Below is a curated collection of research on videogame preservation, exhibition, and history and heritage.
Contributions and additions to this VHS Bibliography are updated periodically.
VHS Bibliography
Aravani, F., (2016). ‘Play’s the thing: keeping old games alive’. Museum of London [blog]. Available at: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/plays-thing-keeping-old-games-alive
Dyson, J-P. C., (2021). ‘Building a Video Game Collection: Lessons Learned from The Strong’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games’. International Public History. 4 (1). pp. 7-16.
Earle, L and McCree, N., (2020). ‘Sound of Play’. BBC: New Creatives. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07zy1m9
GDC. (2016). ‘“It’s Just Emulation!” – The Challenge of Selling Old Games: Frank Cifaldi’. YouTube. 29 April. Available at: https://youtu.be/HLWY7fCXUwE
GDC. (2019). ‘It’s Still Emulation: Saving Video Game History Before It’s Too Late: Frank Cifaldi’. YouTube. 11 April. Available at: https://youtu.be/dp-DRU24J18
Grabarczyk, P and Aarseth, E., (2019). ‘Port or Conversion? An Ontological Framework for Classifying Game Versions’. DiGRA: Proceedings of the 2019 DiGRA International Conference: Game, Play and the Emerging Ludo-Mix. Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto: DiGRA. Available at: http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/DiGRA_2019_paper_189.pdf
Guay-Bélanger, D., (2021). ‘Assembling Auras: Towards a Methodology for the Preservation and Study of Video Games as Cultural Heritage Artefacts’. Games and Culture. 0 (0). pp. 1-20.
Guay-Bélanger, D., (2021). ‘”How do we play this thing?” The State of Historical Research on Videogames’. International Public History. 4 (1). pp. 1-6.
‘Learning Games Initiative Research Archive’. LIGRA. Available at: http://lgira.mesmernet.org/
McDonough, J et al. (2010). Preserving Virtual Worlds Final Report. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/17097
Montfort, N and Bogost, I., (2009). Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System. London: The MIT Press.
Newman, J., (2013). ‘Illegal Deposit: Game Preservation and/as Software Piracy’. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. 19 (1). pp. 45-61.
Newman, J., (2011). ‘(Not) Playing Games: Player-Produced Walkthroughs as Archival Documents of Digital Gameplay’. The International Journal of Digital Curation. 6 (2). pp. 109-127.
Newman, J., (2015). ‘Online Game Preservation’. In P.H. Ang and R. Mansell (eds.) The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Newman. J., (2019). ‘Saving (and Re-Saving) Videogames: Rethinking Emulation for Preservation, Exhibition and Interpretation’. The International Journal of Creative Media Research. 1 (1). Available at: https://ijcmr.online/2/article/view/104/127
Newman. J., (2018). ‘The Game Inspector: a case study in gameplay preservation’. Kinephanos: Journal of Media Studies and Popular Culture. 5 (1). pp. 120-148.
Pambuko Jiwandono, H and Relanika Purwandi, E., (2021). ‘Playful Curation: A Case Study of Doki-Doki Station Museum’s Role in Preserving Digital Game History in Indonesia’. International Public History. 4 (1). pp. 17-23.
Pennington, M., (2022). ‘Limited Inclusion, Ritualised Exclusion: Virtual Representations of Women’s Football’. In R. Guins, H. Lowood and C. Wing (eds.) Feeling the Game: Thinking Critically about EA Sport’s FIFA Series. New York: Bloomsbury.
Swalwell, M., (2021). Homebrew Gaming and the Beginnings of Vernacular Digitality. London: The MIT Press.
Swalwell, M., (2017). “Moving on from the Original Experience: Philosophies of preservation and dis/play in game history”. In M. Swalwell, H. Stuckey and A. Ndalianis (eds.) Fans and Videogames: Histories, Fandom, Archives. New York: Routledge. pp. 213-233.
The Strong. (2017). “Video Game Play Capture Project”, The Strong National Museum of Play. Available at: http://www.museumofplay.org/about/icheg/play-capture