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Spelhistoriens arvingar : En arkivstudie av svenska spelares attityder till digitalt spelbevarande

Szilagyi, András LU (2023) ABMM34 20231
Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
Abstract
This thesis aims to elicit different attitudes toward digital game preservation among
Swedish digital game players. The questions in focus can be divided into two
groups: the attitudes toward preservation of the games themselves, and the attitudes
toward safeguarding the sociocultural aspects that stem from player interaction with
digital games.
Players are often regarded as vital in preserving digital games through different
knowledge practices and conservation. This is generally seen in stark contrast to
what is done by game companies and the varied stances reflected by contemporary
ALM institutions. The study therefore takes the opportunity to probe player
attitudes and what significance they hold in the preservation of digital... (More)
This thesis aims to elicit different attitudes toward digital game preservation among
Swedish digital game players. The questions in focus can be divided into two
groups: the attitudes toward preservation of the games themselves, and the attitudes
toward safeguarding the sociocultural aspects that stem from player interaction with
digital games.
Players are often regarded as vital in preserving digital games through different
knowledge practices and conservation. This is generally seen in stark contrast to
what is done by game companies and the varied stances reflected by contemporary
ALM institutions. The study therefore takes the opportunity to probe player
attitudes and what significance they hold in the preservation of digital games as a
cultural landscape. Attitudes are collected quantitatively through a questionnaire
distributed on two Swedish game forums online and the author's account on Twitter.
The questionnaire consists of both closed and open-ended answers, presented as
statistics and analyzed with archival paradigm theory, actor-network theory and
phenomenology.
The results show that to understand what digital games means for people and the
culture in general, you can’t ignore the sociocultural practices - games do not exist
in a vacuum. Memory institutions need to be mindful of this. Knowledgeproduction by gamers online is additionally becoming a more integral part of
different gaming experiences. The views on if it should have precedence over
preserving the actual games and the gaming companies official material, varies
though. Furthermore, players are generally flexible in how games are played and
preserved. As it stands, the games are almost viewed to be in a constant state of
“becoming”, making it problematic in terms of the archival notions of stability and
authenticity. Lastly, the scarce access to buying older games complicates the views
on how game companies manage their history, as well as the notion of “remaking”
older classics. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Szilagyi, András LU
supervisor
organization
course
ABMM34 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
ALM, archive, archival science, archival paradigm, digital games, gamers, actornetwork theory, attitudes, phenomenology, quantitative, survey, sociocultural, game preservation, textual analysis, ABM, arkiv, arkivvetenskap, arkivparadigm, digitala spel, spelare, actor-network, theory, attityder, fenomenologi, kvantitativ, enkät, sociokulturell, spelbevarande, textanalys
language
Swedish
id
9119425
date added to LUP
2023-06-20 13:47:41
date last changed
2023-06-20 13:47:41
@misc{9119425,
  abstract     = {{This thesis aims to elicit different attitudes toward digital game preservation among
Swedish digital game players. The questions in focus can be divided into two
groups: the attitudes toward preservation of the games themselves, and the attitudes
toward safeguarding the sociocultural aspects that stem from player interaction with
digital games.
Players are often regarded as vital in preserving digital games through different
knowledge practices and conservation. This is generally seen in stark contrast to
what is done by game companies and the varied stances reflected by contemporary
ALM institutions. The study therefore takes the opportunity to probe player
attitudes and what significance they hold in the preservation of digital games as a
cultural landscape. Attitudes are collected quantitatively through a questionnaire
distributed on two Swedish game forums online and the author's account on Twitter.
The questionnaire consists of both closed and open-ended answers, presented as
statistics and analyzed with archival paradigm theory, actor-network theory and
phenomenology.
The results show that to understand what digital games means for people and the
culture in general, you can’t ignore the sociocultural practices - games do not exist
in a vacuum. Memory institutions need to be mindful of this. Knowledgeproduction by gamers online is additionally becoming a more integral part of
different gaming experiences. The views on if it should have precedence over
preserving the actual games and the gaming companies official material, varies
though. Furthermore, players are generally flexible in how games are played and
preserved. As it stands, the games are almost viewed to be in a constant state of
“becoming”, making it problematic in terms of the archival notions of stability and
authenticity. Lastly, the scarce access to buying older games complicates the views
on how game companies manage their history, as well as the notion of “remaking”
older classics.}},
  author       = {{Szilagyi, András}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Spelhistoriens arvingar : En arkivstudie av svenska spelares attityder till digitalt spelbevarande}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}