[game_preservation] A Life Well Wasted

[Henry Lowood]

Hi Stuart,

Well, I guess we disagree a little on the value of gameplay 
documentation (which is not just video).   My point was that documenting 
a complex multi-player or massively multi-player world is as much about 
documenting events that happen in those spaces as it is about preserving 
software.  I don't think that's marginal at all.

If the focus is on "experiences," then I agree with you. That sort of 
preservation is closer to re-enactment than history, however.  Ok, yes, 
it is possible that groups will get together to play Everquest in 100 
years, just like they camp out in Civil War replica uniforms and fire 
muskets in line.  But that experience is NOT the experience of what 
happens in virtual worlds today, i.e., it is not going to be history.  
It is still going to take place 100 years from now, no matter how you 
cut it.  For similar reasons, I disagree strongly that playing with bots 
is going to be informative, at least in terms of historical work.

In Preserving Virtual Worlds, our goal is to do both -- software 
preservation and "event" preservation (for want of a better term).   My 
emphasis on documentation of player behavior is more of a corrective to 
the idea that it's all about software preservation than it is an attempt 
to say we should only do video capture and gather documentation.  But if 
you put a gun to my head and say pick one or the other, software or 
documentation, you can't have both, as a historian I would go for 
documentation.

Last, video capture of single-player games is absolutely useful; I 
certainly agree with that statement. 

Henry

Stuart Feldhamer wrote:

>

> I just listened to both episodes. I thought they were very well done, 

> although I think they would both have been improved by video -- 

> especially the one on collectors. You can't begin to understand 

> collectors until you actually SEE some of their collections.

>

>  

>

> Henry, you made a comment in the podcast that a single player game can 

> be booted up in 100 years and enjoyed, but a multi-player game can't 

> be, because it requires other people to play, and the guy won't be 

> able to find other people to play it with him. Regardless if that is 

> true or not, it's impossible to preserve the actual experience of 

> playing the game by taking video and screenshots. The only way the guy 

> in 100 years is going to be able to have the experience of playing the 

> game is if he manages to get a whole bunch of other people to play 

> with him, or if we can design suitably convincing bots to take the 

> place of the other players.

>

>  

>

> I agree that gameplay videos have value, but the same applies to 

> gameplay videos of single player games. What is specifically added to 

> the mix by preserving gameplay videos from multi-player games? It 

> sounded from the podcast as if this was some kind of solution to the 

> problem of preserving multi-player games in general. I think it's 

> useful, but it only adds marginally to the preservation of the game 

> experience.

>

>  

>

> Stuart

>

>  

>

>  

>

> *From:* game_preservation-bounces at igda.org 

> [mailto:game_preservation-bounces at igda.org] *On Behalf Of *Henry Lowood

> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 04, 2009 1:11 PM

> *To:* IGDA Game Preservation SIG

> *Subject:* [game_preservation] A Life Well Wasted

>

>  

>

> Some of you may be interested in the far-flung corners of the world 

> that the Preserving Virtual Worlds project has reached.  Others I know 

> are intensely interested in the world of game collectors.  In either 

> case, check out Robert Ashley's new podcast, A Life Well Wasted:

> http://alifewellwasted.com/feed/atom/

> The second episode covers the world of game collectors, which I have 

> to say is not so different in some ways from book collectors (said 

> from a library perspective). The last quarter or so is about our 

> project. Robert Ashley, the man behind ALWW, has said on forums he 

> might release the interview with me in its entirety.  He is a bright 

> guy and a great interviewer -- makes you wonder about all the talent 

> shaking loose from 1Up.

> Oh, the first podcast is also interesting, covering the history and 

> demise of EGM.

> Henry

>

> -- 

>

> 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 <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>; 

> http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood <http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

>

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>   


-- 
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 
<http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>
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