Next Generation. Preserving, curating and exhibiting videogames: a UK-Japanese collaborative approach.

In 2018, videogames are more widely available across a greater array of platforms than ever before. The number of games available for current smartphone devices outweighs the libraries for all the consoles produced in the 1980s and 1990s combined. Gaming is a key leisure pursuit with gameplay undertaken not only by those identifying as 'gamers'; professional play through e-sports or streaming gameplay are growing sites for creative expression and commercial opportunity; game development and the creation of innovative gameplay remains a cornerstone of the UK creative economy and a vital cultural export.

And yet, for all this, the simple fact is that videogames are disappearing.

Every day, consoles stop working; data becomes unreadable as floppy discs, CDs and DVDs fail; servers are taken offline as companies focus on newer titles; companies go out of business leaving products abandoned and unsupported and the knowledge and expertise of developers, players, critics and commentators is lost forever.

As the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Game Preservation Special Interest Group noted in 2009, we need to act 'before it's too late'. Ten years later, the situation has only become more urgent.

But what form should this action take and whose responsibility is it?
The UK and Japan are two of the powerhouses of videogame creativity and development and represent two of the largest markets in the world. The UK and Japan helped to create the global games industry so it is only right that they should take the lead in ensuring its future.

Over the last few years a number of universities, museums and private collectors, in the UK and Japan have begun to take action. In Kyoto, Ritsumeikan University has been building a collection of Japanese gaming hardware and software, documenting every game published in Japan since the 1980s, and working with Nintendo to find solutions to keep old games playable. In the UK, the NVM (formerly National Videogame Arcade) opened in 2015 to provide a dedicated space to showcase different types of videogames, tell the stories of their development, and experiment with different ways of making them available to diverse audiences.

Despite the fact that organisations such as these have recognised the urgency of the videogame preservation and exhibition problem, this activity is uncoordinated and there are very few opportunities for collaboration between UK and Japanese researchers, curators, collectors and exhibition designers. It is is not clear what form preservation or exhibition action could or should take as videogames continue to transform with new types of gameplay, new platforms and technologies such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality joining massively multiplayer online networked games to further complicate our idea of what constitutes a videogame and gameplay and what the object and focus of preservation should be.

Next Generation will find ways to help museum curators, university researchers, fans and collectors in the UK and Japan collaborate more effectively to develop new and innovative solutions to the challenges of preserving, interpreting and exhibiting videogames. The four key objectives are:
- Map existing videogame preservation, curation and exhibition work across the UK and Japan to understand what materials are being cared for and where there are gaps

- Document the risk factors affecting videogames in order to identify which materials are particularly challenging and vulnerable to becoming permanently inaccessible for future generations of researchers, developers and museum-goers

- Consider current strategies for game preservation and curation while identifying and championing new thinking and the development of new techniques, strategies and goals

- Develop ways to enable museums, galleries and university researchers to collaborate on preserving and exhibiting videogames and lay the foundations for a major UK-Japanese exhibition

Next Generation speaks to a diverse range of academic beneficiaries across the UK and Japan. While research and dissemination strategy has been designed to maximise the impact and reach of the project's findings, particular focus is placed on scholars working in the fields of digital preservation, curation and exhibition, videogame studies, media histories and archaeologists and area studies. As game history and preservation have risen up the research agenda, questions of long term access and ways of interpreting complex digital games based around unsupported and fragile technologies and contingent on experience, knowledge and performance skill have taken centre stage.

As videogame hardware and software continues to fade into obsolescence and digital distribution renders data yet more immaterial than ever, it has become apparent that urgent action is required. As such, questions of preservation, curation and access have become central concerns for scholars working across digital media. It is clear also that games preservation theorists and practitioners have led the way in these debates and occupy a unique position in being able to offer insight and leadership across disciplines.

In order to ensure that Next Generation's findings are most effectively communicated to its targeted academic beneficiaries, a differentiated approach to outputs and dissemination has been designed.

Presentation at the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) conference and Replaying Japan conference.
Beneficiaries: With both conferences scheduled for Kyoto August 2019, they provide a perfect opportunity to reach the widest possible audience of videogame scholars. The bi-annual DiGRA conference is the largest in the discipline and presents an excellent platform for the discussion of preservation, interpretation and exhibition issues as these cut to the very heart of game studies and longterm access to the objects of study. Replaying Japan is the most important meeting of Japanese game studies scholars and, as such, provides a platform for a discussion of collaborative opportunities and the research and exhibition opportunities from distinctive Japanese contexts e.g. domestically produced games unreleased outside Japan or the public performances in Game Centers. Presentations at these two key conferences will help scholars identify and prioritise areas for future interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and highlight opportunities for game studies scholars to collaborate across sectors.

Journal article on innovation in curation and exhibition activity in the UK and Japan.
Beneficiaries: Game/Digital curation practitioners and games history researchers. The article will help to move forward discussions of preservation theory and practice and set the agenda for future work by showcasing innovative approaches to interpretation. By identifying the extent of current work and areas of priority and risk, the article will assist with the co-ordination and distribution of game curation effort.

Best Practice Guidelines on Videogame Curation and Exhibition
Beneficiaries: The Best Practice Guidelines will directly inform the strategies and practice of the National Videogame Museum and Ritsumeikan Center for Game Studies in relation to industry, institutional and private collector collaboration

The Best Practice Guidelines will also benefit the broader constituency of researchers working with videogame collections by setting out current best practice and providing case studies of innovation and new research perspectives on interpretation and access. By identifying the challenges and opportunities of working with game developers, collecting and exhibiting material, and identifying international collaboration opportunities, the Guidelines will both capture the current state of the art and help shape future research trajectories in the field.