Digital games
This includes computer and video games, online games and games on handheld and mobile devices. This technology is used in education, research and training.
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- Before It's Too Late: A Digital Game Preservation White Paper
Armstrong, Andrew; Donahue, Rachel; McAllister, Ken; Monnens, Devin; Ruggill, Judd; Vowell, Zach
(Date Created: Mar 2009)
- This document (47 p.) prepared for the International Game Developers Association discusses the threats of digital decay and technological obsolescence for digital games. It outlines the value of games and why they are worth preserving, what will happen if nothing is done to address the problem and possible solutions including current archiving efforts.
- ISBN: 9780557053223
- http://www.igda.org/wiki/images/8/83/IGDA_Game_Preservation_SIG_-_Befo
re_It%27s_Too_Late_-_A_Digital_Game_Preservation_White_Paper.pdf
- Before Its Too Late: Preserving Games Across the Industry / Academia divide
Lowood, Henry; Armstrong, Andrew; Monnens, Devin; Vowell, Zach; Ruggill, Judd; McAllister, Ken; Donahue, Rachel; Pinchbeck, Dan
(Date Created: 03 Sep 2009)
- This paper given at DiGRA 2009 (Brunel University, West London UK, 1-4 September 2009) is an edited version of the International Game Developers Association’s Game Preservation Special Interest Group’s white paper. It covers the threats to games preservation, cultural importance of games, strategies for preservation and opportunities for collaboration and partnerships between industry and academia.
- http://wiki.igda.org/images/4/43/State_of_Play_Before_Its_Too_Late.pdf
- Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory. Proceedings of DiGRA 2009
- Emulation as a Strategy for the Preservation of Games: The KEEP Project
Anderson. David; Ciuffreda, Antonia; Delve, Janet; Lange, Andreas; Otemu, Getaneh; Pinchbeck, Dan
(Date Created: 03 Sep 2009)
- This paper given at DiGRA 2009 ( Digital Games REsearch Association, Brunel University, West London, UK, 1-4 September 2009 ), discusses the challenges of digital games preservation, the value of emulation and describes the KEEP Project.
- http://wiki.igda.org/images/d/d7/State_of_Play_The_KEEP_project.pdf
- Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory. Proceedings of DiGRA 2009
- Evaluating Strategies for the Preservation of Console Video Games
Becker, Christoph; Guttenbrunner, Mark; Kehrberg, Carmen; Rauber, Andreas
(Date Created: 29 Sep 2008)
- This paper given at iPRES 2008 (British Library Conference Centre, 29-30 Sept. 2008) discusses strategies for the digital preservation of console video games. The challenges of proprietary hardware, lack of documentation, variety of media and non standard controllers are considered. A case study using the PLANETS planning approach to evaluation of potential preservation strategies is presented.
- http://www.bl.uk/ipres2008/presentations_day1/18_Guttenbrunner.pdf
- 'Grand Theft Archive': A Quantitative Analysis of the State of Computer Game Preservation
Gooding, Paul; Terras, Melissa
(Date Created: Nov 2008)
(United Kingdom)
- This paper analyses the current status of computer game preservation in the United Kingdom and proposes that work should be done to compile accurate metadata on computer games and to analyse more closely the exact scale of data loss, and suggests strategies to overcome existing barriers.
- http://www.ijdc.net/ijdc/article/view/85/90
- International Journal of Digital Creation vol 3, no 2 (2008) pp 19-41
- Make Videogames History: Game preservation and The National Videogame Archive
Newman, James; Simons, Iain
(Date Created: 03 Sep 2009)
(United Kingdom)
- This paper given at DiGRA 2009 (Brunel University, West London UK, 1-4 September 2009) introduces the UK National Videogame Archive (NVA) which was established in October 2008. It places the work of the archive within the wider contexts of academia, player game culture and preservation. It describes some of the NVA's initial projects.
- http://wiki.igda.org/images/d/d5/State_of_Play_National_Videogame_Arch
ive.pdf
- Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory. Proceedings of DiGRA 2009
- Memento Mundi: Are Virtual Worlds History?
Lowood, Henry
(Date Created: 05 Oct 2009)
(United States of America)
- This paper given at IPres 2009 ( 5-6 October 2009, San Francisco California) considers the life cycles of virtual worlds and issues of historical documentation, digital preservation and curation. It discusses the work of the How They Got Game Project at Stanford University and the multi-institutional Preserving Virtual Worlds Project funded by NDIIPP.
- http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2gs3p6jx
- IPres 2009 Proceedings pp.121-128
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Playing History with Games : Steps Towards Historical Archives of Computer Gaming
Lowood, Henry
(Date Created: 14 Jun 2004)
- The unique problems of preserving computer games arise because they are both dynamic and interactive and function on a variety of platforms, including hand held devices, mobile phones, cartridges and desk top computers. This article describes the development of the Machinima Archives and some of the challenges in long term preservation of computer games. The article describes the nature of computer games, in terms of technology and as performance, the challenges for preservation and some curatorial models. It also notes several projects, such as CLASP (Classic Software Preservation Project) at the Internet Archive, working on emulation, game software reformatting or conservation of games artifacts.
