The following is part of our 25-day Holiday Countdown Calendar! Every day from December 1st through the 25th, we’re posting a cool game history treat, daily updates from the VGHF, giveaways, and more! To make sure you don’t miss a day, sign up for our email list:
This is all part of our annual Winter Fundraiser donation drive, where we ask those who are able to generously give what they can so that we can continue thriving. If you’re able to make an additional one-time charitable contribution, this really is the best time to do so, as your donations will be DOUBLED thanks to a generous group of sponsors! Head on over to gamehistory.org/donate to learn more and give today.
We here at the Video Game History Foundation have a semi-ironic love of Bubsy the Bobcat, one of the many mascot characters that flooded the 1990s video game market. We’re always on the lookout for Bubsy ephemera, and this might be one of our favorites.
These not-quite-behind-the-scenes photos were sent to the gaming press to promote the original Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind, released in 1993. Back then, high-quality pictures like these were sent to magazines on film, rather than digital files. If you look closely in that first photo, Bubsy seems to have just died in his own game. Guess he’s not a purr-fessional at it!
Today’s Sponsor
Today’s sponsor is StudioMDHR! This indie studio is the brainchild behind Cuphead, a run & gun platformer with a retro animation aesthetic.
…are we really explaining Cuphead? You know what Cuphead is.
They’ve offered to DOUBLE every dollar put toward our goal this year, up to an incredible $10,000!
These come from our larger collection of press materials. They’re great for learning about how a game was marketed — and this time, the bobcat himself was front and center!
Sam & Max Stream Today!
Our friends at Skunkape are putting on a very special holiday stream for our benefit today! Skunkape is a group of former Telltale developers, who are the current stewards (and remaster-ers) of the Sam & Max adventure games. The stream will have special guests and prizes, and will talk about the making of both the original and the recent remaster.
The stream starts at 11am PT / 2pm ET on our Twitch channel!
LAST DAY for GOG Bundle!
GOG, along with a group of game developer friends, has put together a game history bundle for our benefit!
We’ve personally curated a selection of three historically important and interesting titles: The Last Express by Jordan Mechner and Smoking Car Productions, The Manhole by Cyan, and Wasteland by InXile (or originally, Interplay).
Not only have these three publishers agreed to donate all profits to us, so has GOG! If you’re interested, the bundle is available now through December 20th.
You can see tomorrow’s post right now!
Members of our Patreon who support us at $5 a month or higher get access to our daily Holiday Countdown Calendar posts one day early!
If you’re a patron, today you can watch a cozy Christmas informercial about how Sunsoft’s video games for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo are definitely safe for your kids.