Exploring the IGN Vault: The Full 30th Anniversary Tour - IGN30

Why It Matters

By exposing unreleased prototypes and internal development tools, IGN’s vault highlights gaps in gaming history that only systematic preservation can fill, informing future research and enriching fan appreciation of the medium’s evolution.

Key Takeaways

• IGN unearthed rare dev kits and unreleased game prototypes.
• Color‑coded Nintendo cartridges reveal historic hardware variations and testing builds.
• Custom consoles showcase early modding culture and internal office quirks.
• Archive includes extensive E3 footage, fan mail, and promotional items.
• Preservation highlights gaming industry’s undocumented history and future research value.

Summary

The IGN Vault tour marks the outlet’s 30‑year milestone by opening a rarely‑seen storage facility packed with hardware, software and memorabilia accumulated over three decades. Host Damon and Parish wander aisles of consoles, development kits and prototype cartridges, turning a nostalgic office clean‑out into a public exhibition of gaming’s hidden past. Key discoveries include a vandal‑stickered PlayStation 1 belonging to former editor David Smith, a “Doctor Z64” backup unit that let staff archive N64 titles onto Zip drives, and a collection of oversized EPROM cartridges used by developers for unfinished builds such as a Donald Duck N64 prototype and early Spider‑Man previews. Color‑coded Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Advance cartridges, a modded GameCube with a region‑switch, and a PlayStation 4 dev kit illustrate the breadth of internal testing hardware. Among the most vivid moments, the team showcases a hand‑crafted Triforce, a Halo‑themed helmet display, an IGN‑branded premium Rock Band drum kit, and a box of fan mail addressed to infamous Twitch reviewer Fran Mirabella. The narrative is peppered with anecdotes—like the “Don’t remove or I’ll kill you” warning on the PS1—and visual quirks that reveal the playful, sometimes chaotic culture of a gaming newsroom. The tour underscores the importance of preserving these artifacts: they offer rare insight into development pipelines, regional lock work‑arounds, and promotional strategies that rarely survive public view. For historians, collectors and industry professionals, the vault serves as a tangible timeline of technological evolution and a reminder that much of gaming’s heritage remains undocumented and at risk of loss.

Original Description

As part of IGN's 30th anniversary celebrations we're opening up the secret vault where we store all the consoles, games, accessories, and paraphernalia we've collected over the years. IGN Entertainment co-founder Peer Schneider and longtime host Daemon Hatfield are digging through years of well-loved consoles, dev kits, unfinished instruction manuals, rare controllers, game prototypes, and so much more.

This isn't just a storage facility — it’s a time capsule containing relics of the gaming industry’s most iconic eras.