[game_preservation] Preservation SIG questions + helping out

[Sean Gugler]

Andrew,


> if you knew of a game developer/company in the UK that could at least

have a test interview done

I work for Eidos / SCi, which is based in the UK (although I'm at the
Crystal Dynamics studio in California).  Email me privately if you want
me to put someone there in touch with you.

Cheers,
          - Sean
--
Dispel guilt and apology; change or justify.



On 7/30/07 11:29 AM, Andrew Armstrong:

> Hi Henry,

>

> I will get on with the IGDA wiki then, and update it as needed, and good 

> news on the silence front - although seeing some of the other SIG's 

> "visibly silent" never means they have nothing going on - just I didn't 

> have any clue what might be! Sounds like some good news.

>

> On interviews; having done quite a bit of student television (now 

> Loughborough even has high definition cameras, which I will use next 

> year). This is only a possibility, but if you knew of a game 

> developer/company in the UK that could at least have a test interview 

> done (because like games, TV needs prototypes too) I could possibly even 

> do it all myself / with help of LSUTV. I have free rail travel for the 

> next year, so at the very least I could snap a tripod and camera, take 

> it off for a day somewhere in the UK, and get some stuff done. This 

> would cost me nothing except time and a few bus tickets.

>

> On the money side, of course I am currently helpless, but I do know my 

> way around a TV camera and around encoding content, and editing TV shows 

> (although I avoid being on-screen). Definitely something that would be 

> perfect for preserving game history, since its a good medium to record 

> thoughts, feelings and suchlike - better then text, and more interesting 

> visually then audio (very important for games).

>

> I have obviously no clue as to how this would work regarding hosting, 

> money, SIG involvement, and I know nothing of America and grants/the 

> universities there. The IGDA I presume hasn't got the resources since 

> its a distributed organisation of members more then a single location.

>

> Let me know if my help would be good, text interviews like Gamasutra's 

> civilisation one are brilliant, I think Video can help in other related 

> ways (I remember watching some NerdTV stuff from the USA before (I 

> should finished watching them!), is this the kind of style? - 

> http://www.pbs.org/cringely/nerdtv/ - actually, would something like 

> PBS, or another TV station somewhere, be able to help in the USA? (I 

> have no idea - in the UK, I'd find it doubtful, but the USA is huge))

>

> Andrew

>

> Henry Lowood wrote:

> > Hi Andrew,

> >

> > First, let me welcome you and thank you very much for the interest in 

> > the wiki.  We sorely need attention to it and it's great that you will 

> > pitch in.

> >

> > Second, as a kind of preliminary heads-up.  I've been silent for 

> > months longer than anticipated, but there's a reason: We are still not 

> > quite finished with the lengthy negotiation towards a game 

> > preservation grant from a (U.S.) national institution.   I think there 

> > will be a news release very soon indicating success, which I will send 

> > to you for the wiki before anyone else!   Then I'll chime in with some 

> > specific ideas that tie in from the project to your suggestions.  I'll 

> > be able to answer a couple of questions directly, like, "who is doing 

> > anything?"  Also, how we would like to continue the Digital Game Canon 

> > effort with an eye toward the preservation project.

> >

> > Last for now, an interview project would be a great idea.  If we could 

> > do videotaped interviews and raise some funds, I could offer the 

> > resources we used at Stanford for the "Silicon Genesis" project on the 

> > history of the semiconductor industry -- 

> > http://silicongenesis.stanford.edu 

> > <http://silicongenesis.stanford.edu/>.   Namely, streamed interviews + 

> > searchable snippets + transcript + permanent preservation of the 

> > interviews and availability of them in High-Def for documentary 

> > purposes, etc.   The cost has been running about $800-$1500 per 

> > interview (depending on length), but surprisingly we have had little 

> > trouble raising funds from donorsfor the now circa 50 interviews, plus 

> > development of the website.  Donors have included individuals, 

> > companies, industry groups. If this is of interest, we can talk about 

> > this kind of a project on the list, perhaps being ready to launch 

> > something at GDC in February.

> >

> > Linking the Gamasutra articles, btw, to the game canon page would be 

> > outstanding, which I think you had in mind to do, right?

