[game_preservation] Game catalog and listings

[Captain Commando]

Hello all,

Sorry to be sending this out so soon before the GDC, when some of you are
busy getting ready to go!

This discussion is in relation to a discussion I had with Judd Ruggill at a
recent conference where we discussed the need for a catalog for game
preservation. I feel this has relevant connections with a project that David
Thomas has been working on with other journalists for a citation system for
games ( here is one of the things they made - http://www.gamestyleguide.com/).
As we know, there isn't any standardized format for referencing videogames
in research papers, and the problem of standardizing such a system resides
in agreeing on what is relevant information. This connection I find
interesting because this relates to the bare minimum we would need for
compiling a games archive catalog.

I'm not sure what the journalists have come up with as I still need to get
on their mailing list, but I believe the information includes stuff like
game title, platform, year of release, developer, publisher - and I would
also add version number and region (or country). What are other catalogues
including? Here are a few catalogues I know of:

Moby Games (www.mobygames.com)
KLOV - Killer List of Video Games (arcade - www.klov.com)
GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)
Digital Press (www.digitpress.com)

I also know there are a lot of game catalogues in Japan, but I only have one
older issue, a Daigirin from 1998 published by Tokuma. Does anyone know
about digital versions of Japanese catalogues?

The interesting thing about these catalogues is that many of them provide
release date information on the games (though they don't all agree!).
Daigirin includes the original sale price of the games (in yen) and Digital
Press, which is a collector's guide, has estimated market values and rarity
(which are probably only important to an archive trying to build a
collection). Some of these catalogues also include images, game information,
and reviews while others include the game's serial number (something that
can be about as important as 'version number').

Obviously, the contents of a catalogue will vary depending on its purpose,
but the central point of discussion here is in regards to what content
should be included in a standardized catalogue (or meta-catalogue). As there
are obviously multiple catalogues and different archives are including
multiple catalogues, it seems there should be a need for standardization,
likely through catalogue numbers so the information in two proprietary
catalogues can be standardized. Perhaps this should be thought of in
relation with a citation standard. Obviously, a catalogue number should tell
us more about a game than Board Game Geek (
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/newuser.php which just tells you the page
number and the order in which it was entered into the system).

I am not sure how often this has been discussed before on the e-mail list,
but what are your thoughts on the construction of a catalogue and the use of
catalogue entries?

I would also like to emphasize that the approach here is on cataloguing
games as well as their different versions and releases rather than related
material such as game merchandise.

Best regards,

Devin Monnens



-- 
The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

"Until next time..."
Captain Commando
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