Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
We've had repeated conversations around, and interest in, games preservation. Everyone seems to agree that game preservation is a good thing that we need to achieve, but we don't seem to have stopped to ask what preservation is.
Is the endgame of games preservation a publicly available library of all published games? Is it getting developers, publishers and platform holders to backup and store their source code, raw asset files and promotional materials? What about other media, such as gaming magazines, TV adverts and merchandise?
Finally, if we did have access to every game ever made, would we have the time or inclination to actually play them? Can any of us meaningfully contribute to dissecting what does and doesn't work in order to then make better games going forwards?
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/samwebster.bsky.social
Patreon: patreon.com/SJWebster
Discord: discord.gg/uXhutbVSN7
00:00 - Introduction
00:20 - Separating the cases for physical games and preservation
04:53 - Defining games preservation
10:03 - PlayStation's internal preservation team
13:13 - Community preservation efforts
16:29 - Do consumers need a public library of games?
18:45 - Accepting some experiences can't be preserved
#gamesPreservation #gamingHistory #retrogaming
We've had repeated conversations around, and interest in, games preservation. Everyone seems to agree that game preservation is a good thing that we need to achieve, but we don't seem to have stopped to ask what preservation is.
Is the endgame of games preservation a publicly available library of all published games? Is it getting developers, publishers and platform holders to backup and store their source code, raw asset files and promotional materials? What about other media, such as gaming magazines, TV adverts and merchandise?
Finally, if we did have access to every game ever made, would we have the time or inclination to actually play them? Can any of us meaningfully contribute to dissecting what does and doesn't work in order to then make better games going forwards?
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/samwebster.bsky.social
Patreon: patreon.com/SJWebster
Discord: discord.gg/uXhutbVSN7
00:00 - Introduction
00:20 - Separating the cases for physical games and preservation
04:53 - Defining games preservation
10:03 - PlayStation's internal preservation team
13:13 - Community preservation efforts
16:29 - Do consumers need a public library of games?
18:45 - Accepting some experiences can't be preserved
#gamesPreservation #gamingHistory #retrogaming
