Game Preservation and the Future of the Past

Game Preservation and the Future of the Past

I m Eric Hello Computer Science PhD, Games and Playable Media Work with Stanford s technology collection Archivist for digital games Think about saving things for a long period of time What to save? How to define history?

- Views and Film Index, April 25, 1906

M.U.L.E Multi Use Labor Element Arguably first multiplayer single screen game

Cabrinety Collection 16000+ software, ~13000 games 200+ different hardware consoles, computers, etc. 4000+ magazines, catalogs, technical documents Lots of headaches and worry Founded by Stephen Cabrinety and collected for his entire short life Remnants of a museum

Other Collections Apple computer archives Steve Meretzky Papers Infocom, Zork, Planetfall, many other text adventures Hal Barwood Lucasarts, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis U of T Austin Rochester Museum of Play

Museum of Play

Game Cultural History

DMA Design

Hardware Issues

2000 1990 1980 1972 Sega Dreamcast (1998) WonderSwan (1999) (handheld) WonderSwan Color (2000) (Japan Only) (handheld) Swan Crystal (2002) (handheld) Neo Geo Pocket (1998) (Japan Only) Neo Geo Pocket Color (1998 Japan/1999 US) Game Boy Color (1998) (handheld) Nintendo 64 (1996) (64-bit) Nintendo 64DD (1999) (Japan Only) PlayStation (1994) PlayStation One (2000) Casio Loopy (1995)(Japan Only) Sega Saturn (1994) Virtual Boy (1995) Apple Pippin (1995) PC-FX (1994)(Japan Only) Playdia (1994) Atari Jaguar (1993) (64-bit) Atari Jaguar CD (1995) 3DO (1993) Commodore Amiga CD32 (1993) Supervision (1992) Pioneer LaserActive (1993) Philips CD-i (1991) Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991) Sega Game Gear (1991) (handheld) Neo-Geo (1990) Neo-Geo CD Neo-Geo CDZ Sega Mega Drive (1988) / Sega Genesis (1989, North America only) Sega CD (1992) Sega 32X (1994) Sega Nomad (1995) TurboGrafx 16 (1990) TurboGrafx-CD TurboDuo[1992] TurboExpress (handheld) SuperGrafx Atari Lynx (1989) (handheld) Game Boy (1989) (handheld) Game Boy Pocket (1996) (handheld) Game Boy Light (Japan Only) (handheld) Commodore 64GS (1990) Amstrad GX4000 (1990) PC Engine (1987, Japan) Atari XEGS (1987) Atari 7800 (1986) Sega Master System (1986) / SG-1000 Mark III (1985, Japan) Nintendo Entertainment System (1985) / Famicom (1983, Japan) Vectrex (1982) Emerson Arcadia 2001 (1982) Atari 5200 (1982) Colecovision (1982) Game And Watch (1980) (handheld) Intellivision (1980) APF Imagination Machine (1979) Microvision (1979) (handheld) Magnavox Odyssey! (1978) Bally Astrocade (1977) Atari 2600 (1977) RCA Studio II (1976) Fairchild Channel F (1976) Coleco Telstar (1976) APF TV Fun (1976) PONG (1972,1975) Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

Obsolescence

Bit Rot

Software Issues Emulation Versioning Encoding Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Emulation Accuracy BSNES 3Ghz, multicore processor

Emulation Nesting

Encoding Old bit streams never die they just become unreadable Rothenberg, Ensuring the Longevity of Digital Information

Encoding

DRM

DRM

Archival Sites, Free Distribution Sites, Community Sites, and Commercial Distribution Sites

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Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1201 Copyright Protection and Management Systems (d) Exemption for Nonprofit Libraries, Archives, and Educational Institutions. (1) A nonprofit library, archives, or educational institution which gains access to a commercially exploited copyrighted work solely in order to make a good faith determination of whether to acquire a copy of that work for the sole purpose of engaging in conduct permitted under this title shall not be in violation of subsection (a)(1)(a). A copy of a work to which access has been gained under this paragraph (A) may not be retained longer than necessary to make such good faith determination; and (B) may not be used for any other purpose.

Computer Game Exemption 201.40 (2) Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.

Types of Contextual Documentation: - Design documents of all kinds - Development-related correspondence - Artwork, such as conceptual art sketches, and storyboards - Versions of games, from original prototypes to patches, sequels, and mods - Game development source code, assets, tools, and the resulting binary executables - Machinima, replays, and other recordings of gameplay - Development-related maps (shadow maps, influence maps, texture maps, etc.) - Wikis, subversion/sharepoint/perforce directories, internal websites, notice board notes and posters, and other collaborative/group media - Scheduling/planning documents - Developer or publisher budgets, forecasting, market research, and other business related documentation - Other documentation related to the developer/ publisher relationship - Company newsletters and circulars - Information on projects, teams, and company structure over time - Photographs and videos of the company, people, and events (both internal and external) - Advertising and marketing materials, especially pieces used for unique, on-time purposes - Press kits and demos - Legal Documentation - Books on game design, development, and game studies - Research papers produced by academics for developers - Source materials (i.e., writing, film, art, etc. that inspired a game) - Powerpoint and other presentations for conference and meetings - Game magazines, including clippings files - Archival and business records or person papers from groups, organizations and individuals who are associated with the game industry, but are not involved in game development

Preserving Virtual Worlds Library of Congress initiative for preservation strategy Definition of games for long term archival storage How to verify accuracy? How to choose what to save? How to save it?

Alone in a Virtual World

The Future of the Past

Questions? ekaltman@soe.ucsc.edu

What are the major issues facing software data preservation? A) Emulation, Encoding, Versioning and DRM B) Obsolescence, Maintenance and Bit Rot C) Mean girls, Jocks, Uber-nerds and That Guy.

What are the best ways to insure that your work is saved for the future? A) Make it open source or as easily accessible as possible B) Lock your content behind a paywall and victimize your customers C) Don t use Digital Rights Management (DRM) D) A and C

Why is game preservation a good thing? A) Shows the history, growth and ingenuity of this young industry B) Lets people nowadays understand how games as practice were viewed in the past. C) I just like playing emulators.! D) All the above

How awesome was Communist Mutants From Space? I mean really? A) Totally freaking sweet, I d upvote that on Reddit. B) Kinda cool, I guess. C) Lame, yawn. D) You re an idiot.

What do you need to prepare for section next week? A) Upload your final game and game manual B) Be ready to give a short (~3 minute) presentation of your game C) Schedule updates D) A and B