[game_preservation] Dreamcast Archival

[Henry Lowood]

There are a set of issues around extraction, copying, migration and 
preservation, but I think these are not insurmountable and migration is 
necessary.  Another problem with respect to DMCA might be access and 
playback, esp. if in using an emulator access to a copyrighted machine 
ROM is required (e.g., Apple II).   Even then, there are solutions, 
ranging from waiting until copyright runs out to working with companies 
to get permission to use ROMs.  In the meantime, yes, the work you guys 
are doing is essential, and repositories will benefit from it in the 
long run.

Henry

On 5/24/2011 12:50 PM, Devin Monnens wrote:

> Andrew,

>

> You statement sounds a little like the Software Preservation Society's 

> Kryoflux method. Care to elaborate a little?

>

> I think you can technically back up some of this stuff as a personal 

> copy, but that's never really been tested in court as far as I'm aware 

> (just look at the MPAA with regards to CD copy for personal use and 

> their refusal to make a clear statement on the subject).

>

> The only statement I have to make on Dreamcast is that some of the 

> optical discs have been reported to start fading (and actually, I 

> think 3DO stuff is more cheaply made - I know I can see completely 

> through some of my discs...). Optical media archival isn't as pressing 

> a concern as magnetic disk media, but the outcomes of magnetic disk 

> preservation will have two effects.

>

> 1. The outcomes of magnetic disk preservation will have a strong 

> impact on how companies react to game preservation; SPS and other 

> preservation groups use black boxes, but the walls of the institution 

> are not strong enough to prevent copyright infringement fears. 

> Essentially, it will color the legal solution and process of hammering 

> one out.

>

> 2. The extent to which magnetic disk media gets preserved will provide 

> a case study for archival of later media formats, including how much 

> gets preserved and how it gets preserved.

>

> With regards to studying how discs work...(say file structure, date 

> files were created, etc), I don't know if simply putting a Dreamcast 

> disc into your system and then reading the file format would be 

> considered a copyright violation, even though that's a necessary means 

> for conducting said research.

>

> On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 1:23 PM, Mike Melanson <mike at multimedia.cx 

> <mailto:mike at multimedia.cx>> wrote:

>

>     > While it is wise to consider copyright issues and be cautious, one

>     > should also consider that, historically, most companies do not have

>     > the foresight or resources to archive their materials and I would go

>     > so far as to say it's not a priority. This has proven to be the case

>     > with all forms of media - and in relation to video games, Atari's

>     > incompetence comes to mind. While I obviously cannot speak for

>     SEGA, I

>     > imagine (and hope) they have something in place as far as archiving

>

>     Check this out:

>

>     http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2008/08/07/the-sega-game-archive/

>

>     Though it doesn't instill a lot of confidence when the text states

>     that no

>     one can account for how the archive came to exist, or who is

>     officially in

>     charge of maintaining it. Makes you think that if Sega gets into deep

>     financial trouble and just ceases to exist one day, that room will

>     just

>     vanish and no one will know what happened to it.

>

>     > their work. The other side of this is, smaller publishers most

>     likely

>     > do not have the resources for a proper archive, and therefore the

>     > original code, pre-production art, etc. could or will get

>     > lost/destroyed over time. Individuals who take the initiative to

>     > archive historical content turn out to be valuable assets later down

>     > the line. Personally, I wouldn't let copyright issues stand in

>     the way

>     > of that. A perfect validation for this is the recent disaster in

>     > Japan. Sure SEGA might have an expansive archive documenting

>     > everything they've ever produced, but what if it had all been

>     > destroyed by those earthquakes and floods?

>     >

>     > Regardless of the above, optical discs are definitely not a suitable

>     > storage medium and they will deteriorate to the point of becoming

>     > unreadable. Data should be migrated from them and kept on hard

>     drives

>     > for long term storage.

>

>     I've been thinking about archival for awhile:

>

>     http://multimedia.cx/eggs/archivists-burden/

>

>     For a few reasons: I have around 1000 games; what else am I going

>     to do

>     with them? Play them all? :) Also, I have a sizable collection of

>     unusual,

>     minor games that were likely the only games published by certain game

>     houses. I might possess the only record that said game ever existed.

>     Someone might care one day.

>

>     --

>        -Mike Melanson

>

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>

>

>

>

> -- 

> Devin Monnens

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

>

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

>

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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

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