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Video Game Preservation - findings



Hello List,

If you can remember back into the distant past, I had posted to the
ARCHIVES and AMIA listservs asking about information on the preservation
of video games, and promised to post my findings back to the lists.  I had
a tremendous number of responses to my inquiry, and I'd like to thank
everyone that helped me with their suggestions and encouraged me with
their support.

This is a very broad area of research, and I've by no means covered every
facet, or even begun to explore every lead that I've received.  I have
finished a preliminary paper exploring some of the major issues
surrounding video game preservation, and I'd be happy to e-mail it as an
attachment to any interested persons.

I am interested in pursuing this research further, and if anyone has
additional information on the state of video game preservation, or any
thoughts or corrections to my research so far, I'd love to hear from you.

A brief summary of my findings follows:

-- Why preserve video games?
        Cultural impact - may be positive or negative, but they are
inarguably influential
        Technological impact - video games have been on the forefront of
technology since the first appearance of Steve Russell's Spacewar in 1962.
They have greatly contributed to public acceptance of computer technology
in the home and have encouraged designers to push themselves in graphic
and programming design.

-- Why in archives?
        The point was made to me that video games are artifacts, not
documents, and therefore should be preserved in a museum setting, not an
archives.  This is absolutely true, if video games are to be preserved
simply for the sake of being video games.  Some archives, however, will
find themselves in the position of receiving video games within the
context of a larger collection.  This is the case in some of the
collections in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Archives.  Other archival institutions, like corporate archives for
companies like Microsoft or Nintendo, will find that preserving video
games is a part of their corporate mission.  Like moving image material
and electronic records, video games can be parts of collections that
archival institutions will be responsible for preserving.  In this sense,
archives can learn much from the individual enthusiasts and museum-type
institutions that are currently working to preserve video games.

-- Who is preserving now?
        An incomplete list would include:
                British Film Institute
                Bibliotheque Nacionale de France
                American Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria, NY
                Smithsonian, National Museum of American History Archives
                Microsoft
                Numerous privately funded organizations, formal and
informal groups of video game enthusiasts.

-- preservation issues
        Type of game:  arcade, home system, handheld, PC-based
        Software and hardware issues
        Emulation/copyright issues
        Informational content of games vs. artifactual content of games
        Preservation of paper-based documentation, advertising, etc.

Kristy Sorensen
MLIS Candidate
University of Texas - Austin

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