[game_preservation] Selecting and preserving video games, both text and context

[Matthew Kirschenbaum]

This is directly relevant to our work on Preserving Virtual Worlds
which, coincidentally, Rachel Donahue was just writing about today:

http://mith.umd.edu/videogames-as-objects-of-cultural-preservation/

Suggest you also have a look at our final report from the first phase:

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/17097


On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 9:52 PM, Henry Borchers <henryborchers at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hello IGDA,

>

>

>

> It’s been a while since there has been much activity on here and I hope

> people still follow this listserv.

>

>

>

> I am in the last part of my overly delayed master’s thesis and I need to add

> an additional case study. I hope someone on here can help me out.

>

>

>

> I am writing about the preservation of video games in terms of their textual

> and contextual components. One of the things that I am arguing is that

> because the text of video games (the games themselves) are so intertwined

> with their video game context (the consoles and computers), both are

> integral to proper preservation. 35mm movie film has had the same playback

> device for a century and old nitrate prints can run through modern

> projectors but the texts of video games are tied to the constantly changing

> video game console contexts. It is for this reason that traditional

> strategies of print, painting, and film conservation are ill-suited for

> video games.

>

>

>

> If you are part of a video game collection, could you please help me out and

> comment on or be willing to talk to me about how you go about selecting and

> preserving video games, both text and context? Most websites of video game

> archives do not go into depth on these aspects.

>

>

>

> Thank you,

>

>

>

> Henry Borchers

>

> University of Amsterdam,

>

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>

>




-- 
Matthew Kirschenbaum
Associate Professor of English
Associate Director, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH)
University of Maryland
301-405-8505 or 301-314-7111 (fax)
http://mkirschenbaum.net and @mkirschenbaum on Twitter

I am on leave, Aug. 2011-12; please refer to my personal leave policies:
http://mkirschenbaum.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/during-my-fellowship/