Best Before: videogames, supersession and obsolescence

Despite record sales and an ever-growing global industry, the simple fact is that videogames are disappearing. Best Beforeexamines the ways in which the obsessions with technological obsolescence and supersession and an industry defined by continual innovation have effectively closed down the possibility of valuing old videogames in any way other than curiosities or waypoints along the teleological journey to the next generation of hardware and software. James Newman presents videogames as new media in need of preservation and discusses the practical and conceptual challenges faced by the emerging group of memory and heritage organisations dedicated to saving and interpreting these rich, complex and mutable texts and the cultures of gameplay and fandom that surround and support them. In addition, Best Beforeoffers a series of in-depth case studies that explore aspects of videogame preservation such as the efficacy of hardware and software emulation, the place of the artefact in an increasingly virtual world, the role of the fan as archivist and researcher, and the challenges of exhibiting videogame materials.