[game_preservation] XBLA, Wiiware, and maybe the future of releasing all games + intro

[Rachel "Sheepy" Donahue]

Devin says:
"Regarding an international group, this would have been something mentioned before I joined. This was ultimately a goal that I had in mind as well, but I don't think a truly international repository could be established simply because of copyright laws in different countries."

I don't think the laws are the biggest barrier -- the companies themselves are, which is something I hope to investigate (and maybe mediate) further this year.


Steven says:

"Dutch student Reinwardt Acadamy of Cultural Heritage. And currently very busy with a paper about preservation of the world of video games. This mailinglist and its archive have been very helpful. So thank you for that."

I'm a student at the American University of Maryland doing the same thing -- we should talk :)

"It probably is not the biggest issue out there right now. And I do not know very much about the future of releasing games. However I have come across some speculation here and there that games will be released (downloads) and/or played solely via internet. So nothing tangible will be put out on the market anymore."

Anything related to cloud computing/serverside software makes me run in terror. It actually may be the BIGGEST issue facing current digital preservation... but we haven't even really dealt with static, local files/software yet. And we can't really move on until we do.


"This fact is not very helpful when you plan upon collecting these games at a later stage (retrospective collecting). However the hit games tend to resurface on other formats/media." 

Sure they do.. but the illegal ports/emulated copies are often better than those created by the original company! The example that springs to mind immediately is Bubsy for the SNES (originally made for it) and the Sega Genesis (the sound is SO bad), but I know there are others -- compare many "classic hits" releases to their emulated counterparts and it will be obvious.

"The DMCA exemption grants some preservation work to be done..for now."

You may not have been on the list when this was discussed, but to sum: forget about that exemption for at least the next 3 years. It was not renewed. There ARE, however, some exemptions for reverse engineering DRM tech, which I'm sure will prove useful in the future.