[game_preservation] Game preservation videos?

[Henry Lowood]

Hi David,

Well, first off, I'd like to include that piece in the Machinima 
Archive, with your permission of course.  If it's ok with you, can 
you point me to a downloadable copy of the version you'd like to have 
preserved?  On to your questions ..

Yes, I met with Mr. Nakamura.  We thoroughly explored a bunch of 
ideas about linking his efforts to the LC project, and I hope we can 
do that along with others around the world, such as Melanie Swalwell 
and Andreas Lange.

I think Simon answered the question about the file categories; there 
is flexibility once we have a good idea of what will be added.

Game audio is a great area, and it's one for which we will need more 
expertise and leadership. I think, as Simon suggested, that if 
someone is willing to curate a collection, the collection categories 
can be tweaked accordingly.  A propos, I just saw an interesting 
treatment of game-related audio in the DVD version of Riot Films' 
"Edge of Remorse" (an award-winning machinima piece made in 
WoW).   The music is original, and the makers offered two versions -- 
one with audio effects and music, the other with just music.  The 
difference was striking and made for a better appreciation of the 
score.   It made me think about how audio/music presentation might be 
integrated with game footage.

Game citation is a topic the group should maybe address in some 
focused way, not sure how yet.  There is academic interest in this, 
and perhaps the LC project will have to do some work on it, if only 
in working out metadata and screen capture annotation schemes.

Henry





At 07:07 PM 8/6/2007, Captain Commando wrote:

>Henry,

>

>Good to see you joining the discussion!  I've tried to contact you a 

>few times, but had problems getting some e-mail through.  Hopefully 

>this works.  Have you met with Mr. Nakamura yet?  I e-mailed him a 

>few weeks ago and he said he was coming to the States to talk 

>videogame preservation.  I dropped him a note about the possibility 

>of building a team in Japan similar to CLASP to archive PC-88 and 

>other antique Japanese computer software.  People in the West know 

>very little about this stuff, but I assume there is a strong 

>community in Japan.  Because these also use magnetic disks for 

>storage, this makes it imperative that somebody get involved in 

>preserving them as well.

>

>I also have a few comments about your file categories.  I assume you 

>are building a collection of E3 and other media trailers, 

>correct?  I find it interesting that most of these videos are 

>forgotten about a couple months after they are announced, and 

>particularly when the game is released.

>

>What all have you explored in terms of game audio 

>preservation?  There are so many different categories here, from 

>original software files to game recordings (and of course officially 

>- and unofficially - released albums).  I use Slightly Dark ( 

><http://www.slightlydark.com/>www.slightlydark.com ) and Game Music 

>Revolution ( www.gmronline.com ) as resources for this.

>

>Game citation I find an interesting problem.  So far I have only 

>dealt with how to reference games stored within games (such as 

>Balloon Fight inside Animal Crossing - or even Legend of Zelda, 

>which can only be unlocked in the US version with a codebreaker 

>device).  Fortunately most games are divided into levels or chapters 

>that make it easy for you to say what point in the game this comes 

>from.  This seems to me a good place to start, though it could 

>easily expand into a very wide range of references such as levels, 

>chapters, minigames - the list goes on and on.  It's probably best 

>to find the most practical way of doing it and then providing 

>appropriate reference material.  Who knows - maybe we'll see 

>citations like "Level 8-1, Super Mario Bros ".

>

>Lastly, I created a video you might be interested in.  It uses game 

>footage as well as stock press footage and is presented in an 

>experimental documentary style.  It is called Contra vs Contra. I 

>hope you have fun trying to find out what category to put this in :P

>

><http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN1eAL6SxUw>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN1eAL6SxUw 

>

>

>Best regards,

>

>Devin Monnens

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

>

>--

>"Until next time..."

>Captain Commando

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>game_preservation at igda.org

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Henry Lowood
Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;
      Germanic Collections; Film & Media Collections
HRG, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall, Stanford University Libraries
Stanford CA 94305-6004 USA
lowood at stanford.edu; 650-723-4602
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