Game canon

Game canon is a list of video games to be considered for preservation by the Library of Congress. The creation of this list is "an assertion that digital games have a cultural significance and a historical significance."cite web | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/arts/design/12vide.html?_r=4&ref=technology&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin | title=Is That Just Some Game? No, It’s a Cultural Artifact | last=Chaplin | first=Heather | publisher="New York Times"] Game canon is modeled on the efforts of the National Film Preservation Board, which produces an annual list of films that are subsequently added to the National Film Registry, which is managed by the Library of Congress. The game canon committee comprises Henry Lowood, game designers Warren Spector and Steve Meretzky, Matteo Bittanti, and Joystiq journalist Christopher Grant.

History

Game canon is a project started by Henry Lowood, curator of the "History of Science and Technology Collections" at Stanford University. He started to preserve video games and video-game artifacts in 1998, and in the years following, he has noted that video games are something worthy of preserving. Henry Lowood submitted the proposal to the Library of Congress in September 2006, and during the 2007 Game Developers Conference, he announced the game canon.

List of games considered

The initial list consists of 10 video games that are each considered to represent the beginning of a genre that is still vital in the video game industry.cite web | url=http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/12/10-most-important-video-games-of-all-time-as-judged-by-2-design/ | title=10 most important video games of all time, as judged by 2 designers, 2 academics, and 1 lowly blogger | last=Ransom-Wiley | first=James | publisher=Joystiq]
* "Spacewar!"
* "Star Raiders"
* "Zork"
* "Tetris"
* "SimCity"
* "Super Mario Bros. 3"
* "Civilization I/II"
* "Doom"
* "Warcraft" series
* "Sensible World of Soccer"

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/arts/design/12vide.html?_r=3&ref=technology&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin News report] from the "New York Times"
* [http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/12/10-most-important-video-games-of-all-time-as-judged-by-2-design/ News report] from Joystiq

References