at video game conferences and to meet with industry leaders and potential collections donors.

Excellus BCBS is known for its support of not-for-profit organizations that enhance the cultural infrastructure of the communities in which the company does business.

“We are proud to support The Strong and its Play Partners because of the important role the institution plays in enhancing the quality of life in upstate New York,” says Zeke Duda, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer for Excellus BCBS.

The International Center for the History of Electronic Games collects, studies, and interprets video games and other electronic games and related materials and the ways in which electronic games are changing how people play, learn, and connect with each other. ICHEG holds the largest and most comprehensive public collection of video and other electronic games and game-related historical materials in the United States and one of the largest in the world. ICHEG’s collection includes more than 35,000 video games, systems, and related items that illustrate how the games have been conceived, developed, sold, and used. The ICHEG collection includes not only an enormous collection of hardware and software, but such landmark and internationally significant materials as game design and development papers from “the father of video games,” Ralph Baer, who invented the first video game for home television sets; the papers of Don Daglow, who pioneered groundbreaking  simulation, sports, and role-playing games; the design notebooks of Will Wright, inventor of The Sims, Spore, and other iconic games; and the Microsoft Collection, comprised of hundreds of items documenting the company’s innovative gaming history. Learn more about ICHEG at www.icheg.org.

Excellus BlueCrossBlueShield is a nonprofit independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association and is part of a family of companies that finances and delivers vital health care services to 1.8 million people across upstate New York.  To learn more, visit www.excellusbcbs.com. 

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