[game_preservation] Game Canon

[Jan Baart]

There's also this upcoming effort:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/1001-Video-Games-Must-Before/dp/0789320908

Jan

> Rowan,

>

> You probably know this, but a mini-version of such a book exists, 

> published (which is interesting in itself) by the BFI:

>

> http://www.amazon.com/100-Videogames-BFI-Screen-Guides/dp/1844571629

>

> And of course, we know the authors ...

>

> Henry

>

> On 8/3/2010 5:58 PM, Rowan Kaiser wrote:

>> The main way that I think canons or Halls of Fame or lists of best 

>> ever work is if there's some kind of lens. Simple subjectivity is one 

>> way to go about it, but there are other ways. The initial list you 

>> linked to, Andrew, had a fairly interesting one in that it seemed to 

>> be aimed at aspiring designers. This allows bad games as well as good 

>> on the list, entertainingly. It had some organizational and editorial 

>> problems, but I think that's a fascinating concept, especially as it 

>> brings in non-video games.

>>

>> One idea that I've had for a long time is an encyclopedia of video 

>> games. But not like a Britannica or World Book where it's ostensibly 

>> a collection of facts presented in a neutral voice, but like some of 

>> the film encyclopedias which present a series of essays on each of 

>> their subjects. This allows for more interesting opinions, more 

>> diverse forms of writing or argument, and, at least conceptually, a 

>> sort of user-generated canon. Maybe I don't care about, say, The 

>> Legend of Dragoon, but one of its fans can write convincingly about 

>> why it's interesting or important. Likewise, a game like Starcraft is 

>> important in completely different ways to completely different 

>> people. One essay could talk about its role in competitive gaming, 

>> while another focuses on its interesting use of narrative for a 

>> strategy game.

>>

>>

>> Rowan

>>

>> On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 4:08 PM, Andrew Armstrong 

>> <andrew at aarmstrong.org <mailto:andrew at aarmstrong.org>> wrote:

>>

>>     Replying to everyone here at once; I agree with everyone!

>>     Firstly; Canon should be expansive - why not if we can do so? :D

>>     However, the degree which it is classified Canon is just so that

>>     it isn't /everything/, and probably it'd take both influential

>>     (ala Bill and Matts work, although their website goes a lot

>>     deeper!) and the pioneers and tech instigators. Like other

>>     technology mediums, there is a lot of good first attempts, with

>>     the polishers really shining it later for real use, but both are

>>     important.

>>

>>     Secondly; that list was just an example which sprung this idea

>>     again - that there are tons of appendixes and short lists of

>>     games without the kind of historical context most people here

>>     recognise, thus have massive flaws. Daikatana? Trespasser? Both

>>     perhaps good examples of some really poor design, even if it

>>     tries to pioneer some aspect or other, but otherwise only

>>     interesting at all in how bad they are. Even Lets Play's of these

>>     games are notorious! Not quite canon material perhaps, but it

>>     does depend...they'd have their place but it'd be low down the list.

>>

>>     The IGN list is actually surprisingly interesting for noting the

>>     pioneers and influencers, even if it is very boring, and also

>>     oddly not really complete or in depth (it again is like a book

>>     appendix, and has similar issues with the choices in games

>>     perhaps, but so does anything!).

>>

>>     Thirdly; That is great news Henry that you've still got it on

>>     your mind. I'm certainly up for helping whatever effort. It would

>>     be the case that a great step would be to get the LoC to consider

>>     games properly. I could check out the UK scene on it too, and I

>>     am sure some other European institutions might be interested

>>     since they preserve films but not games as such (we can assume

>>     the actual game museums/archives will protect them but they of

>>     course need to be notified of these important games too :) so a

>>     list is always good). Even just getting them on board to protect

>>     the actual media if not much ephemera would work wonders for

>>     posterity.

>>

>>     In any case, glad there is some interest, however minor! I think

>>     the easiest part for many people is arguing why a game is really,

>>     really important in a good way - which is the major first step. I

>>     said perhaps start small, and this is mainly because if anything,

>>     the IGN list shows that even a small few-paragraph description of

>>     "why" is a good starting point for further investigation.

>>

>>     Andrew

>>

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>>

>>

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>

> -- 

> Henry Lowood

> 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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