[game_preservation] [Monthly SIG Roundup] April 2009

[Andrew Armstrong]

GDC has come and gone, with our white paper now released, go read it 
<http://www.igda.org/wiki/Game_Preservation_SIG/White_Paper/Before_It%27s_Too_Late:_A_Digital_Game_Preservation_White_Paper>! 



      Preservation SIG March 2009 Work

The white paper "Before It's Too Late: A Digital Game Preservation White 
Paper 
<http://www.igda.org/wiki/Game_Preservation_SIG/White_Paper/Before_It%27s_Too_Late:_A_Digital_Game_Preservation_White_Paper>" 
was finished, and is available in several flavours: DOC 
<http://www.igda.org/wiki/images/8/81/IGDA_Game_Preservation_SIG_-_Before_It%27s_Too_Late_-_A_Digital_Game_Preservation_White_Paper.doc>, 
ODT 
<http://www.igda.org/wiki/images/a/ab/IGDA_Game_Preservation_SIG_-_Before_It%27s_Too_Late_-_A_Digital_Game_Preservation_White_Paper.odt>, 
PDF 
<http://www.igda.org/wiki/images/8/83/IGDA_Game_Preservation_SIG_-_Before_It%27s_Too_Late_-_A_Digital_Game_Preservation_White_Paper.pdf>, 
Lulu Copies 
<http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/before-its-too-late-a-digital-game-preservation-white-paper/6497160> 


March also hosted, of course, the Game Developers Conference. I have put 
up my notes 
<http://www.igda.org/wiki/Game_Preservation_SIG/SIG_Resources/2009_Roundtable> 
and created the relevant project placeholder links on the wiki. Tell me 
or Henry if you are interested in any of the projects, or have a 
suggestion for an area to cover!

Finally, the panel submission for DiGRA has been put forward by Dan, so 
we'll hear news on if that is successful or not in the coming months.


      Future Work for April 2009

My work will include cleaning up ready for new projects and pages, but 
the SIG as a whole can contribute to the flow of ideas for new and old 
projects and information to work on. Hopefully this month I will get 
started into a bibliography website for putting various resources 
related to videogames.


      Mailing List Discussions

If you've not joined our mailing list 
<http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation>, please do 
so. We've never tried using our forums it seems :) we stick to 
old-fangled email. This will eventually change when the IGDA site 
changes over - although those wanting email can still get it.

March 
<http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/2009-March/thread.html> 
had discussions on the laments of young gamers not knowing about arcades 
<http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/2009-March/000965.html>, 
Google's book digitising project 
<http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/2009-March/000972.html>, 
Henry Lowood appearing on a podcast focusing an episode on the history 
of videogames called A Life Well Wasted 
<http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/2009-March/000977.html>, 
and a short discussion on preserving websites 
<http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/2009-March/000997.html>. 


Other minor stuff - there was our GDC flyer 
<http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/2009-March/001026.html> 
made up by Henry, and some neat article finds - Fallouts design document 
<http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/2009-March/001016.html> 
and the first(?) lightgun 
<http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/2009-March/000984.html> 
with additional discussion on the museum that hosts it.

Finally, the white paper was released 
<http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_preservation/2009-March/001034.html>! 
Feedback very welcome!


      Preservation SIG Blog Updates / Links

/Have I missed anything this month? Then email it in to 
preservation_news @ igda.org !/

The format of the news will likely change in the future. Without help I 
am falling behind on the actual useful stuff to report on for 
preservationists, historians and the like (no one emails me any news, 
luckily I guess!). I'll probably post useful news immediately, on 
techniques, events (both ones you attend, and big events like something 
shutting down!), preservation/history projects and SIG items. I will be 
working on the Bibliography project for more or less interesting 
historical or game history articles, where I will likely point a feed 
from for more regular "Updates of articles related to game preservation 
and history that you might be interested in reading", whew!

    * Before It's Too Late: A Digital Game Preservation White Paper
      Released
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/before_its_too.html>

    * Meet Nolan Bushnell, the man who created the videogames industry
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/meet_nolan_bush.html>

    * Speak, Atari - How the 2600 forged the home video game future
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/speak_atari_how.html>

    * The History of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: Ollies, Grabs, and Grinds
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/the_history_of_7.html>

    * Learning to let go
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/learning_to_let.html>

    * The Center for the History of Electronic Games
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/the_center_for.html>

    * Endless loop: A brief history of chiptunes
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/endless_loop_a.html>

    * Byte Back Reports
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/byte_back_repor.html>

    * The Stunning Art & Design of the Atari 2600
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/the_stunning_ar.html>

    * On Atari Cartridges In Deep Caves
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/on_atari_cartri.html>

    * Heart on Fire: Deleted Scenes - #04A
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/heart_on_fire_d.html>

    * A History of... Qwak?
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/a_history_of_qw.html>

    * The Pac-Man Dossier
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/the_pacman_doss.html>

    * Looking Back at Ensemble Studios
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/looking_back_at.html>

    * The History of the Pinball Construction Set
      <http://www.igda.org/preservation/archives/2009/03/_the_history_of_1.html>



      Final Thoughts

Hope anyone who went to GDC had a good time, and those that didn't don't 
feel left out. The roundtable was definitely more a general discussion 
and not focused much on SIG work except for suggestions on what to do :)

Andrew Armstrong

IGDA Game Preservation SIG Site/Blog editor

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