[game_preservation] Game Canon

[Rowan Kaiser]

It's an editor with several contributors. I know at least one of them. It
does make me wonder how many games I've played, and how many of them I could
recommend.

Rowan

On Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 10:43 AM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu> wrote:


>  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> 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>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 <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

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

>>

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> game_preservation mailing list

>> game_preservation at igda.org

>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>>

>>

>

>

> --

> Devin Monnens

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

>

>

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