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YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

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Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#51

Post by thfuran »

orcdork wrote: post #47
chillacy wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Museums don’t own all of their collections though, and they too make decisions on what to display at any moment. Not all objects are worthy of display, some get rotated out back into some rich person’s attic.

I'd be very interested to hear about any respectable museum that sends off items that are not displayed to be stored into some rich person's attic (or for display at a private residence as I assume you are implying).

What else would a museum do with a piece on loan to them that they don't want anymore besides return it to the owner? That could be another museum or a private collection.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#52

Post by jonhohle »

Noos wrote: post #34

I don't know if they are. Emulating games is not really preserving them in a sense, because it can't reproduce the hardware or experience as it actually was very well. Like you can play Ridge Racer type 4 in emulation, but part of that game's history was the special controller it was bundled with, which let you twist the middle of it to enable analog steering wheel control. Like you can't emulate Boktai without the s…

> which reduces them some

This is absolutely true, however, I favor availability over attempting to recreate the experience perfectly. There is, in fact, no perfect way to recreate the experience because everyone’s experience differs. I played 8- and 16- and even 32-bit systems over RF on a 19” Magnavox, recording gameplay to VHS. Others may have gotten Ridge Racer secondhand and never had the custom controller. A CRT was integral to my experience, but is impractical for most people.

I enjoy retro gaming and go through stupid lengths to get classic systems looking good on modern displays. It’s expensive, takes up a ton of space, and requires a depth of knowledge in broadcast standards and signal processing beyond what most are willing to dig into.

When I want to sit down and enjoy a favorite game with my kids, Virtual Console, Classic/Mini systems, or emulators (software or hardware) allow us to focus on having fun together. Cycle accurate reproduction doesn’t come into play.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#53

Post by capitol_ »

orcdork wrote: post #47
chillacy wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Museums don’t own all of their collections though, and they too make decisions on what to display at any moment. Not all objects are worthy of display, some get rotated out back into some rich person’s attic.

I'd be very interested to hear about any respectable museum that sends off items that are not displayed to be stored into some rich person's attic (or for display at a private residence as I assume you are implying).

The modern art museum here in stockholm often borrow items for their exhibitions, from other museums, artists or private collectors.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#54

Post by drbawb »

shmerl wrote: post #43

What you need to preserve it are games sold on GOG and other DRM-free stores.

Completely agree. There's no "preserving" a game that requires online-services to run. As an example: I can play CS 1.6 as long as I have binaries for the client & server. (As well as an OS to run them.) Overwatch, on the other hand, I can only play for as long as Activision/Blizzard continue to operate the servers. They won't do that indefinitely: running dedicated servers in regional datacenters dotted across the globe isn't free. Once OW stops being profitable those servers will go dark. The same holds for any number of games that rely on DRM & proprietary online services to run.

Videos of the game being played on YouTube may be preserving _one person's experience_ of the game, but it's not preservation of the game. In my opinion a "video game preservation effort" looks more like the communities producing server emulators for now-defunct MMORPGs, and less like people recording their screen in OBS for their ten minutes of fame.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#55

Post by orcdork »

thfuran wrote: post #51
orcdork wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very interested to hear about any respectable museum that sends off items that are not displayed to be stored into some rich person's attic (or for display at a private residence as I assume you are implying).

What else would a museum do with a piece on loan to them that they don't want anymore besides return it to the owner? That could be another museum or a private collection.

That's neither what you said nor how museum loans work though.

Loaned items are specifically loaned to be displayed for a length of time, it's not like borrowing a grass trimmer off of facebook.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#56

Post by bluGill »

orcdork wrote: post #47
chillacy wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Museums don’t own all of their collections though, and they too make decisions on what to display at any moment. Not all objects are worthy of display, some get rotated out back into some rich person’s attic.

I'd be very interested to hear about any respectable museum that sends off items that are not displayed to be stored into some rich person's attic (or for display at a private residence as I assume you are implying).

If you have a valuable artifact that you don't have on display, renting it for a large sum to someone is a reasonable thing to do. Of course it goes without saying that you ensure whoever gets it takes care of it. Better it be on display at a rich person's house where I might get an invite to see it than in the basement where nobody can see it.

As has been noted museums tend to be on the brink of financial insolvency. Getting a rich person to rent some art is a valid way to get enough money to stay solvent and continue to provide art to others. There is a lot more great art worth preserving than there are museums in the world.

Note, the above is not a comment on IF it is done. I have no idea if it is possible for someone to actually do this.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#57

Post by cabalamat »

velcrovan wrote: post #3

Does YouTube have any incentive to “preserve” anything once it costs them more money than it brings in? If not, maybe it's a little early to say they are actually preserving anything. (The article does kind of acknowledge this.) Maybe its real role is as a link in a chain that leads to /r/datahoarders

> Does YouTube have any incentive to “preserve” anything once it costs them more money than it brings in?

They clearly have little incentive to do so.

If there was a law that prevented websites from using technical or legal means to stop people scraping user-generated content, then I would agree that YouTube has not such obligation.

But since they make it hard for people to make archives of their content, then I think they do have a moral obligation to keep it up.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#58

Post by jon-wood »

nostalgk wrote: post #7

Owing to that I simply no longer have space or money to repair my older consoles, I've often turned to these let's plays to relive some of my favorite video games. With every new console generation, backwards compatibility is discussed as one of the main points of contention, yet continually it is shelved. Because of this, I am skeptical of the rumors of the supposed universal compatibility that the Playstation 5 may…

The XBox One's emulation is fantastic in the odd occasion I've used it to play a 360 game - other than the shape of the controller you'd be hard pressed to tell that you're not in fact using an XBox 360.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#59

Post by orcdork »

bluGill wrote: post #56
orcdork wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very interested to hear about any respectable museum that sends off items that are not displayed to be stored into some rich person's attic (or for display at a private residence as I assume you are implying).

If you have a valuable artifact that you don't have on display, renting it for a large sum to someone is a reasonable thing to do. Of course it goes without saying that you ensure whoever gets it takes care of it. Better it be on display at a rich person's house where I might get an invite to see it than in the basement where nobody can see it. As has been noted museums tend to be on the brink of financial insolvency…

Nothing like "loaning" out cultural heritage on the basis of who's the most solvent, museums or rich people.

Re: YouTube “Let's Play”s are preserving video game history

#60

Post by minimaxir »

It's worth noting that video game LPs as a format in general have been on a downtown lately, likely because streaming (a la Twitch) has been on the rise, is more profitable, and requires substantially less post-production work. The implosion of the Something Awful forums which incentivized the creation of high production-value LPs didn't help.
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