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Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

embracergamesarchive.com

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Re: Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

#21

Post by ThrowawayR2 »

failrate wrote: post #20
ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What other archives or museums are there for video games that are accepting donations of physical game media? There are probably a lot of HN readers with old games in the attic that are bound for the landfill once they get around to it.

https://www.themade.org/

> "To donate items to the MADE, bring your donation to the front desk during open hours."

Quite a long trip for many. That seems to signify that they're not a large enough organization to be an archive.

Re: Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

#22

Post by SteveMoody73 »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #12
mpeg wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The archive isn't even open to the public, why should the public donate games then?

What other archives or museums are there for video games that are accepting donations of physical game media? There are probably a lot of HN readers with old games in the attic that are bound for the landfill once they get around to it.

Not a museum or archive as such but in the UK there is this https://www.rmcretro.com/

Has a large collection of old systems and games, magazines and anything else they can get hold of. It's also open to visitors.

Re: Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

#23

Post by mzajc »

From their FAQ

> Can I visit the archive?

> The archive is for everyone, and we welcome all inquiries. However, we prioritize requests that support gaming culture, gaming history, and the games industry. /../ While the archive is not open to the public, we hope /../

The archive is for everyone, but it's only for these groups of people, and it's also not open to the public... Yikes.

I'd much rather support initiatives that actually make the games and software required to run them open to the public, like GOG.com and Internet Archive. This feels like a one-way transaction - society puts games in, society gets nothing back.

Re: Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

#24

Post by GauntletWizard »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #12
mpeg wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The archive isn't even open to the public, why should the public donate games then?

What other archives or museums are there for video games that are accepting donations of physical game media? There are probably a lot of HN readers with old games in the attic that are bound for the landfill once they get around to it.

https://oldbytes.space/@bloopmuseum

Re: Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

#25

Post by deaddodo »

dtech wrote: post #18
ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What other archives or museums are there for video games that are accepting donations of physical game media? There are probably a lot of HN readers with old games in the attic that are bound for the landfill once they get around to it.

I know of one in my small country, I thus assume there's many especially in the US

Embracer Games is Swedish, not American.

Re: Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

#26

Post by DonHopkins »

nomdep wrote: post #16
Y_Y wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there something specific in that corporate saga you're referring to? I'm not inclined to trust corporate do-gooding either, but it would be nice to have some detail.

Well, for starters, partially owned by the Saudi state. It might be common to take a lot of money from them, but I personally think it’s morally wrong

So they embrace game developers, then cut them up into small pieces with a bone saw?

Then they disposed of the Pieces Interactive by feeding them to Piranha Bytes!

Re: Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

#28

Post by DonHopkins »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #12
mpeg wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The archive isn't even open to the public, why should the public donate games then?

What other archives or museums are there for video games that are accepting donations of physical game media? There are probably a lot of HN readers with old games in the attic that are bound for the landfill once they get around to it.

The Video Game History Foundation is the real deal.

https://gamehistory.org/

Their Library Director Phil Salvador is a serious historian, who extensively researched, interviewed people, and wrote a comprehensive deep dive into the history of Maxis's serious games division, Maxis Business Simulations, John Hiles, and SimRefinery.

It was such an widely read, well received investigation, that it led to the recovery of SimRefinery when a reader discovered an old floppy disk of it that had been sitting in a drawer for decades!

https://archive.org/details/sim-refinery

https://gamehistory.org/library-director-phil-salvador/

https://gamehistory.org/ep-11-simrefinery-simulated-by-a-ref...

https://obscuritory.com/

https://obscuritory.com/sim/when-simcity-got-serious/

https://obscuritory.com/sim/simrefinery-recovered/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ6Cqn5rTfs

Re: Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

#29

Post by rasz »

mzajc wrote: post #23

From their FAQ > Can I visit the archive? > The archive is for everyone, and we welcome all inquiries. However, we prioritize requests that support gaming culture, gaming history, and the games industry. /../ While the archive is not open to the public, we hope /../ The archive is for everyone, but it's only for these groups of people, and it's also not open to the public... Yikes. I'd much rather support initiatives…

>The archive is for everyone, but it's only for these groups of people, and it's also not open to the public...

Its Lars Wingefors private collection.

Re: Embracer Games Archive is preserving 75000 video games and needs contributions

#30

Post by dlundqvist »

merbanan wrote: post #8

Doesn't seem like they are digitising the media.

No, only cataloguing. I asked them this when I was there January last year. They didn't do this then and if I remember correctly it was because of licensing concerns and also not wanting to open boxes. I know Royal Library in Stockholm digitally archive various media, not sure what Embracer would need to be allowed to do that.
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