Over at Game Girl Advance, my CMP Game Group co-worker Jane Pinckard was kind enough to talk about the University of Texas Videogame Archives project, a new project to help preserve the history of gaming that's being launched with a fundraiser at next month's Austin GDC.

The initial kick-off info reveals: "The Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin is kicking off our new UT Videogame Archive with a party and fundraiser at Richard Garriott’s estate on Lake Austin. Don’t miss it!" Even better, auction prizes include a live auction to "Fly on the Zero G anti-gravity 727", and OK, I'm getting a bit overexcited about the party and not the project, but an Austin American-Statesman article from late last month has lots more info.

There's also a CenterPoints magazine article [PDF link] that explains the genesis of the project, which is supported by not only Origin founder Garriott (pictured!) but also Junction Point's Warren Spector and George 'The Fat Man' Sanger, among a number of others. Add this to the recent Library Of Congress grant, and it sounds like game preservation is starting to get somewhere.