Gotta Save 'Em All?: The Challenge of Variant Forms in Video Game Preservation

From Academia.edu https://nyu.academia.edu/RebeccaHernandezGerber / https://www.academia.edu/8066333/Gotta_Save_Em_All_The_Challenge_of_Variant_Forms_in_Video_Game_Preservation "This thesis proposes a new framework for video game preservation and a shift to considering variant forms an intrinsic characteristic of video games. Alterations to variants can be quantified and discussed with a standardized lexicon rather than vague, contradictory industry or archival terminology. It is the interaction between variants that acts as the foundation of how video games are acquired, preserved, and made accessible for the long-term. In short, consideration of variant forms is proposed as the center of video game preservation as a practice. It is only then that video games preserved by an institution can truly represent the rich history of the medium."