Video: How to save game history forever -- or doom it to oblivion

"Games.

"Games. Have. Historical. Value. If you don't think games have historical value, everything I say is gonna be a guy talking about stuff you don't care about."

That was the opening salvo of Jason Scott's energetic talk at GDC 2015 earlier this year. Scott currently works as a curator and archivist at the Internet Archive, and during his talk he spoke out against the apathy and indifference that too often leads critical pieces of game history to be thrown away, destroyed or otherwise lost forever

To try and stem the tide, Scott offered a wide range of approaches to saving game history and discussed the Internet Archive's headline-grabbingin-browser emulation systems, which have allowed long-dead software to be experienced immediately and dependably for research, reference, and entertainment.

It was a very charming, frank talk on the contemporary challenges of preserving our industry's history, and anyone who missed it in person can now watch it for free over on the GDC Vault.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vaultand its new YouTube channeloffers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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