[game_preservation] Game Canon

[Jose P. Zagal]

It's a good question (I'm generally of the opinion that game scholars 
should play more games). Since I've started keeping track (last 7 
years), I've played at least 250 videogames. If I included boardgames 
and games that I only played once or never thought to keep track off I'd 
easily make 500. 1000 isn't unreasonable if you consider that I've been 
playing videogames most of my life. That being said, the title is mostly 
provocative rather than literal...


Jose

On 8/9/2010 2:51 PM, Devin Monnens wrote:

> Well ok, Sid Sackson <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Sackson> could.

> Though admittedly, those were all board games! I don't know of any

> videogame scholars who would have played 1000 games. Maybe some

> reviewers out there have come close...

>

> On Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 11:43 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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>>>>>             <mailto:game_preservation at igda.org>

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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>

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>         _______________________________________________

>>>>         game_preservation mailing list

>>>>         game_preservation at igda.org  <mailto:game_preservation at igda.org>

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

>>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>         _______________________________________________

>>>         game_preservation mailing list

>>>         game_preservation at igda.org  <mailto: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.edu  <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>

>>         http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood

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

>>

>>

>>         _______________________________________________

>>         game_preservation mailing list

>>         game_preservation at igda.org <mailto:game_preservation at igda.org>

>>         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

>

>

>

>

> --

> Devin Monnens

> www.deserthat.com <http://www.deserthat.com>

>

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

>

>

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-- 
José P. Zagal
Assistant Professor
College of Computing and Digital Media
DePaul University

http://www.ludoliteracy.com/

http://facsrv.cs.depaul.edu/~jzagal