Professor James Newman delivers keynote presentation at 'Preserving Video Games as a Cultural Inheritance' conference

Professor James Newman, director of the Media Futures Research Centre delivered the keynote presentation at the 'Preserving Video Games as a Cultural Inheritance' conference in Shigureden, Kyoto.  Speaking alongside Professor Henry Lowood, Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections at Stanford University, Professor Koichi Hosoi, chair of the Games Archive Project at Ritsumeikan University, and Professor Masayuki Uemura, former head of Nintendo's hardware research and development division, James outlined the experience of working with UK cultural heritage institutions in the formation of the National Videogame Archive.  In particular, the conference focused on the ideas of gameplay and performance preservation as outlined in James' recent book 'Best Before: videogames, supersession and obsolescence' (Routledge 2012).  After the conference, Lowood and Newman were invited to advise colleagues from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs on best practice in digital game preservation and archiving practice.  James is now working with colleagues in the UK, US and Japan to develop an international games preservation research network.