- http://aic.stanford.edu/sg/emg/library/pdf/lowood/Lowood-EMG2004.pdf
- Presented at the Electronic Media Group, American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, AIC Annual Meeting 2004, Portland, Oregon, 14 June 2004.
- Save the Videogame! The National Videogame Archive: Preservation, Supersession and Obsolescence
Newman, James
(Date Created: Jul 2009)
(United Kingdom)
- This essay briefly describes the genesis of the UK National Videogame Archive (NVA), the state of digital videogame preservation and the necessity for partnerships between universities, museums, developers, publishers, advertisers and retailers to tackle the issues.
- http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewAr
ticle/167
- M/C Journal: A Journal of Media and Culture Vol 12 Issue 3, July 2009
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Shall We Play a Game : Thoughts on the Computer Game Archive of the Future
Lowood, Henry
(Date Created: Oct 2002)
- This article begins by describing the history and nature of computer games. Digital games are unique because they are both dynamic and interactive. The author proposes that in order to successfully archive this material, a collaboration between industry and institutional organisations such as games developers, archivists, museums and institutional repositories should be developed. The author also discusses several possible initiatives including the development of emulation test-beds, game performance archives and archives of documentation and source codes.
- http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood/Texts/shall_game.pdf
- BITS OF CULTURE: New Projects Linking the Preservation and Study of Interactive Media, Stanford University, 7 Oct. 2002.
- Where Have All the Games Gone? Explorations on the Cultural Significance of Digital Games and Preservation
Barwick, Joanna; Dearnley, James; Muir, Adrienne
(Date Created: 01 Sep 2009)
- This paper given at DiGRA 2009 (Brunel University, West London, UK, 1-4 September 2009), provides an overview of the cultural importance of digital games and the significance of their preservation based on the perceptions of academics and researchers.
- http://lcc.gatech.edu/~cpearce3/DiGRA09/Thursday%203%20September/State
%20of%20Play%20a.pdf
- Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory. Proceedings of DiGRA 2009
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Organisations and Websites
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- Computer Game Museum : Das Computerspiele Museum
Das Computerspiele Museum
(Regularly Updated)
(Germany)
- This is the website of the Computer Game Museum in Berlin, which is a museum of computer game hardware and software. The Web site is predominately in German, but there are links to articles in English.
- http://www.computerspielemuseum.de/
- Digital Game Archive
DiGA (Digital Game Archive)
(Regularly Updated)
(Germany)
- The DiGA (Digital Game Archive) aims to preserve computer and video games and make them available and accessible in the long term. The site includes description of the Archive's aims and proposed strategies and provides links to related resources. DiGA is a partner of the Berlin based Computer Game Museum Computerspiele Museum.
- http://www.digitalgamearchive.org/home.php
- The National Videogame Archive
The National Videogame Archive
(Date Created: Sep 2008)
(United Kingdom)
- The NVA is a joint project between Nottingham Trent University’s Centre for Contemporary Play and the National Media Museum (UK). The Archive aims to collect, interpret, make accessible for study and research and, where possible, exhibit videogames and the associated ephemera and paraphernalia of videogame cultures. It aims to preserve, analyse and display the products of the global videogame industry by placing the games in their historical, social, political and cultural contexts.
- http://www.nationalvideogamearchive.org/
- Software Preservation Society (SPS)
Software Preservation Society
(Regularly Updated)
- The Software Preservation Society aims to preserve all commercial games in their original format for various systems. The focus is on systems using removable magnetic disk technology, such as the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, IBM-PC, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64. The site features an extensive FAQ, technical details and articles on the preservation of physical format digital games.
- http://www.softpres.org/?id=home
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Projects and Case Studies
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- Keeping Emulation Environments Portable (KEEP)
(Date Created: 01 Feb 2009)
- This 3 year collaborative project which is funded under the European Commission's Seventh Framework Program and is led by the Bibliotheque Natonale de France, aims to develop an Emulation Access Platform to enable accurate rendering of both static and dynamic digital objects: text, sound, and image files; multimedia documents, websites, databases, videogames etc.
- http://www.keep-project.eu/
- Record / Replay : Enabling the Preservation and Cultural Diffusion of Videogames
Bachimont, Bruno; Blanchette, Jean-François
(Date Created: 2005)
(United States of America)
- The aim of this project is to develop a suite of practical and theoretical tools to ensure the long term preservation of videogames. The project is taking two approaches to the preservation of videogames - knowledge management, including developing tools to capture the full extent of the work; and curatorship, including the development of tools to analyse, sample, cite, quote and manipulate videogames. The website for this project also has a bibliography of papers and presentations on Record / Replay.
- http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/blanchette/RR.html
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Related Topics: Audio and Audiovisual material | Computer Aided Design (CAD)
| Databases
| Digital Television
| Email
| GIS (Geographic Information System)
| Networked digital material
| Physical format digital material
| Spreadsheets
| Virtual Reality
| Word processing documents
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Formats & Media
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