Next Generation. Preserving, curating and exhibiting videogames: a UK-Japanese collaborative approach.

2018年，视频游戏在更多平台上的使用范围比以往任何时候都要广泛。可用于当前智能手机设备的游戏数量超过了20世纪80年代和90年代生产的所有游戏机的库的总和。游戏是一种关键的休闲追求，不仅是那些认为自己是游戏玩家的人参与；通过电子竞技或流媒体游戏进行的专业游戏正在成为越来越多的创意表达和商业机会的场所；游戏开发和创新游戏的创造仍然是英国创意经济的基石和重要的文化输出。然而，尽管如此，一个简单的事实是，视频游戏正在消失。每天，游戏机都停止工作；由于软盘、CD和DVD故障，数据变得不可读；服务器被下线，因为公司专注于更新的游戏；公司倒闭，让产品被遗弃和得不到支持，开发者、玩家、评论家和评论员的知识和专业知识永远丢失。正如国际游戏开发商协会(IGDA)游戏保护特别兴趣小组在2009年指出的那样，我们需要采取行动，以免为时已晚。十年后，情况变得更加紧迫。但这一行动应该采取什么形式，谁来负责？英国和日本是视频游戏创意和开发的两个强国，也是世界上最大的两个市场。英国和日本帮助创造了全球游戏产业，因此他们理应带头确保其未来。在过去的几年里，英国和日本的一些大学、博物馆和私人收藏家已经开始采取行动。在京都，立命馆大学一直在建立一系列日本游戏硬件和软件，记录自20世纪80年代以来在日本发布的每一款游戏，并与任天堂合作，寻找解决方案，以保持旧游戏的可玩性。在英国，NVM(前身为国家视频游戏厅)于2015年开放，提供一个专门的空间来展示不同类型的视频游戏，讲述它们的发展故事，并尝试以不同的方式将它们提供给不同的观众。尽管这样的组织已经认识到视频游戏保存和展览问题的紧迫性，但这一活动缺乏协调，英国和日本的研究人员、策展人、收藏家和展览设计师之间几乎没有合作的机会。目前尚不清楚视频游戏可以或应该采取什么形式的保存或展览行动，随着新型游戏的不断变化，虚拟现实和增强现实等新平台和新技术加入了大规模的多人在线网络游戏，进一步复杂化了我们关于什么是视频游戏和游戏，以及保存的对象和重点应该是什么的想法。下一代将找到方法，帮助英国和日本的博物馆馆长、大学研究人员、粉丝和收藏家更有效地合作，开发新的创新解决方案，以应对保存、解释和展示视频游戏的挑战。四个主要目标是：-绘制英国和日本现有的视频游戏保存、管理和展览工作图，以了解哪些材料正在受到保护以及哪里存在差距-记录影响视频游戏的风险因素，以确定哪些材料特别具有挑战性，并且容易成为未来几代研究人员、开发人员和博物馆参观者无法接触到的材料-考虑当前的游戏保存和管理战略，同时确定和倡导新思维和新技术、战略和目标的开发-制定方法，使博物馆、美术馆和大学研究人员能够在保护和展示视频游戏方面进行合作，并为大型英日展览奠定基础

In 2018, videogames are more widely available across a greater array of platforms than ever before. The number of games available for current smartphone devices outweighs the libraries for all the consoles produced in the 1980s and 1990s combined. Gaming is a key leisure pursuit with gameplay undertaken not only by those identifying as 'gamers'; professional play through e-sports or streaming gameplay are growing sites for creative expression and commercial opportunity; game development and the creation of innovative gameplay remains a cornerstone of the UK creative economy and a vital cultural export.And yet, for all this, the simple fact is that videogames are disappearing.Every day, consoles stop working; data becomes unreadable as floppy discs, CDs and DVDs fail; servers are taken offline as companies focus on newer titles; companies go out of business leaving products abandoned and unsupported and the knowledge and expertise of developers, players, critics and commentators is lost forever.As the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Game Preservation Special Interest Group noted in 2009, we need to act 'before it's too late'. Ten years later, the situation has only become more urgent.But what form should this action take and whose responsibility is it?The UK and Japan are two of the powerhouses of videogame creativity and development and represent two of the largest markets in the world. The UK and Japan helped to create the global games industry so it is only right that they should take the lead in ensuring its future.Over the last few years a number of universities, museums and private collectors, in the UK and Japan have begun to take action. In Kyoto, Ritsumeikan University has been building a collection of Japanese gaming hardware and software, documenting every game published in Japan since the 1980s, and working with Nintendo to find solutions to keep old games playable. In the UK, the NVM (formerly National Videogame Arcade) opened in 2015 to provide a dedicated space to showcase different types of videogames, tell the stories of their development, and experiment with different ways of making them available to diverse audiences.Despite the fact that organisations such as these have recognised the urgency of the videogame preservation and exhibition problem, this activity is uncoordinated and there are very few opportunities for collaboration between UK and Japanese researchers, curators, collectors and exhibition designers. It is is not clear what form preservation or exhibition action could or should take as videogames continue to transform with new types of gameplay, new platforms and technologies such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality joining massively multiplayer online networked games to further complicate our idea of what constitutes a videogame and gameplay and what the object and focus of preservation should be.Next Generation will find ways to help museum curators, university researchers, fans and collectors in the UK and Japan collaborate more effectively to develop new and innovative solutions to the challenges of preserving, interpreting and exhibiting videogames. The four key objectives are:- Map existing videogame preservation, curation and exhibition work across the UK and Japan to understand what materials are being cared for and where there are gaps- Document the risk factors affecting videogames in order to identify which materials are particularly challenging and vulnerable to becoming permanently inaccessible for future generations of researchers, developers and museum-goers- Consider current strategies for game preservation and curation while identifying and championing new thinking and the development of new techniques, strategies and goals- Develop ways to enable museums, galleries and university researchers to collaborate on preserving and exhibiting videogames and lay the foundations for a major UK-Japanese exhibition