[game_preservation] Digital Game Canon website (initial stages)

[Andrew Armstrong]

Hey,

> For DOOM mods, I'd say pick a few notable ones and maybe a few 

> un-notable ones just for the sake of example. For instance, if a mod 

> was referenced (such as the Sailor Moon mod in Salen and Zimmerman), 

> we should probably have a copy of it somewhere in case somebody wants 

> to look it up.

>

> As for ports...there are so many different ports of some of these 

> games that it would be ridiculous to try and completely archive them 

> all - that's what a fan site is for...maybe. I think DOOM has been 

> ported to practically anything you could port DOOM to (and you can bet 

> they'll make an Excel DOOM here before too long) so at least stating 

> that point would be good. Beyond that, I wonder if you can say there 

> is such a thing as the 'definitive DOOM' or if there is really no such 

> thing. Maybe the original version would be more important than that 

> one anyway, I don't know.

I'll make sure such information can be added, then the quantity will be 
up to the editors. I've no idea about hosting downloads (I'll see 
actually if the IA can host such material in a new section perhaps), but 
with permission I don't see why not. It still might be worth noting 
every port possible, I'll see what kind of design I can get up for that.

>

>

>>     Let me also clarify that we would be also archiving machinima,

>>     superplay, and speedrun videos involving these games, correct? Or

>>     if not on the site directly then at least referencing them as

>>     part of the large body of culture that the game is a part of.

>     We'd hopefully at least link to IA material, and perhaps have it

>     mirrored specifically at high bandwidth sites (since the IGDA site

>     won't have the bandwidth for the material I presume), which will

>     come later. Do you suggest they should be on a new "/culture"

>     page? or should it stick to /media ? (both of which can have

>     subpages for specifics like /speedruns etc.)

>

>

> Videos made internal to the game (i.e. speedrun, superplay, example 

> videos) would probably go in /media. Machinima or video that comments 

> about the game rather than records gameplay for gameplay's sake would 

> probably go in /culture.

>

> BTW, if we're doing /media, I would include the music files that were 

> recently decoded (say maybe 6 months ago?) that were not used inside 

> the game but are part of the source code.

Media should included whatever we can get, I can only presume hosting 
bandwidth will be the only issue. Game tracks are released as PR 
material often, or we can get permission in a fair-use way to have the 
track put up (ala Wikipedia does). I am not entirely sure. Donations  of 
stuff should be put there too. Media is actually compared to art assets 
or the game code, something most people don't mind donating or releasing.

I'll add a /culture section for the machinima and documentary stuff to 
my notes.

>

>>     In regards to the reviews and critical analysis section, I am

>>     also thinking some form of peer review might be in order.

>     Peer review of what? Do you mean we should organise the 5 people

>     on the DGC for that entry to put forward critical analysis of the

>     game? Or that it gets reviewed in some peer way by others? or that

>     the actual reviews we link to be peer reviewed for importance?

>

>     Like Mobygames, I will be (sigh) likely having scores appear

>     (aggregates, like Metacritic etc. do), and possibly in the future

>     "user reviews", is this a good idea?

>

>

> I was thinking more commentary on texts that have been written on the 

> game. This is because a lot of people can write, but not all of them 

> have the same level of importance (though importance depends on what 

> you're researching) and some might have errors. Thus Dungeons and 

> Dreamers should be referenced as an important source document and then 

> there would be a short commentary on it. [not to say there aren't more 

> or other important ones, of course!]

>

Right, I see. It'd be easy to add a "Commentary" field which is 
mandatory, and reviews the paper/review/whatever in some way.

Might take a bit of work initially but would be good (better then 
Metacritic and Mobygames at doing it anyway), and very useful for 
researchers.

Looks like I'll be having to build a good editor interface :)

Andrew
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