[game_preservation] Game preservation videos?

[Jim Leonard]

Andrew Armstrong wrote:

> I didn't know why the restrictions were there (I didn't check) but still 

> a shame its just DVD standards - I can see why for normal media (which 

> commonly is 4:3 or 16:9) but games are much more varied, certainly many 

> arcade games, and almost all new games are widescreen. Would be 

> something worth looking at (along with Henry's point on metadata).


The best way to adhere to both standards is to, maybe, record the exact 
resolution of the game in the metadata, and then maybe put the gamefield 
in the upper left corner of the MPEG-2.  That way everybody's happy.


> Thanks for the information, will be useful regarding why formats are 

> like that.


I'd like to mention that going with a format where resolution is 
arbitrary isn't always the better choice.  For example, most popular 
implementations of MPEG-4 today don't *properly* support either 
interlaced video, or framerates over 30fps.  This makes it impossible to 
archive the gameplay of a game that runs at the full 50/60Hz framerate 
of PAL/NTSC.

Disclaimer:  This most likely will change in the next 5-10 years as 
computing power increases, and HD resolutions become more popular 
(because > 30fps is required to properly view 720p television).  But for 
today, right now, I wouldn't recommend it.
-- 
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org)            http://www.oldskool.org/
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