The importance of personal memories for videogame history is further explored in the case study of the Popular Memory Archive (PMA). ![]() Through examination of retro gamer sites and other player made artefacts, I develop a novel argument for the importance of player memory in capturing how people experienced videogames and engaged with broader game culture. Online retro gamer communities have created extensive archives of early microcomputer games, developing systems and procedures for their preservation and documentation. In addressing the challenges of curating videogames, which are understood as both ‘artefacts and experiences’, I explore what museums can learn from the practices of retro game communities. Responding to this need, I undertake research on an important chapter of Australian videogame history. Notable scholars to have proposed the need for such a historiography include Raiford Guins, Henry Lowood, Jakko Suominen and Melanie Swalwell. Local game histories form a crucial component of a response to the call for a critical historiography of videogames. This thesis examines the curation of a local history of Australian videogames for the era of the microcomputer and, in the process, provides an example of how museums can effectively engage with online communities to document and display videogames. There are, however, minimal examples of how museums might realize this opportunity. The importance of the work of retro gamers and fan communities within the field of videogame preservation has been acknowledged and the need for institutional collaboration with these communities has also been recognised. It will also be useful for those interested in the wider role of culture, technology, and consumption in the transformation of society, identities, and communities. This book will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, interested in fields such Video Games, Sociology, and Media and Cultural Studies. Drawing on new and original empirical data – including interviews with gamers, as well as key representatives from the video game industry, media, education, and cultural sector – Video Games as Culture not only considers contemporary video game culture, but also explores how video games provide important insights into the modern nature of digital and participatory culture, patterns of consumption and identity formation, late modernity, and contemporary political rationalities. ![]() Video games are becoming an increasingly central part of our cultural lives, impacting on various aspects of everyday life such as our consumption, communities, and identity formation. But what does their popularity say about our contemporary society? This book explores video game culture, but in doing so, utilizes video games as a lens through which to understand contemporary social life. Video games are becoming culturally dominant.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |