[game_preservation] Preservation Whitepaper Brainstorm Progress

[Chris Lepine]

Devin,

I tried to poke at that very question in an article I wrote a few  
months ago:
http://www.artfulgamer.com/2008/09/02/the-lost-art-of-game-packaging- 
and-the-digital-only-turning-point/

To save you a few minutes - I basically argue that 'feelies' are the  
way-station between the player's reality and the game world...  
they're a physical instantiation of the game's world that gives the  
player a focus for their imagination. Without the feelies, it's a  
completely different kind of game. I use Ultima IV as an example - if  
you don't read the manual and use the feelies, you won't get a real  
"role-playing" experience from the game. At least, that's my take on it.

Wasteland famously uses the "paragraphs" system ... it was a way of  
overcoming a storage problem according to most sources. Still, it  
lends an awfully unique experience to playing the game - "You  
encounter Harry the Bunny Master. Read paragraph 85". Although a lot  
of people found WL's paragraph system clunky, I thought it gave the  
game some psychological realism otherwise not possible.

Just my $0.02 CDN, $0.01 USD.
- Chris

http://www.artfulgamer.com
'in search of the poetic and lyrical in video games...'

> Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:20:17 -0700

> From: "Devin Monnens" <evilcowclone at gmail.com>

> Subject: Re: [game_preservation] Preservation Whitepaper Brainstorm

> 	Progress

> To: stuart at feldhamer.com, 	"IGDA Game Preservation SIG"

> 	<game_preservation at igda.org>

> Message-ID:

> 	<b96706b70811110620v1867ffdencbf829a7e684f331 at mail.gmail.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>

> How relevant are, say, cloth maps from Ultima? Originally, I think  

> this sort

> of thing was used to 'enhance the experience,' but I haven't read  

> anything

> regarding how much that really DOES affect player experience.  

> Nowadays, I

> just consider most of that stuff to be schwag.

>

> But yeah, the key fact that we are preserving more than just bits is

> important. Manuals and packaging are in themselves important as it  

> helps put

> the game into context (and as you noted, some are unplayable  

> without them -

> just try beating Metal Gear Solid without the game case OR  

> consulting a

> guide if you haven't beaten it already). More importantly, we know  

> that some

> games contained information that could not be - or simply was not -

> communicated through gameplay, which is essential to chronicling the

> development of the medium.

>

> -Devin


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