We have been working with GAMA on the creation of a history website for the 50th anniversary of the Origins Game Fair that is taking place this year. Now, with the convention less than 2 weeks away, we are happy to announce that it is live! To create this site, Matt interviewed more than 20 people from Origins past. These are the convention founders, organizers, exhibitors, game masters, and attendees that had a story to tell about the convention and now you can watch them tell it on Origins50.org.
The site also includes a written history of Origins. Matt created the history from the oral histories, the past programs of the convention, and from using two books. Game Wizards by Jon Peterson and the upcoming Gathering of Gamers that Matt has written and will be coming out later this summer. If you want more information on the history of gaming history or gaming conventions we highly recommend you check out these books.
Finally, Origins50.org also contains a set of visualizations about the convention. This includes a gallery of the convention’s programs, a timeline with some basic facts about each Origins, and a map that shows where each Origins has taken place over the past 50 years.
If you are attending Origins this year and want to hear more, attend the Origins History panel Matt is moderating on the Friday of the convention at 2pm. You can find the event listing here.
