[game_preservation] iPhone Game Preservation

[Rachel "Sheepy" Donahue]

> Whether or not they are archival-proof on the other hand is a different  

> question

> entirely, but the point remains: the task of archiving one of these is as

> simple as acquiring a copy and saving it to backup media.


Although I agree that the work done by the game community will make  
archival preservation much, much easier -- especially in regards to the  
metadata, as you point out -- even outside of any appraisal questions ("is  
it worth saving?"), "archiving" a game is not as simple as making a backup  
copy. Certainly it's an important first step -- you need to have A Copy of  
an object in order to do anything with it at all. But especially when  
dealing with objects found "in the wild" on the internet, you have major  
issues with chain of custody/authenticity, and still face a lot of work to  
make sure the files remain accessible in a meaningful way. Because what  
good is having a backup copy of a game, if you can't play it?

For now the community continues to remain our savior, with tons of great  
software and hardware solutions. But that may not always be the case, and  
a formal archive does not have the same luxury of treading the legal line  
in its preservation solutions. We're also hampered quite a bit by  
perfectionism in our pursuit of authenticity -- players may be _annoyed_  
by a lack of sound card support, but archivists question whether it  
remains an authentic representation of the game without the sound.

And then, as I think came up with the Nintendo Seal of Authority line of  
thinking (which I just skimmed!), we have the whole world of apps that  
only work on jailbroken iPhones -- some of which are quite revolutionary!  
And sometimes even if something doesn't get wide use, if it's the first to  
make unique use of the technology (e.g., the emerging augmented reality  
applications), it's worth our time in the name of history/innovation. (IMO)

Cheers,
Rach