[game_preservation] Game Canon

[Devin Monnens]

It also raises an interesting question about the content of the games.
Should everyone play Doom or Grand Theft Auto before they die? What if I
hate sports? Should I play Madden?

You could ask the same thing about film. A Clockwork Orange or Silence of
the Lambs. Or Come and See. There are lots of people who would not have
interest in seeing these films.

So "before you die" shouldn't really be taken literally :P

On Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 1:40 PM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu> wrote:


>  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> 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>

>>>

>>>

>>> _______________________________________________

>>> game_preservation mailing listgame_preservation at igda.orghttp://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> _______________________________________________

>>> game_preservation mailing listgame_preservation at igda.orghttp://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>>>

>>>

>>>  --

>>> 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>

>>

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> game_preservation mailing list

>> game_preservation at igda.org

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

>>

>>

>

> --

> 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

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> 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.
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