Trash cans, landfills, and incinerators. Erasure, deletion, and obsolescence. These words could describe what has happened to the various building blocks of the video game industry in countries around the world. These building blocks consist of video game source code, the actual computer hardware used to create a particular video game, level layout diagrams, character designs, production documents, marketing material, and more.
These are just some elements of game creation that are gone -- never to be seen again. These elements make up the home console, handheld, PC and arcade games we've played. The only remnant of a particular game may be its name, or its final published version, since the possibility exists that no other physical copy of its creation remains.
As a community of video game developers, publishers, and players, we must begin asking ourselves some difficult but inevitable questions. Some believe there is no point in preserving a video game, arguing that games are short-term entertainment, while others disagree with this statement entirely, believing the industry is in a preservation crisis.
Where Games Go To Sleep: The Game Preservation Crisis [more inside]
posted by timshel
on Feb 9, 2011 -
44 comments
YouTube has a fair number of recordings of well-played classic arcade games.
Dig Dug,
Mr Do!,
Mr Do's Castle,
Do! Run Run,
Lady Bug Part 2,
Bagman,
Super Bagman,
Q*bert,
Venture,
Zoo Keeper,
Moon Cresta,
Scramble,
Make Trax,
Phoenix,
Rastan.
click through for more [more inside]
posted by JHarris
on Dec 23, 2010 -
35 comments
Chrontendo is a video podcast in which a guy systematically described and discusses
every Famicom/NES game released. Currently up to 33 episodes and counting, and covering hundreds of games.
[more inside]
posted by JHarris
on Nov 1, 2010 -
23 comments