The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (The MADE) has kicked off a fundraising campaign through Kickstarter.com. We at The Loop are bringing it to readers’ attention because The Loop’s executive editor, Peter Cohen, is on The MADE’s advisory board – this project is very close to our hearts.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]The MADE is a non-profit museum dedicated to the preservation of video games and the presentation of games as art. The MADE plans to exhibit rare video game prototypes, conceptual art and examples of historic and artist video game works.

In order to get off the ground, The MADE has taken the unusual step of seeking startup funds using Kickstarter.com, a Web site created to help fund creative projects using a unique all-or-nothing approach. Kickstarter projects either get fully funded or no money changes hands.

Interested parties who want to help fund The MADE can choose from a variety of rewards depending on the level of their involvement, ranging from free videogames and t-shirts, recognition as a donor, invitation to a pre-opening party, all the way to a very rare, sealed copy of Bungie Software’s Pathways Into Darkness, signed by Bungie founder Alexander Seropian.

The MADE is the brainchild of Alex Handy, an Oakland, Calif. based video game journalist and self-described “technological archaeologist.”

“We are dedicated to showing actual reality of game development. We want to showcase the artists and designers who create games, and explain the processes behind their creation in a manner the general public can understand,” said Handy.

The MADE will be exhibiting at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco in March, in booth 2040.