Overview

Despite record sales and an ever-growing global industry, the simple fact is that videogames are disappearing. Best Before examines the ways in which the obsessions with technological obsolescence and supersession and an industry defined by continual innovation have effectively closed down the possibility of valuing old videogames in any way other than curiosities or waypoints along the teleological journey to the next generation of hardware and software. James Newman presents videogames as new media in need of preservation and discusses the practical and conceptual challenges faced by the emerging group of memory and heritage organisations dedicated to saving and interpreting these rich, complex and mutable texts and the cultures of gameplay and fandom that surround and support them. In addition, Best Before offers a series of in-depth case studies that explore aspects of videogame preservation such as the efficacy of hardware and software emulation, the place of the artefact in an increasingly virtual world, the role of the fan as archivist and researcher, and the challenges of exhibiting videogame materials.

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9780415577915

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James Newman is Senior Lecturer in Media Communications, Film and Cultural Studies at Bath Spa University. His principal research interests include videogames, digital media and the cultures of media fandoms. In addition to numerous journal articles and conference papers, he is the author of five books on videogames and gaming cultures including Videogames (2004) and Playing with Videogames (2008). James is a co-founder of The National Videogame Archive and is presently seconded to Nottingham Trent University where he acts as a project-lead for the Archive and as advisor and producer for the GameCity festival. a

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