Vidoegame & Arcade Preservation Society
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About VAPS
First, the acronym: VAPS is the Videogame & Arcade Preservation Society.
For twenty years of its existence, VAPS stood for the Video Arcade Preservation Society. As the scope of VAPS expanded to include pinball and other coin-operated machines in addition to video games, a new name was needed that was more representative of its mission. In late 2010 a second name was chosen, the Vintage Arcade Preservation Society. Shortly thereafter we settled on a name that was both inclusive or our various interests yet faithful to our historical and core video gaming root and mission: The Videogame and Arcade Preservation Society.
Started in the 1980s, VAPS as the organization you see today has been dedicated to serving videogame and arcade game collectors since 1990. Traditionally this has meant coin-operated video games and collectors, though in recent years our scope has expanded to include other classic arcade and coin-operated machines.
The VAPS site strives to serve its mission by providing collectors, collectors-to-be and enthusiasts a way to track and save physical pieces of our video gaming and arcade heritage.
Structure
VAPS is controlled by the VAPS Keeper. By accepting the role of Keeper, this person gains the responsibility of maintaining all VAPS data. Beyond that, the Keeper must listen to the members of VAPS and be responsive to the members' needs.
We may be contacted at:
VAPS.ORG - The International Arcade MuseumWebMagic Technology Center
530 S. Lake Ave. Ste 450
Pasadena, CA 91101
Our current email address can be found on our About Us Page.
History
The 1980s
VAPS started as an informal list of dedicated collectors created by Rick Schieve, and distributed on-line via CompuServe and on modem-based bulletin board systems.
1990 through 1994
VAPS was officially named in 1990 by Steve Ozdemir, who became the first official VAPS Keeper. Through much effort, Steve built VAPS into an organization with more than 200 members and 1300 games.
1995 to 2005
The VAPS Keeper for the decade of the Internet's rise was Kevin Ruddy. The VAPS.org domain was registered on December 1, 1994. Kevin created the web interface to VAPS, which grew the membership dramatically. To see the current size of the membership, view the membership statistics.
2006 to Present
The International Arcade Museum (IAM) and its Killer List of Vidoegames (KLOV) now serve the role of VAPS Keeper. All three organizations receive sponsorship from Greg McLemore, an avid arcade enthusiast. In January 2009, the a number of new features were released for the benefit of VAPS members. Additionally, a member vote was taken as to whether the site should be moved from vaps.org directly onto the arcade-museum.com and klov.com framework. 89% of the voting members approved of the move. It allows for better integration with IAM online features and provides for easier future expansion.
Press and Awards
VAPS has received extensive media coverage both domestically and internationally. When we get a chance some year we will post some excepts from that coverage. Unfortunately, our files are not complete. If anyone has a copy of the Newsweek or Time article from 2002 or 2003 mentioning VAPS (or any other articles), please let us know.
