Spelar spelare någon roll? Svenska spelares tankar kring och erfarenheter av spelbevarande ur ett arkivperspektiv

Sammanfattning

This master thesis examines positions to long-term preservation of digital games in Sweden. Digital games are a new artform and type of cultural heritage but few actions have been taken to preserve them in an institutional context. If nothing is done now digital games risk disappearing very soon. The majority of long-term preservation of digital games has been performed by individual or groups of game enthusiasts, namely gamers. By examining the opinions and experience of digital game preservation in this group the aim is to develop and widen the knowledge about digital game preservation. The study was conducted by interviewing five Swedish gamers. The research questions asked were: What are gamer’s opinions about digital game preservation; What experience do gamers have with digital game preservation; and How do gamers value their own role for digital game preservation compared to the roles of archival institutions and the game industry? In order to analyze the informants’ responses from an archival perspective I applied the archival scientist Terry Cook’s theory of the four archival paradigms which is about how archives and archivists have changed in the last 150 years. The results show that all informants had a positive attitude towards digital game preservation. All informants believe that digital games are very important to preserve because of their historic, cultural and educational value. Most informants had some knowledge and experience with game preservation. The informants considered gamers to have the biggest positive effect on game preservation due to their technical knowledge although they are often hindered by the game industry. The informants were uncertain of the role that archives play in game preservation. According to the informants the game industry has a negative impact on game preservation because they do not prioritize preservation and try to shut down preservation attempts by the other groups. All informants believe that this can be solved by a collaboration between the three sectors.