[...] - GDC Panel Identifies Key Games for Preservation http://gamepolitics.com/2007/03/21/gdc-panel-offer-list-of… [...]

if you are into Sudoku you shall check out Kakuro which is a new puzzle game that's getting popular lately :-)

Well, you can deny it all you want. You would be wrong, but you can deny it. And yeah, why not just archive every video game? No point in fighting over it to decide "The most worthy" when, with a decent computer, they could have image files of most games pre-2000 backed up in maybe a month.

[...] Finally, here’s a little nod to the good ‘ole US of A.  The Library of Congress is contemplating preserving digital media as part of our national cultural heritage.  While this may be a no-brainer for anyone under the age of 40, it’s a big step in the right direction from the old guard - especially at a time when more and more inane legislation is being introduced to govern gamers. Sphere It [...]

Why didn't any of the Command & Conquer games made it on that list and yet the Warcraft games did?

I totally agree with this list, I also hope they preserve Aliens Doom TC, that was one freaking awesome WAD.

I think if they're going to add games to a prestegious list like this, they need to break it down into genres so that games of a similar nature will be judged in comparison to their peers - comparing MechWarrior to Warcraft: Orcs and Humans is just silly.

Bust it up onto Early games (Pong, Space Raider, Missile Command), and at some cutoff break out into Strategy, RPG, FPS, Racing, Arcade, etc... with different catagories under each of these for console and PC based gaming. That way we're not comparing Golden Eye with HalfLife. Both are good games (hell, great games), but the experience differs greatly between FPS games on different platforms - mouse/keyboard allows a lot more leeway in what the developers can do because of no mouse-speed restrictions and more buttons available. By breaking things up like this, I think GDC would have a more accurate representation of games that are worth preserving.

Now how are they going to preserve them so people can play them??

@goodRobotUs
Tetris is on the list and wasn't that game first made in Russia?

Also forgot to add...

Final Fantasy VII
Dune 2

@JoeBourrie

You're right...............

In that case, I wonder why Space Invaders isn't on that list?

Oh well, I suppose they had to pick the 'definitive of each genre' RTS, FPS, Space Shooter, Platform, City Builder and Sports, with special mention to SpaceWars for being the first.

Sorry to multi- post,
One more to add
Street Fighter 2

@michael,
what definitions are you talking about?

one more to add to the list
Prince of Persia (original version, the PC platformer)

@jer

chosing your definitions, Elite could count

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(computer_game)

My university (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) recently began a major program in Interactive Media and Game Development, and as part of that, I worked on a project with the school library to begin the Special Games Archive for historical purposes and for student use as examples and resources. Members of my project (not me personally) actually interviewed Mr. Lowood about his work at the collection over at Stanford. What we came up with for prioritization of games is actually a little different than the whole list thing. See, we tried to come up with 50 prime games that were key to the archive, and were so mixed up trying to
1) survey the whole of the history of games for standout examples
2) determine among us the exact ordering of each title comparitively
and 3) pick a single game from a famous series to represent it
that ultimately it was obvious to us that it's far too subjective to do this.
What we came up with was a tier system, that, though far from optimal and a lot less useful in the short-term, is much better at addressing priorities. Basically, a game is scored overall based on it's merits in the individual areas of Fame/Infamy, Age (we for instance set a threshhold for games at 25 years old, where anything older was worth actively looking for), Rarity, and Quality(note that exceptionally bad also qualifies, e.g. ET for the Atari). I like to call it the FARQ tier system (pronounced "fark you").


Anyway, it's pretty clear that video games are probably the emergin dominant medium, and it would certainly be a total shame to miss the opportunity to document its rise as accurately and faithfully as possible. While I appreciate for the short term truths that certain games should be called out individually for preservation, I disagree severly with their choices. They appear to have gone for personal favorites and games that are of a particular calibur, where they need to be preserving the more historically significant titles. I agree with 1-5, and probably Doom, too, but the entire Warcraft series, but only Super Mario Bros. 3 out of that whole series? And they all upstaged Pong, Asteroids, AND Donkey Kong? This is just more evidence that it's far too large and far too subjective a task to be done this way.

@Suspect

"What does Warren Spector have to do with Spore?"

Ack! You are correct, it should be Deus Ex, not Spore. I goofed.

Not all games in a series will be archived,however the best of the series of its class/era.


So out of SM,SMB1-3 SMB3 would be the best choice.

GDC Panel Identifies Key Games for Preservation...

...

I'd like to see Yar's Revenge get nominated. It was definitely the best game from the Atari 2600 era.

Where is Zelda...

....Sensible World of Soccer?

I remember Star Raiders for the Atari 800, it was the first video game I ever played, and definitely merits preservation - as it was, perhaps, one of the first cockpit-perspective space-shooters.

I'm surprised Pong didn't make the list though.

What does Warren Spector have to do with Spore?

Oh, sweet. If this doesn't scream "Videogames are art" to Congress, nothing will.

I'm pretty sure there's a stipulation in the DMCA about the Library of Congress being able to violate the act for archival purposes.

And what would it take to back up the NES catalog? Like two CDs?