Video games have gained recognition as a form of culture from the British government, reports gamesindustry.biz.
The site has an interview posted with Iain Symonds and James Newman of the UK's National Videogames Archive, which is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Symonds discussed the significance of the project:
It's a DCMS-funded project, and a partnership between Nottingham Trent University and the National Media Museum, and it's the first of its kind in terms of central government investment. In terms of the problems the industry has faced in government lobbying this is a pretty significant step forward for the public sector and a sense of cultural art.
Newman adds:
The biggest thing really was being ambitious about the scope of the things we were going to collect, because the temptation is just to collect games and consoles, and fetish-ise the object. It's not only the fan side, but also the production side of things as well - those stories that don't get told.
Some of the interesting things we're doing... is an expression of some of the archive work - some of the director's commentaries, stuff that you just don't hear, that you're used to hearing in film, and treating it as art, as craft. So Martin Hollis talking about GoldenEye, talking about it in a way that you've never seen before - even for fans of the game that know it inside out, it's a new perspective.
For those interested in the cultrual impact of video games, the full interview is defintely worth a read.
Comments
Re: UK Government Funds National Video Game Archive
I wonder... is this the first initiative of its kind anywhere in the world?
Re: UK Government Funds National Video Game Archive
its about time
now maybe I have a place to send my collection should something happen to me
come to think of it though your right other than valve Im hard pressed to think of other games that do include commentaries without being part of a special or limited edition. I think one of the jak and daxter games had commentaries for the cut scenes I think.
Re: UK Government Funds National Video Game Archive
Directors commentary, period. In most cases with DVD's, commentaries are saved for the special editions.
---
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
Re: UK Government Funds National Video Game Archive
I wish more games had the Valve-style director's commentaries. Really insightful into the makings and workings of a game.
Re: UK Government Funds National Video Game Archive
It's odd how they don't, really. It's kind of a given that any movie released on DVD will feature behind-the-scenes... um... features, and optional director's commentary track. Some even have multiple commentary tracks and scene dissection.
Valve's witterings are genuinely interesting, telling you things that they had to drop or giving reasons behind the evolution of certain sections of the games. Even more interesting are the deconstruction elements, when they point out how the scenery is designed to lure you in the right direction or attract your attention to a certain vista at just the right time to see an in-game cutscene play out.
I kind of suspect the reason we don't see more of it is that too many titles are way too formulaic and poorly designed. "We added this lever puzzle because, y'know, we had a physics engine and thought it would be cool."
Re: UK Government Funds National Video Game Archive
Will people be able to play some of these games from an NVA-operated building or website? Now, THAT would be cool.
---
Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.