The results of a new study conducted by both The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) and Software Preservation Network (SPN) have revealed that 87% of video games made prior to 2010 in the United States are “critically endangered”.
That definition means they are either entirely inaccessible, unable to be purchased in physical or digital form, or extremely difficult to play requiring the use of unofficial downloads, emulators, and/or fan remakes to play. Even then plenty are simply ‘gone’ at least from the public eye.
The VGHF is dedicated to game preservation and spreading awareness about the need to archive games and keep them accessible. VGHF is hoping the results of the report will lead to “expanded exemptions for libraries and organizations preserving video games”.
The hope is to get preservation efforts for video games more in line with that of books, movies, and audio. Whereas film studios make concerted efforts to maintain their film libraries, the same isn’t necessarily true of games.
The group’s founder Frank Cifaldi said in the wake of the study this week that: “It’s practically guaranteed that something you grew up with is gone, forever.”
The topic of game preservation became a hot button one earlier this year when Nintendo shut down its WiiU and 3DS eShops. The study looked at a random sample of 1,500 titles out of some 27,000 released between 1960 to 2009.
Source: Ars Technica
