In March 2009, the Strong National Museum of Play announced its International Center for the History of Electronic Games, an exhibition devoted to the interactive medium. A depository of gaming culture that reaches back to gaming's roots, ICHEG's 22,500-piece collection has preserved in its archive every major gaming console since the Magnavox Odyssey, as well as more than 100 handhelds, 10,000 games, and various other industry artifacts.

　　Today, ICHEG announced its latest high-profile addition, as famed SimCity creator Will Wright has donated a collection of personal papers for use in the exhibition. Nine graph-lined notebooks in all, the papers include drawings, notations, and doodles related to his design work on SimCity 2000, SimCopter, The Sims, and Spore. The books also include notes on Wright's business ventures.

　　The Will Wright papers. "Games do not spring out of the minds of game designers full grown, like Athena from the head of Zeus," commented ICHEG director Jon-Paul Dyson. "These papers document the creative process behind some of the most important games of our time. They have transformed our society, and we are pleased to preserve this record of how Wright created them."

　　The ICHEG expects to offer its first public showing of "some of the Will Wright materials" as part of its eGameRevolution exhibit, which will open on November 20. The National Center for the History of Electronic Games collection is housed at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. More information on the museum is available through its Web site.