[game_preservation] The Videogame Archivist

[Devin Monnens]

Well, it might help if there was a little bit of taxonomical history. I
attempted this several times, and the best I was able to discover was that
the term "video games" became very widely used, though primarily in
reference to arcade machines, somewhere around 1974 or 1975 (don't quote me
on this, this is coming from rote memory!). Sadly, magazines from the 1970s
and 80s on videogames are hard to find... (I had also wanted to track down
the origins of the term 'gameplay'). Note that even Ralph Baer felt the
pressure of the vernacular as several of his MS documents in his book use
the term 'video games' ;-) 'video games' still pulls up more entires on
Google than 'videogames' (at 10:1 ratio!) so the vernacular argument shows
that the term isn't going anywhere :) What is ironic is his book is titled
'Videogames: In the Beginning' and yet Baer wishes to refer to them as
'video games' - so much for the editor!

I know about the style guide because I'm colleagues with David Thomas. He
has been advocating 'videogames' as one word for years, but not even I
remember why. I think it is more an academic argument. There's probably an
entry for it on his blog (www.buzzcut.com). But I can also ask him :)

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 8:19 AM, Bill Loguidice <bill at armchairarcade.com>wrote:


> I have used “videogame” (I despise “video game” like I despise “body

> building” – I like to see the words unified) for years and stand by that for

> the entirety of the business, be it handheld, computer, console, arcade,

> etc., regardless of display type. No reason to split hairs otherwise. It’s

> the most convenient, expansive and easily understandable term we have to

> describe “everything”. It’s then fairly easy to work down from there to be

> more specific as the discussion or subject matter dictates.

>

> ====================================================

> Bill Loguidice, Managing Director

> Armchair Arcade, Inc.

> http://www.armchairarcade.com

> ====================================================

> Authored Books: http://www.armchairarcade.com/books

> Film: http://www.armchairarcade.com/film

> ====================================================

> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/billloguidice

> ====================================================

>

>

>

> *From:* game_preservation-bounces at igda.org [mailto:

> game_preservation-bounces at igda.org] *On Behalf Of *Vowell, Zach

> *Sent:* Monday, January 10, 2011 10:09 AM

> *To:* IGDA Game Preservation SIG

> *Subject:* Re: [game_preservation] The Videogame Archivist

>

>

>

>

> fwiw, a style guide for game journalists does exist, and they adopted

> “videogame”:

>

> http://www.gamestyleguide.com/

>

> The guide admits the choice is mostly arbitrary (but necessary for

> consistency), and I don’t know how widely adopted it is, but there you have

> it.....

>

>

> Zach

>

>

> On 1/10/11 4:32 AM, "Andrew Armstrong" <andrew at aarmstrong.org> wrote:

>

> Ahh, but aren't all videogames also computer games? :D (do we even have

> a proper answer?) It could be considered a bit silly; as kind of noted

> here:

>

> http://www.magicalwasteland.com/mw/2010/9/12/wordplay-with-a-distracted-apprentice.html

>

> (where I do comment on the use of so many different terms some of which

> are technically very much needed; as noted specific games which are

> analogue or ones which don't involve video but still are "computerised

> games" of some kind, although rare).

>

> I prefer one word since everyone else has got away with it and it looks

> nicer to me :) I don't mind it seeming unsatisfactory - I think it's

> entirely satisfactory, and I hate that Sony and other orgs pushing for

> "Interactive Entertainment" (entertainingly Sony even hating the name

> GameCity because it uses the word "game" so not sponsoring it!

>

> http://aarmstrong.org/notes/gamecity-2010/vision-statement-an-inconvenient-festival

> ).

>

> As for The Videogame Archivist, if people think it's a good resource

> I'll add it to our wiki resource page and try and contact them about

> this group.

>

> Andrew

>

> On 10/01/2011 06:44, Henry Lowood wrote:

> > I've gone to using digital games pretty much exclusively, except of

> > course for true TV games like Pong.   I prefer videogame, when push

> > comes to shove, but here is the argument for video game (I think): You

> > can write "video and computer games" without racking your brain about

> > how to do it!

> >

> > Henry

> >

> > On 1/9/2011 10:09 PM, Martin Goldberg wrote:

> >> I'd agree with Rowan.  Though I've heard people attempt to explain

> >> using "videogame" to denote the generic catch phrase it's morphed in

> >> to now vs. "video game" for the original technical descriptive.  I

> >> don't subscribe to that however, video is in both of them so the

> >> splitting/not splitting seems silly to me.

> >>

> >> Marty

> >>

> >>

> >> On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 12:05 AM, Rowan

> >> Kaiser<rowankaiser at gmail.com>  wrote:

> >>> I've never heard anything remotely conclusive on video game versus

> >>> videogame. I prefer the former, but I really don't think it matters

> >>> too much

> >>> except in terms of consistency.

> >>>

> >>>

> >>> Rowan

> >>>

> >>> On Sun, Jan 9, 2011 at 9:13 PM, Jim Leonard<trixter at oldskool.org>

> >>> wrote:

> >>>> I watched VGA TV Episode 6 as it looked like it would provide actual

> >>>> research and insight, and the content seemed ok if a bit rushed.  I

> >>>> had to

> >>>> laugh at the opening screen, however, as it is really badly framed

> >>>> (it looks

> >>>> like he couldn't afford a soapbox to stand on).  Close examination

> >>>> of the

> >>>> the videogame footage shows it to be authentic (ie. captured from

> >>>> the real

> >>>> hardware, not an emulator) so they get some respect in that area.

> >>>>

> >>>> I'm somewhat bothered by their use of "video game" as opposed to

> >>>> "videogame".  I know that the former is probably more technically

> >>>> accurate,

> >>>> but the latter is such common vernacular that it bugs me.  I'm

> >>>> curious what

> >>>> others think (ie. whether or not "video game" or "videogame" is more

> >>>> proper).

> >>>>

> >>>> On 1/9/2011 9:04 PM, Devin Monnens wrote:

> >>>>> Has anyone heard of this publication?

> >>>>>

> >>>>> http://www.thevgatv.com/

> >>>>>

> >>>>> <http://www.thevgatv.com/> <http://www.thevgatv.com/>They cover

> classic games. From an initial

> >>>>> look, it reminds me of Gamepro from the early 90s (i.e. not a good

> >>>>> thing).

> >>>>>

> >>>>> --

> >>>>> Devin Monnens

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

> >>>>>

> >>>>> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

> >>>>>

> >>>>>

> >>>>>

> >>>>> _______________________________________________

> >>>>> game_preservation mailing list

> >>>>> game_preservation at igda.org

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

> >>>>

> >>>> --

> >>>> Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org)

> http://www.oldskool.org/

> >>>> Check out some trippy MindCandy at

> http://www.mindcandydvd.com/

> >>>> A child borne of the home computer wars:

> http://trixter.oldskool.org/

> >>>> _______________________________________________

> >>>> game_preservation mailing list

> >>>> game_preservation at igda.org

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

> >>>

> >>> _______________________________________________

> >>> game_preservation mailing list

> >>> game_preservation at igda.org

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

> >>>

> >>>

> >> _______________________________________________

> >> game_preservation mailing list

> >> game_preservation at igda.org

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

> >

> _______________________________________________

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>

>

>

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>

>



-- 
Devin Monnens
www.deserthat.com

The sleep of Reason produces monsters.
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