[game_preservation] Game Canon
Henry Lowood
lowood at stanford.edu
Mon Aug 9 13:43:08 EDT 2010
Devin,
I agree -- it's difficult to see how anyone could play through that many
games.
Henry
On 8/9/2010 10:41 AM, Devin Monnens wrote:
> I haven't played 1000 games. I don't think there's too many people who
> have. It might be more useful to have a 100 list say, as that's much
> easier to go through - though obviously not as extensive.
>
> On Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 10:27 AM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu
> <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>> wrote:
>
> That is a long bucket list! I guess the author is claiming to
> have played all of them, though.
>
> Henry
>
>
> On 8/8/2010 11:49 AM, Jan Baart wrote:
>> 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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>>>
>>> --
>>> 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 <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>;http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood <http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
> --
> Henry Lowood
> Curator, History of Science& Technology Collections;
> Film& Media Collections
> HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall
> 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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>
>
>
> --
> Devin Monnens
> www.deserthat.com <http://www.deserthat.com>
>
> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.
--
Henry Lowood
Curator, History of Science& Technology Collections;
Film& Media Collections
HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall
650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu
http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood
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