Niklas Nylund told me that this may become the norm for many institutions as we consider the ecological impact of temporary, large-scale digital storage. “In a world where the environmental impact of computer systems is increasingly under scrutiny,” he said, such digital game storage “may not be a viable way forward.”
Instead, he proposes a long-term taxonomy in which we “focus on retaining certain key games that help understand the past.” This doesn’t necessarily prioritize the most popular games, but the ones that “deliver the truth of the past.” But the criteria for this selection process remain uncertain, especially among different conservation efforts.
For Pennington, however, “emulation is the key to unlocking the future of protection.” The ability to render an exact replica of a game outside of the original hardware is extremely valuable, but as gaming hardware evolves and becomes more difficult to emulate, emulation may Only works with older hardware. As Nylund emphasizes, “We really need to make sure the emulation is of good enough quality so that it doesn’t paint the wrong picture of how the game works.”
Ultimately, the legal consequences of emulation may prove insurmountable. When a company tries to protect the value of its IP, protection can conflict with the company’s interests. But it’s also an area where Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft can tap. This could take the form of lobbying for clearer legislation – fair use laws in many countries ostensibly allow academics to copy the game, but it’s legally untested – allowing access to their own archives, or simply acknowledging that if they don’t keep it transparently The gaming industry needs a temporary (and maybe more pirate) solution.
Saved futures may not be playable, and some properties may not be saved. At that point, elements like video and other recordings will be very powerful tools for showing what the game will look like in 2022.
This is something conservationists are considering. “We can say there’s a way of documenting game preservation,” Pennington said, a way of “thinking about cultural significance or the social and economic aspects of play.”
Conservationists like Straka have collected physical and digital mayflies, such as “trailers, commercials, press kits or magazine reviews,” all of which provide context and complement existing practices.
Niklas Nylund suggested that these materials, whether game manuals or forum discussions, “may be the only resources available to clarify how games are understood at launch.”
Many of us only understand preservation as playing an old game beyond its apparent lifetime, but Straka says that’s the “layman’s understanding” of preservation. According to him, “the context of things is as important as the story, if not more so.”
It’s hard to pinpoint a specific shape that’s preserved in 10, 20, or 50 years. Protectionists are cautious, stick to the present, and be pragmatic about what is needed. more. More money, more legislative freedom, more resources — and more people. There have never been more people doing conservation work, but it’s still not enough. “As more and more people get involved,” said Jonas Rosland, executive director of Hit Save!, “we can save more for the future.”
Beyond the technical and legal challenges, the preservation of video games is a human endeavor that focuses on human stories.
“What I treasure is how people work to make sense of digital objects,” Straka said. “A lot of the things I do can be important to someone in a few decades. But most stories about products, technology, are ultimately human stories. Like all stories. They are hope and ingenuity A product of , and now we are able to talk to these people and connect the story to digital objects that are themselves very superficial.”
Better legislation can help, as well as greater cooperation and transparency from larger entities, and make protection part of the development process. But it’s people who really represent video games for saving the future.
