[game_preservation] Game Canon

[Henry Lowood]

It's an interesting question.  There are some games I would recommend in 
a general way, but cannot claim to have played them seriously.    I 
doubt that I could give more than a few dozen deeply-felt 
recommendations -- games that I played intensively, value, and feel my 
reader should play "before you die."

Henry

On 8/9/2010 11:14 AM, Rowan Kaiser wrote:

> 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 

> <mailto: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 <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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>>>>>

>>>>>

>>>>>

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

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>     -- 

>>     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  <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>

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

>

>

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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

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