The preservation of art is a difficult, even impossible, goal to achieve. In regards to current trends in the art and media world, video games are disappearing. This isn?t the sort of topic that will spawn a movie in the same vein as The Davinci Code; though the idea of Tom Hanks uncovering a hidden trough of lost NES games is cake for one?s imagination.
If I were to pinpoint a primary area of focus on this, I?m forced to isolate the world of mobile and cell phone games. Whether this is some ungodly dated format of the Tetris brand or something spawned by lasting remnants of Square-Enix, it is undeniable that this format of gaming is poison to the long lasting availability of games. This can be drawn out further when considering digital distribution as a whole. Whatever art form you decide to inspect- if it is available digitally, it is most likely going to disappear at some point.
This seems counter productive, given such gigantic media libraries like the Xbox Marketplace, iTunes Store and even online retailers like Amazon. Even the database Wikipedia is missing information on relatively popularized music and video games. The first instance of a game going missing is when you can no longer purchase it from a store or distributor. The second occurs when there is little to no trace of its existence. When there is no information about a game available, gamers will be less likely to talk about it, and can only rely on memory or rumors.
Arguably, good video games will not go ?missing? for future generations of gamers. This is undeniably true, or likely, of AAA titles because publishers will continue to see the revenue created from our biggest blockbusters. However, this is completely ignoring a plethora of gaming accomplishments, and given today?s technology the possibility of maintaining a comprehensive database of mankind?s games is very possible.
That is, if you were to eliminate restrictions created by copyrighted and licensed information, we could ideally have access to ?every video game ever made.? It is highly unlikely that a home console could support this, but with computers it is not very outlandish. Of course much of this would be emulations of previous games, although it is an issue that will come up eventually no matter what we do. To put it bluntly, future televisions and devices will not use the same cables we use today. Eventually there will be a point where old consoles are simply incompatible with (what are now) futuristic TVs. Thus eliminating millions from having any desire to play these archaic video games.
It can of course be argued that games are one such medium that do not age over time. Super Mario World is not guaranteed to have the same lasting value as a piece of art akin to Starry Night. But if we really wish games to be valued on a similar level to ?proper art? then our 4D media that we?re such big fans of need a way to last through generations. Reboots and HD upgrades are simply not enough.
Currently, this problem is really only an issue with a few markets and niches. For Achievement Hunters, there is about to be a drastic rise in the amount of unavailable or games which cannot be completed. Largely affected by online servers and poor development in the past, Windows 8 is taking over where Games for Windows Live once stood. Classic and retro gamers are slowly being affected, but can currently play any console with converter cables or even super illegal computer ROMs.
I?m not saying every video game is a masterpiece. But we owe it to the developers to preserve their creations whenever possible. Some genres and mediums are simply not possible or logical. Compare the online MMO to modern pieces of art or experiments like the dada movement. What are we to do with topical pieces? Put them in a museum? Throw them away? Or just move onto the next game, and value video games as only a temporal enjoyment?
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