Video Game Studies

The Game Metadata and Citation Project (GAMECIP) is a multi-year IMLS-funded investigation of metadata needs and citation practices surrounding computer games in instititutional collections.

The aim of the How They Got Game research project was to explore the history and cultural impact of a crucial segment of New Media: interactive simulations and video games.

The Learning Games Initiative Research Archive (LGIRA), led by librarians at the University of Arizona in Tuscon, studies, teaches with, and builds computer games in educational contexts. The FCoP project aimed to bring together stakeholders and a community of interest around LGIRA, developing conversation and workflows around its “preservation through use” approach.

The National Videogame Archive is a joint project between the National Media Museum and Nottingham Trent University, which aims to celebrate the videogame culture and preserve that history for researchers, developers, game fans and the public.

The Preserving Virtual Worlds project explored methods for preserving digital games and interactive fiction. Major activities included developing basic standards for metadata and content representation and conducting a series of archiving case studies for early video games, electronic literature and Second Life, an interactive multiplayer game.

The Software Preservation Society (SPS), formerly the Classic Amiga Preservation Society (CAPS), dedicates itself to the preservation of software for the future, namely classic games.

The Video Game History Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and teaching the history of video games.

A site where the music of videogames is kept alive by making it available for listening in the original formats as well as newer digital formats.

What does it mean to preserve the history of video games? What’s going on out there in the world of game preservation, and how can you help? Learn more about how to approach the complicated issues involved in saving our industry’s history with the directors of The Video Game History Foundation.

Library of Congress staff discussed its video game collection, the process of making a preservation copy of the data for long-term storage, the unique description challenges for video games and possible access solutions.

In this 2019 GDC talk, EA's Garrett Fredley discusses the struggles and challenges of his work preserving releases for multiple AAA sports franchises and detailing processes that nearly every team can benefit from.

A culture only survives as well as its people preserve it. This roundtable emphasized the importance of archiving and preserving game design history, featuring librarians, archivists, and scholars who believe in the importance of documenting the history and process behind game design for future generations.

Game historian Laine Nooney demystifies how historians turn everyday artifacts and documents into compelling narratives, share behind-the-scenes stories and images from her own hunt for game history, and empower industry professionals with the knowledge to begin their own practice of self-preservation.

Keeping classic games in print is a surprisingly risky and difficult business. This 2016 talk from Digital Eclipse's Frank Cifaldi showcases the approach taken for Capcom's Mega Man Legacy Collection to discuss how and why old games should and will become sellable again.

This panel takes inspiration from the challenge of preserving game history and gets right to the key question: What is the canon of digital game history?...

An internet resource that provides good step-by-step instructions for repairing game consoles, controllers, etc.

A collection of digitized scans from a large cache of documents related to the game publisher Infocom, Inc. of Cambridge, MA. Assembled by Steven Meretzky of Infocom.

The American Classic Arcade Museum has been established to promote and preserve the history of coin-operated arcade games.

Find an arcade in your area that has a particular classic game you would like to play.