EQ1 - University of Texas to Archive Video Games : EQ1 EverQuest 1 News

RPGVault's Jonric reports in his blog this week that he has learned of a project to archive video games:

"During my trip to the Austin Game Developers Conference last week, I had occasion to learn a bit about a project that has drawn the support of quite a few well known figures from that area, the Videogame Archive of the University of Texas at Austin's Center for American History, which "facilitates, sponsors, and supports teaching, research, and public education". In this instance, its worthy goal is to collect materials that will help those who wish to know about the history of the industry before they are lost forever.

Two notable individuals involved are Warren Spector and Richard Garriott, who are said to have pledged most of their personal collections. They were among four co-chairs of a fundraiser hosted by the latter the evening prior to the conference. It brought in $75,000, which would seem to represent a solid initial step toward establishing ongoing funding for the endeavor. The first goal is apparently twice that, with the next target being a $3 million endowment."

Although many games are preserved and played today through emulators, having an archive of materials, actual games, and consoles is an important preservation project.

Along the same lines as Austin's project, I have heard of an initiative to preserve some of the original code base of games such as EverQuest, so it could be seen in its original form.

I would hope that the archive could sponsor exhibits once it gets off the ground so the public can see the evolution of computer gaming.

http://blogs.ign.com/JonricVN/2007/09/14