> >

> > Henry

> >

> >

> >

> > At 10:25 AM 7/30/2007, Andrew Armstrong wrote:

> >> Hey anyone who is in the Game Preservation SIG,

> >>

> >> I joined up after seeing the Gamasutra Civilisation article, and 

> >> cleaning up some bits on the IGDA wiki to do with the project.

> >>

> >> Since I am a student currently, I think I could lend some support (at 

> >> least administratively) to helping the Preservation SIG. I'm not old 

> >> enough to be there at the beginning of history, and actually think 

> >> its vitally important to retain what happened before I was born, even 

> >> though I have not played most of the things from the time.

> >>

> >> Basically I'd love to help, but first maybe someone can answer these 

> >> questions so I know how I can help! These are some of the things I've 

> >> thought about:

> >>

> >> * Are things like the Classic Gaming Expo important? Should they be 

> >> kept track of, at least for informative reasons? What sorts of Game 

> >> Preservation things happen at conferences/talks, are there any?

> >>

> >> * How is the Digital Game Canon project going? how does it work/what 

> >> are its aims? Can I help?

> >>    o Are these some useful things to do: Collect interviews, sources 

> >> of information and game information for the digital game canon, and 

> >> other games that need preserving, on the IGDA wiki.

> >>    o And: Link to a variety of sites and articles (gamasutra has 

> >> some, others do) on old games / companies / history.

> >>

> >> * Is the SIG's aim *just software?* What about manuals, box physical 

> >> CDs/extras (or at least pictures of them), music and soundtracks, 

> >> game reviews/game magazines, advertising media (posters, trailers, 

> >> interviews)?

> >>

> >> * On that note, apart from the Digital Game Canon, I can't find a 

> >> good list of things going on anywhere. Are there any? Who can I help, 

> >> or what can I help with? Is preservation just on "preserving games" 

> >> or the media as a whole (advertising, news articles, etc)? Is it just 

> >> to help archiving organisations (of which I don't know too many 

> >> exist), or more involved and historically "gathering information"? 

> >> What is historically important to the SIG anyway?

> >>

> >> * Can I update the IGDA wiki and fix some of the old broken links and 

> >> research some of the new physical archive locations?

> >>

> >> * Why has the archive.org DMCA exception not been updated? - 

> >> http://www.archive.org/about/dmca.php

> >>

> >> * Is there any major research into game preservation research and 

> >> news? Can the wiki be a bit more informative if so? (I can look into 

> >> this) since the area has not been as researched as well as film and 

> >> TV. Research on copyright and IP might be relevant (especially length 

> >> of such things), and I don't see any information available there.

> >>

> >> * Does anyone know what government agencies or media organisations 

> >> preserve film, tv, books, etc. and see what they might be doing about 

> >> games in the future, if they don't preserve them already?

> >> These are related, probably rhetorical "you can research" ones :)

> >>    o what laws, regulations and permissions do these organisations 

> >> have? DMCA is a problem in America, but what about elsewhere?

> >>    o What use is keeping a game preserved if no one is able to at 

> >> least buy it or play it somehow? - How does preservation work for 

> >> film and TV? Is hardware stored, or virtual machines created?

> >>    o What help does the archive organisations get from companies?

> >>

> >> * Is anyone seeing what game companies keep archives of media, 

> >> history or other information? Some might have vaults of the stuff (at 

> >> least publishers might).

> >>

> >> Whew, sorry about that, quick answers are fine I'll always ask again 

> >> if I am confused. Was thinking of this stuff last night actually when 

> >> I was reading Wired Classic Gaming Expo reports, so wrote a lot down.

> >>

> >> Also, I am more then willing to investigate more in the UK directly, 

> >> on behalf of the SIG, if I need to actually physically go anywhere 

> >> (out of the country I can't do at the moment however) since the UK 

> >> has some people who are important to gaming history. I will at least 

> >> update the IGDA wiki if no one objects.

> >>

> >> Feel free to email me directly if anyone wants. I'd have posted in 

> >> the forums, but they are pretty dead.

> >>

> >> Thanks,

> >>

> >> Andrew Armstrong

> >> _______________________________________________

> >> game_preservation mailing list

> >> game_preservation at igda.org

> >> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation 

> >

> > Henry Lowood, Ph.D.

> > Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections

> > Curator for Germanic Collections; Film & Media Collections

> > HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall

> > Stanford University Libraries

> > Stanford CA 94305-6004

> > 650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood 

> > <http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

> >

> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> >

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> >   

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