Sharing gaming history (museums and stuff)

[Erik_Twice]

I think it's time for the history of games to get a hold of wider audiences. We have already seen some exhibits here and there and Yu Suzuki has already put his games on them. But we still have a long way to go and I don't think it's going to be particularly well done, thanks to the museums inexperience and the terrible misconceptions that are taken as common knowledge when it comes to games. (Not that I help matters )

So, what would you like to see in a museum exhibit? What do you think it's done right and done wrong? I'm kind of ranmbling here to spark some discussion. Let's see, some things I think are needed:

1) Being able to play the games on original hardware whenever possible. The games are designed to be played, not being able to play them is a mistake, for without playing there can be no appreciation or understanding. This is easier said than done, and many games are not suitable for exhibition but compromises like using LCD screens have to go, those things don't belong to a museum.

2) Less focus on technology and more on artistic design. Sometimes articles on gaming's history read as if they were nothing but technology, leaving what really made the games important. Understanding how and why platformers and shooters evolved is far more valuble than talking about polygons.

3) PLEASE, DON'T LET COMMERCIAL INTERESTS GET IN THE WAY OF HISTORY.

Really, it seems to be there's no talk about the games themselves. Instead of saying how popular Pac Man was, why not talk about the AI, the gameplay and the logic of it all? Why not invite people to think about the ideas presented in OutRun instead of how high tech it was? It's better and easily done.

I know I discussed with Noise about making a "history of shmups" exhibit or something like that. I imagine it would be cool to have an introductiory panel, and have Space Invaders, Asteroids, Defender, Scramble, Gradius and DonPachi next to each other so it's not only easier to explain but that they can understand what changed and why by themselves.

Anyways, I'm not making too much sense and I think we already had a topic like this, but since I couldn't find it, let's see what what you think

[Majors]

http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/a ... 012/games/

About the Exhibition

Video games are a prevalent and increasingly expressive medium within modern society. In the forty years since the introduction of the first home video game, the field has attracted exceptional artistic talent. An amalgam of traditional art forms—painting, writing, sculpture, music, storytelling, cinematography—video games offer artists a previously unprecedented method of communicating with and engaging audiences.
...

I know some folks from MAGFest are involved with this so I'm hoping their input keeps the show "true". I heard from the muesum curator that ran a panel at a con, and it sound like they are taking a hands on, "real hardware" approach to the exhibit. I planning a trip to DC with the lady in April to check it out(along with other sites)

[Erik_Twice]

I don't know what you want to tell me with that post.

[Nemoide]

I'll sometimes fantasize about video game archives. However, I think preservation is more important than the sharing aspect of gaming history (and the two do conflict).

I'd like to see archives storing things like original cartridges and source code or console schematics on microfilm in a manner that will keep them safe and preserved for future generations. Copies of games should be made for people who want to play them and the original should only be handled in special circumstances.

For sharing games, I think it would be cool to see a "Plug & Play" style console that holds every single game for that system. These could be marketed to the general public at minimal cost, assuming all the games were public domain. (Unfortunately this will probably never happen.)
Because working consoles will become increasingly rare, I think a museum might find it worthwhile to actually build full reproductions specifically designed for archival purposes.

[Majors]

1) Being able to play the games on original hardware whenever possible.
2) Less focus on technology and more on artistic design.

1) The exhibition at the SI made a point to use REAL hardware. They even ask the MAGFest arcade people if they had a PacMan PCB to lend. At the panel I was at, they went into detail about the unique challenges that using real hardware presents.

2)It's called The Art of Video Games

I don't know what you want to tell me with that post.

Am I reading your post correctly? You want a history of games show/event/exhibit. Here is one already running. An example that what you want IS being done.

[Erik_Twice]

Majors, as far as I know, the "Art of Video Games" only had 5 games you could play, and in the RB podcast the curator says that being able to play the games was seen as inadequate for a museum, as something shameful, if I'm reading between the lines correctly.

That exposition has a huge proyector with Pac Man, I wouldn't say that's making a point about using REAL hardware at all. Also, if the guys at KLOV are reliable, the games were shown on LCDs, which obviously they weren't designed for.

Note that being called "the ART of videogames" doesn't mean it's well done. I, for one, can't comment much on it because I can't see it and even then, a single well done example doesn't mean the bad exhibits around the world will ever stop being bad.

Am I reading your post correctly? You want a history of games show/event/exhibit. Here is one already running. An example that what you want IS being done.

As I note in my post, I already know such exhibitions exist, even if most are terribly flawed. You may have also noticed that I know that the Smithsonian has Space Harrier and Virtua Fighter on permanent display (IIRC), no easy task when you live at the other side of the pond.

[Menegrothx]

1) Being able to play the games on original hardware whenever possible.

How would this work? Most games take time to get into and how would switching the game cartridge/CD/DVD be handled? Playing Silent Hill 2 in a museum crowded with people doesnt sound very pleasant.

I think that a some sort of international cultural archive of video games with local branches would be nice. There would be actual museums with their own storage vaults with back up files etc, but the main thing would be a huge website with emulators and game files to download and a lot of articles about the history behind the consoles, the game designers, and individual games. Who composed the music, interviews of the programmers, initial reception, historical impact and stuff like that for every individual game. A bit like a wikipedia for video games and video game culture. Whenever a game would reach the point that it cant be purchased as a new copy from a game store anymore, you would be able to download it from the site.

That way younger generations could understand the history behind games better and they would have a chance to play some legendary and defining games of older generations. Like old MS DOS games that dont work with out an emulator on a normal computer anymore.

[Majors]

As I note in my post, I already know such exhibitions exist, even if most are terribly flawed. You may have also noticed that I know that the Smithsonian has Space Harrier and Virtua Fighter on permanent display (IIRC), no easy task when you live at the other side of the pond.

What about the traveling arcade exhibit, I think it called Videotopia? I assume you have not been to it if you are overseas, but I made it to the Charlotte, NC stop. It had about 50 or so original arcade cabs with a little blurb about each piece. It was fun, but only dealt with arcades machines, cherry picked for their importance.

I have not been the the Smithsonian "Art of Video Games" exhibit, so I cannot comment yet if it is done well or not. I think the Space Harrier and VF are squirreled away in the vaults or can someone confirm? Something about maintance and upkeep for the machines if that were running all the time.

the curator says that being able to play the games was seen as inadequate for a museum, as something shameful, if I'm reading between the lines correctly.

I got the impression it was a space issue. I do recall that the curator was getting beef from the art snobs (read: ppl that donate) because of the subject matter of video games. Maybe she(?) is trying to keep everyone happy.

So what would be a "good" showing? More real hardware with real games on freeplay? Game conventions have a freeplay rooms, would that be a better exhibit-type idea? I know at the cons where Wedoca runs the rooms, we try to have a "museum" area with retro consoles and even some display items to marvel at. No LCD trash, no PC's running EMU...real systems, real controllers (maybe a burn or flash cart for the R@RES). We have a dedicated person to help with the systems and swap games. I feel it's much more personal when an attendee can request to play another game. The gleem in a fathers eye when playing with his child at Warlords is something I cannot express in words.

Midwest Gaming Classic is this weekend, I'll take lot's of pic's of how they do their museum (in fact, they call it that) and do a write up.