[game_preservation] Watermarks and Studio Communication

[Henry Lowood]

I think for the 2008 report (the rationale, rather than the best 
practices, which are saved for 2009),  your third point is indeed the 
core target of the effort.  I think the second point should always be 
kept in mind as the key context for this group.  If we just start 
there -- rationale, with careful attention to our primary readership 
being the industry for now -- then we will make good progress this 
year; we can sort out the issues more directed towards practice next year.

I wonder if it would make sense to call a meeting in a virtual space, 
say around late May to early June, at which we launch a collaborative 
workspace (meaning basically a wiki page) around principles organized 
at the meeting.

The first space that comes to mind is Second Life, but I'm also 
attending a scientific conference in WoW on May 9th 
<http://convergentsystems.pbwiki.com/> so that works, too.  Or 
anything else that would work.  Ideas?

Henry

At 10:04 AM 4/21/2008, Captain Commando wrote:


>Which brings me to the next logical question: How to start up the 

>White paper effort?

>

>

>I thought you'd never ask! Unfortunately, I have the privilege of 

>having too much time on my hands due to unemployment (which I 

>certainly hope changes within the next couple of weeks! And I know 

>nobody has budgets for game preservation, but it never hurts to ask 

>if anyone is interested in a newly-minted MFA graduate! :). As a 

>result, I can put in a lot of time given goals both clear and proper 

>(though admittedly, it's kind of hard to motivate volunteers).

>

>I am thinking a discussion list or central page might be the best 

>way of doing this. However, I don't quite think that message boards 

>or discussion lists are the way to go for a more final organization 

>as this means you have a LOT of unorganized information that needs 

>to be sifted through to distill the important central points. 

>However, having scheduled meetings with some form of real-time 

>communication certainly helps as it allows for more direct 

>addressing of issues. So ultimately I think we'll need some form of 

>system or documentation where we can keep a head on exactly where 

>the process is at so everybody can be on the same page in a short time.

>

>There are also other problems too, scale being one and another that 

>we don't yet know the full shape of what we're trying to do (and 

>unfortunately we likely won't until we get pretty far along!). So 

>it's basically trying to think on multi-dimensional large scales 

>(though thankfully not as large as it could be!) and at that point 

>it's really easier to just go out and start doing things. Definitely 

>something I can write on that point...

>

>For this reason, I think the initial primary goal is to build a list 

>of what we need (certainly as we're doing it). I have always said 

>that a citation format will be crucial for constructing a catalog 

>(which is important for archival) and so we would definitely need to 

>bring this to a point with the journalist SIG (and I keep bugging 

>David Thomas about this, but he's always busy). And let's face it, 

>having a format that the journalists can also agree on makes 

>everybody's life that much easier (library/archive + research support).

>

>The second is that the SIG should not be interested in simply 

>archiving everything separate from the industry but should be 

>contributing to the industry, primarily in educating companies about 

>the importance of internal preservation (organization and smooth 

>internal communication being one benefit, culturally/industrially 

>important and/or marketable assets being another). Certainly a GDC 

>panel and some Gamasutra articles on the subject would be one good 

>point of bringing this to the foreground and also give the SIG more 

>support from inside the industry - and also more importance beyond itself.

>

>The third important point (which really should come first) is 

>pressing forward that strong argument about why preserve in the 

>first place. I think we've already got something to that affect on 

>the wiki, but if we don't have a strong mission statement we can put 

>to the forefront, it makes our job harder.

>

>Fourth, getting support from other preservation groups should also 

>be part of the goal. We're not 100% separate from what say film 

>archivists are doing and so sharing interdisciplinary information I 

>think is going to be crucial.

>

>I think this is about it for now. If you've got ideas about how we 

>might organize the White Paper team, or anything else to add, please 

>bring it up!

>

>-DM

>

>

>

>1. We have a list of people (about 10) who would like to participate 

>in this effort.

>2. The people on the list are scattered about the globe.

>3. So, what form of meeting should we employ?  Should we open up a 

>dedicated discussion thread on this list?  Then move to some form of 

>collaborative authorship?

>

>Henry

>

>

>

>

>At 08:35 AM 4/21/2008, Captain Commando wrote:

>>I recently blogged about the debacle of Capcom using an image 

>>watermarked by IGN for the US Okami Wii box art. I think this is 

>>something the IGDA Preservation SIG should be concerned with as it 

>>seems to me if you're organized and have good communication between 

>>studios, you're also able to preserve stuff better (and perhaps get 

>>a better product?).

>>

>><http://deserthat.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/ign-watermarks-and-lack-of-studio-intercommunication/>http://deserthat.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/ign-watermarks-and-lack-of-studio-intercommunication/ 

>>

>>

>>Another point to add to the White Paper?

>>

>>-DM

>>

>>--

>>The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>>

>>"Until next time..."

>>Captain Commando

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>>game_preservation mailing list

>><mailto:game_preservation at igda.org>game_preservation at igda.org

>>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>

>Henry Lowood, Ph.D.

>Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;

>  Film & Media Collections

>HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall

>Stanford University Libraries

>Stanford CA 94305-6004

>650-723-4602; <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>lowood at stanford.edu; 

>http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood

>

>_______________________________________________

>game_preservation mailing list

><mailto:game_preservation at igda.org>game_preservation at igda.org

>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>

>

>

>

>--

>The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

>"Until next time..."

>Captain Commando

>_______________________________________________

>game_preservation mailing list

>game_preservation at igda.org

>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation


Henry Lowood, Ph.D.
Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;
  Film & Media Collections
HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford CA 94305-6004
650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood 
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