Frank Cifaldi

{{Short description|Video game historian (born 1982)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2018}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2018}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Frank Cifaldi

| image = Game Developers Choice Awards 2024 - Frank Cifaldi (cropped).jpg

| caption = Cifaldi at the 2024 Game Developers Conference

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1982|05|22}}

| birth_place =

| known_for = {{indented plainlist|Founding the Video Game History Foundation}}

| occupation = Video game archivist, historian, and developer

}}

Frank Cifaldi (born May 22, 1982){{cite tweet |user=frankcifaldi |number=1528419140788113408 |first=Frank |last=Cifaldi |title=I'm 40 today for some reason?? |access-date=May 22, 2022 |archive-date=May 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522170227/https://twitter.com/frankcifaldi/status/1528419140788113408 |url-status=live}} is a video game preservationist, historian, and developer.

Cifaldi founded Lost Levels, a website that collected information about unreleased video games, in 2003.{{cite magazine |last1=Stephen |first1=Bijan |title=The Collectors Who Save Video-Game History from Oblivion |url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-collectors-who-save-video-game-history-from-oblivion |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=4 September 2022 |date=1 September 2022 |archive-date=September 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904174856/https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-collectors-who-save-video-game-history-from-oblivion |url-status=live }} 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. He is currently the director of the organization,{{Cite web |last1=Bowman |first1=Mitch |title=Inside The Video Game History Foundation |work=Polygon |date=2017-02-27 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/2/27/14752708/inside-the-video-game-history-foundation |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=November 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117053222/https://www.polygon.com/2017/2/27/14752708/inside-the-video-game-history-foundation |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Alexandra |first1=Heather |title=New Non-Profit Has Plans To Save Gaming's Past |work=Kotaku |date=2017-02-27 |url=https://kotaku.com/new-non-profit-has-plans-to-save-gamings-past-1792795768 |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111221234/http://kotaku.com/new-non-profit-has-plans-to-save-gamings-past-1792795768 |url-status=live }} and has assisted in projects including Digital Eclipse's Mega Man Legacy Collection{{Cite web |last1=Alexandra |first1=Heather |title=Why Some Video Games Are In Danger of Disappearing Forever |work=Kotaku |date=2017-12-12 |url=https://kotaku.com/why-some-video-games-are-in-danger-of-disappearing-fore-1789609791 |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=February 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210221241/http://kotaku.com/why-some-video-games-are-in-danger-of-disappearing-fore-1789609791 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Sarkar |first1=Samit |title=Mega Man Legacy Collection remasters first six games this summer |work=Polygon |date=2015-06-08 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2015/6/8/8746077/mega-man-legacy-collection-pc-ps4-xbox-one-3ds |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=March 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302224438/https://www.polygon.com/2015/6/8/8746077/mega-man-legacy-collection-pc-ps4-xbox-one-3ds |url-status=live }} and The Disney Afternoon Collection remasters.{{Cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Charlie |title=Why is The Disney Afternoon Collection so good? Because one of the devs helped pirate it as a kid |work=Polygon |date=2017-04-18 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/4/18/15348078/disney-afternoon-collection-piracy-frank-cifaldi |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=May 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519144934/https://www.polygon.com/2017/4/18/15348078/disney-afternoon-collection-piracy-frank-cifaldi |url-status=live }} Cifaldi would leave Digital Eclipse around 2020 to work on the Video Game History Foundation full time.{{cite web|title="A True Original" - Digital Eclipse on 'Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story'|last=Yarwood|first=Jack|url=https://www.timeextension.com/features/interview-a-true-original-digital-eclipse-on-llamasoft-the-jeff-minter-story|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305161842/https://www.timeextension.com/features/interview-a-true-original-digital-eclipse-on-llamasoft-the-jeff-minter-story|accessdate=March 12, 2024|work=Time Extension|archivedate=March 5, 2024|date=March 5, 2024}}

He is also known for his extensive personal collection of video game periodicals.{{Cite web |last1=Corriea |first1=Alexa Ray |title=These Lord of the Rings games were never released |work=Polygon |date=2014-09-25 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2014/9/25/6844823/unreleased-lord-of-the-rings-video-games |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529084730/https://www.polygon.com/2014/9/25/6844823/unreleased-lord-of-the-rings-video-games |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Hamilton |first1=Kirk |title=The First And Only English-Language Review Of Super Mario Bros. |work=Kotaku |date=2014-01-29 |url=https://kotaku.com/the-first-and-only-review-of-super-mario-bros-1512006398 |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=January 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122125652/https://kotaku.com/the-first-and-only-review-of-super-mario-bros-1512006398 |url-status=live }} Cifaldi has also researched early video game advertising,{{Cite web |last1=Alexandra |first1=Heather |title=It Took Five Years For One Man To Find The First NES Advertisement |work=Kotaku |date=2016-12-19 |url=https://kotaku.com/it-took-five-years-for-one-man-to-find-the-first-nes-ad-1790282948 |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828045750/https://kotaku.com/it-took-five-years-for-one-man-to-find-the-first-nes-ad-1790282948 |url-status=live }} early Nintendo prototypes,{{Cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Charlie |title=This could be the first code Satoru Iwata ever wrote for Nintendo |work=Polygon |date=2016-08-16 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2016/8/16/12502364/this-could-be-the-first-code-satoru-iwata-ever-wrote-for-nintendo |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827152931/https://www.polygon.com/2016/8/16/12502364/this-could-be-the-first-code-satoru-iwata-ever-wrote-for-nintendo |url-status=live }} and the official Super Mario Bros. release date.{{Cite web |last1=Hamilton |first1=Kirk |title=Nobody Knows When the Hell Super Mario Bros. Was Released |work=Kotaku |date=2012-03-28 |url=https://kotaku.com/5897284/nobody-knows-when-the-hell-super-mario-bros-was-released |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114101714/https://kotaku.com/nobody-knows-when-the-hell-super-mario-bros-was-releas-5897284 |url-status=live }} He presented on games preservation at the 2016 Game Developers Conference.{{Cite web |last1=Orland |first1=Kyle |title=How the demonization of emulation devalues gamings heritage |work=Ars Technica |date=2016-03-20 |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/03/how-the-demonization-of-emulation-devalues-gamings-heritage/ |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=March 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320153247/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/03/how-the-demonization-of-emulation-devalues-gamings-heritage/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Charlie |title=Emulation isn't a dirty word, and one man thinks it can save gaming's history |work=Polygon |date=2016-03-18 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2016/3/18/11265988/emulation-isnt-a-dirty-word-and-one-man-thinks-it-can-save-gamings |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=December 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205212406/https://www.polygon.com/2016/3/18/11265988/emulation-isnt-a-dirty-word-and-one-man-thinks-it-can-save-gamings |url-status=live }} Cifaldi is additionally a former features editor of Gamasutra,{{Cite magazine |last1=Kohler |first1=Chris |title=Take Frank Cifaldi's Job at Gamasutra |magazine=Wired |date=2007-04-09 |url=https://www.wired.com/2007/04/take-frank-cifa/ |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617203726/https://www.wired.com/2007/04/take-frank-cifa/ |url-status=live }} and a former host of the Retronauts podcast.{{Cite web |last1=Parish |first1=Jeremy |title=Cover Story: Retronauts Looks Back 30 Years to the NES Launch |work=USgamer |date=2015-10-27 |url=http://www.usgamer.net/articles/retronauts-looks-back-30-years-to-the-nes-launch |accessdate=2018-01-22 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=December 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209235539/https://www.usgamer.net/articles/retronauts-looks-back-30-years-to-the-nes-launch |url-status=dead }}