Preserving digital games
Yet again #GAMUCATEX attended #SpilBar, an event for companies within the game industry. We never want to miss it due to valuable insights, and this time on the 27th of September the focus was on the state of digital game preservation globally. Digital games are closely tied to the platform or hardware for which they are designed. No hardware, no games. This poses a unique challenge for restorers and researchers when preserving games and their digital cultural heritage for future generations.
Gaming is Culture
While some things vanish, others appear. Concern over their absence presents a chance to better define their cultural identity when it comes to computer gaming. As a result, we are currently seeing a revaluation of video games in terms of their cultural significance, which is being investigated from fresh angles. Andreas Lange, secretary of EFGAMP provided an overview of current developments and described the opportunities and challenges to continue on the chosen path in the future. Another educational speech by the curator of #DKGame Allan Christophersen shared light on the dangers of obsolete games in the future. According to a recent analysis from The Video Game History Foundation, 87% of all US games are in jeopardy. How about in Denmark? What are the repercussions of allowing public access to the games in The Royal Danish Library's collection and mediating about them, as well as allowing access to vintage games generally?
The #DKgame exhibition's goal was to explain the history of Danish video games, from the numerous critically acclaimed, innovative, and entertaining titles produced by the Danish gaming business to the Danish video game ecosystem and all the gamers themselves. Christina Back, Head of Exhibition at the Royal Danish Library gave us an explanation of thoughts and design implementations that went on when creating the exhibition. How they organised all these different components into a spatial presentation; and how is it feasible to convey the history of the Danish video games in a way that is understandable to both the Royal Danish Library's larger audience and all of the visitors who are already avid gamers.
Went down memory lane
Besides being able to see inspiring speeches regarding the future of digital games, at SpilBar56 event, the new #DKGame exhibition showcased Danish digital games over the past six decades.
