Introduction

Preserving play: selection, replication, circulation

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed many encouraging initiatives dedicated to the preservation of game history. In 2014, UC Santa Cruz and Stanford experts published “A Unified Approach to Preserving Cultural Software Objects and their Development Histories” (Kaltman et al.). In Oceania and all over Europe, more efforts are being channeled to unearth local game histories, and some of these stories have already found their way into a major historical overview (Video Games Around the World, 2015). Contribution from fan cultures, which is typically overviewed briefly in sweeping chronicles about the medium’s technological and industrial development, has become an object of fascination in itself (Fans and Videogames: Histories, Fandom, Archives, 2017). The Internet archive has brought many classic games to the masses thanks to in-browser emulation, and dedicated hobbyist communities strive to archive complete ROM sets for every possible platform. Exceptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are sought and defended by a growing alliance of professional preservationists. Game related museums and cultural institutions have emerged in many countries in an effort to introduce the history of video games to a wider audience and highlight its cultural value.