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The University of Toronto Mississauga was recently endowed with what is known as the Syd Bolton collection, an assemblage of thousands of video games and gaming magazines. Syd Bolton himself was an Ontario programmer who was proud to collect tech memorabilia and share his library with the public. Until his death in 2018, Bolton curated and managed the Personal Computer Museum, which had more than 50 computers – from Atari and Commodore to Apple and Mattel – and a range of original software on display. But when Bolton passed, the museum was closed. His massive collection was then untouched.
Bolton’s wife reached out to U of T Mississauga hoping the institution would properly maintain the collection while keeping its video game history accessible to the public. The university recognized the unique educational opportunities inherent in the diversity of the collection and jumped at the opportunity. As of now, the library staff at the U of Mississauga is working on processing 14,000 games, 5,000 game magazines, and hundreds of game consoles and books.
Lots of great stuff today at @THEMUSEUM for our Star Wars special on May 4th! pic.twitter.com/eoMprcfCxi
— Syd Bolton (@sydbolton) May 4, 2018
“The collection is comprehensive as it contains hundreds of games from dozens of video game home entertainment systems over the past 50 years, including a handful of arcade machines,” the university said in a statement. “The collection is also complete in several sections where Bolton bought every copy of a game released in North America (including special editions) on several game consoles, such as Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. Games and consoles quite without success, such as the Panasonic 3DO and the Sega Saturn, can be found in the collection, as well as the lesser-known “edutainment” console as the Sega Kids Computer Pico.
The Syd Bolton collection will allow professors and students at the University of Mississauga to gain a comprehensive understanding of the history of video games firsthand. It could also open the door to more varied course offerings. “In terms of academic study, it’s really important to look at the history of something that has such a pervasive impact on everyday life,” Chris Young, the university’s head of Collections and Digital Scholarship, told CBC. “On our campus in particular, there has been a growing interest in … offering courses that teach students how to study game artifacts, study the history of games and the social cultural impact of games.”
A 278 page list of the items included in the Syd Bolton collection can be found here. (It goes without saying that the university will continue to update the processing statuses of the items.) While library staff will take some time to replenish the purchases, students are already able to request temporary access to certain consoles and titles.
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