12 November 2008

National Videogame Archive

I would like to bring to attention The National Video Game Archive, which was launched this September. As the main website states, The National Video Game Archive is "a joint project between the National Media Museum and Nottingham Trent University, which aims to celebrate that culture and preserve that history for researchers, developers, game fans and the public."

The FAQ on the site further elaborates:
The National Videogame Archive will collect, interpret, make accessible for study and research and, where possible, exhibit videogames and the associated ephemera paraphernalia of videogame cultures. The Archive aims to preserve, analyse and display the products of the global videogame industry by placing the games in their historical, social, political and cultural contexts. This means treating videogames as more than digital code that can be dissected and emulated or as a system of rules or representations. At the heart of the National Videogames Archive is a respect for the material form of the game as well as the boxart, manuals, advertising, marketing and merchandising materials that support it and that give it meaning and context.
Video Games are an important part of our history, and I commend the NVA for their effort to preserve our stories. A joint website, Save the Video Game, offers industry personnel perspectives on video games worth preserving.

Via Gamasutra