Presentation Title: Emerging Needs in the Field of Video Game Preservation

Presenter(s): Carlos Quevedo, School of Information

Abstract: I would like to present my experience doing research on Digital Media Preservation as it pertains to Video Games through my internship at AFI as well as my current role as a Research Assistant to Professor Darra Hofman. As cultural artifacts made with innovative technology and new media, Video Games have become a large part of the cultural fabric of the 21st century. That said, the current state of Video Game preservation is far from where it needs to be, with many game source code prohibited from public access by proprietary file formats, obscure copyright law, etc¦ Even worse, there is plenty of game source code that has been lost, meaning the public will never access them. Researching this phenomenon has led me not only to a deeper understanding of the granular elements of Digital Preservation, but an introduction to the complex nature of public access to intellectual property and copyright law. In this presentation, I will demonstrate these findings and attempt to point towards a more comprehensive framework through which archival institutions could potentially address these issues while preserving these digital media artifacts for the future. Throughout this project, I have been able to foresee the future work that needs to be done in order to make the preservation of Video Games a more fruitful endeavor in the future.

Link to Recorded Presentation: https://youtu.be/gXcN0TpfLp4