[game_preservation] Japanese Computer Game Preservation

[Kieron Wilkinson]

Hi Devin,

Sorry for the delayed post. Yes, we at the Software Preservation Society are indeed working with some of our Japanese contacts to preserve software for systems such as the PC88 with the help of our KryoFlux (www.kryoflux.com) devices and software.

We are at an early stage right now, but we have some very dedicated people over there beginning to start work on this with us. We are hoping to get devices to as many people as possible, however, since our entire KryoFlux first production run of 80 units sold out in a matter of days, we are having to get a second and larger run produced as soon as possible.

I absolutely agree with you about the time element on this, and hopefully you will see some good news on this front in the near future.

I hope that helps,

Kieron Wilkinson
The Software Preservation Society


On 21 Oct 2010, at 15:18, Devin Monnens wrote:


> Recently, Hardcore Gaming 101 ran an article on Japanese computer systems such as the NEC. The article is in English and gives a detailed look at the content from an American perspective. This made me realize: most of these games were produced on floppy disks, which means that the contents of the disks are extremely volatile and will completely decay within the next two decades (even sooner for the earliest software).

> 

> There is a large project in Europe, the Software Preservation Society, which has securely archived over 3600 titles from Europe and the United States across a variety of magnetic disk-based platforms. SPS developed special hardware, Kryoflux, that can detect the integrity and authenticity of the data on certain formats of floppy disk - particularly whether the disk has been written to in order to create an archival-quality backup. I am curious if the SPS has any plans to expand their preservation work to include Japanese (and Asian) computers, as this seems to be an area that is in serious need of focus.

> 

> I have also been conducting research into computer games produced prior to 1973 - the pre-commercial era of the US. Most of the software from this era has been lost or requires an incredible amount of digital archaeology in order to get running again. Actually, right now I am most interested in the hobbyist scene from countries outside the US, particularly mainframe computing. If anyone knows about European and Japanese computer games made in BASIC, that in itself would be interesting.

> 

> The Japanese hobbyist era (1985 and earlier) seems to have similar problems of cataloging. However, there are several magazines such as Technopolis that contain documentation of many of these games and underground groups such as the Tokugawa Forums that have backed up some titles.

> 

> Obviously, we would want a legal solution to this problem, so I wanted to get a sense of the state of research into and preservation of early Japanese computer software (particularly those on floppy disks and magnetic tape, but also going back to mainframe computing and BASIC/hobbyist computers). For this reason, I have forwarded a copy of this e-mail to our colleagues in Japan, including Dr. Akinori Nakamura from Ritsumeikan University, Dr. Naohiro Shichijo from the University of Tokyo, Yoichiro Miyake of From Software who is conducting research on independent games development in Japan, and Kiyoshi Shin from IGDA Japan (sorry for the long English e-mail!). I hope we might be able to shed more light on computer game research and preservation in Japan.

> 

> -- 

> Devin Monnens

> www.deserthat.com

> 

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

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