Collectors battle Game Over to save video game heritage

Just like Mario falling into an infinite void, the world’s video game heritage is at risk of being lost forever, without more resources to preserve it.

A landmark global survey by Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) has found many cultural institutions don’t recognise games as culture worth saving, and lack the resources to collect and take care of them.

“There is still a lag in people really understanding that games are a pervasive and influential form of culture,” the archive’s chief executive Patrick McIntyre told AAP.

Gaming has over the last several decades become culturally dominant: globally, the video game industry is bigger than commercial music and film combined, he said.

“Something that once felt like a technological novelty is now the way that people engage with each other, share experiences and express themselves, and document human life on the planet.”

McIntyre sees parallels with the early days of cinema – it’s estimated 90 per cent of early film has been lost – and for video games culture the loss is expected to be even greater.

The survey is the first major project to ask cultural institutions globally about collecting and saving video games, with more than 50 organisations responding, including universities and video game companies.

The survey found most institutions working to save video game history don’t have dedicated funding or staff to do so, with many respondents saying their efforts are critically under-resourced.

Another big challenge is the various formats of video games – while console games from the 1990s at least are physical objects that can be maintained, more recent games consist of thousands of files that run on different applications, which can be corrupted or become redundant.

Current streaming games are even more of an issue, because there is nothing to preserve but code, and the video game industry is wary of handing over its coding to institutions.

“Having games be only available as digital content means when it is no longer profitable for a business they just delete it,” said one survey respondent.

There’s also the problem of proprietary systems that restrict access to collectors, with respondents complaining the industry appears to ignore museums and video game collectors.

“Conservative attitudes in the games industry towards protection of intellectual property [has] put huge swathes of video game history at risk of disappearing,” said another survey respondent.

The findings have prompted a call for the world’s cultural organisations to work together to save the heritage of video game culture.

“It is vital that institutions work together globally to preserve the history of this revolutionary medium before it is lost,” said the director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong in the US, Jon-Paul C Dyson.

The oldest items in the NFSA’s collection of Australian games are Voodoo Castle Adventure and Mission Impossible Adventure from 1979, both made by Exidy Sorcerer games.

The national archive has a vital power-up when it comes to acquiring Australian games, because any project that has been made with the help of public funding is automatically deposited in the national collection.

The archive began collecting video games in 2019 and now has more than 1400 games, with two dedicated games curators.

“The early days of Australian game making, or the quirkier indie games, if no one kind of looks after them and keeps them safe they could be lost,” said McIntyre.

The NFSA survey was conducted with the Strong National Museum of Play in the US and supported by the British Film Institute’s National Archive.

By Liz Hobday in Melbourne

Source: AAP