If you’re a fan of gaming history, YouTube channel NoClip has a discovery that will make your eyeballs spin.
Documentary maker NoClip acquired the bulk of the tapes a year ago but has spent the intervening time picking through it and picking out new footage. Already there’s a deleted Hideo Kojima interview, a behind-closed-doors Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic briefing and more.
NoClip’s plan is to upload as much footage as they can to the Internet Archive, YouTube and so on. Right now you might be thinking.. hang on, isn’t it already there? The answer is, in a lot of cases, no. And in others, it’s that the footage on YouTube is poor quality compared to the NoClip footage.
The Hideo Kojima interview, which is about the Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer, was posted to YouTube but was deleted later. And the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic presentation was only, initially, seen by a small, specific group. We’re glad NoClip has got their hands on this stuff because it’s just amazing to watch, a real slice of gaming history.
The tapes aren’t all, we should add, regular VHS tapes. There are HD tapes too, so some of the stuff is pin-sharp. There’s no telling what else NoClip will uncover. It represents around ten years of lost footage, potentially more. And the best thing? You can watch some of it right now.
It’s going to take an age to pick through it all. But NoClip’s Danny O’Dwyer has created a Twitter thread with some of the stuff that’s available so far. That includes:
- The Star Wars: KoToR presentation
- A Call of Duty 4 studio tour
- A VHS rip of a GameCube tech demo, the best quality that’s been seen so far.
There’s more, too. It’s heartening to know that when networks are actively deleting shows and games are getting delisted, there’s a real effort being made to preserve this kind of gaming history.
Twitter aside (let’s face it, it could fall down at any minute). you can also visit NoClip’s archive.org page to pick through these gems as they’re added. And you can support NoClip via its Patreon page here.
