ICHEG Interview – Part 3

Introduction

Back in 2012, I was fortunate enough to interview International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) Director Jon-Paul C. Dyson, PhD. At that time, well less than half the interview was actually published, leaving a lot of wonderful insights and information on the cutting room floor. I hope to rectify that with this multi-part post, whereby the interview will be published in its entirety.

ICHEG’s mission to collect, preserve, study and interpret video games, other electronic games and related materials remains as important today as it did back then. With the goal to “examine the ways in which electronic games are changing how people play, learn, and connect with each other, including across boundaries of culture and geography”, I cannot recommend enough going to check them out.

In Part 3 of this multi-part series, we discuss how ICHEG partners with the community to accomplish their goals.

Partners

Corporate Contributions and Acquisitions

(Game-Route) A number of, what might be described as high profile, contributions have been made over the years by various companies, including the recent acquisition of a Microsoft Collection and various official magazine archives including the Computer Gaming World and Game Developer Magazine Collections.

Does ICHEG traditionally seek out corporate contributions?  Or does the ICHEG take a more ‘hands-off’ approach in letting such contributions come to the Center?

(J.P. Dyson) I think we’re pretty active in going out and trying to get those, building contacts within the gaming community, raise awareness of the importance of doing this, of preserving these materials, and making the connections to make that happen.  It’s getting easier over time.  We’re having more people now approach us, saying ‘We want to do this’, as opposed to us having to initiate it.  But it’s a process of building awareness over time.  Awareness within the video game community, which as you know is multi-faceted.  There are developers, there are players, there’s media.  You need to build relationships with many different aspects of it.  There are collectors.  But we are finding more and more people are coming to us, approaching us.  Sometimes it’s we know someone, who knows someone, who recommends us or here’s a news story about us, or that sort of thing.

Building Relationships in the Gaming Community

(Game-Route) What has ICHEG’s success rate been in getting companies to donate other forms of gaming items such as Production Records and Source Code?

(J.P. Dyson) I would say that we’ve had the most success working with private individuals.  More success than with companies.  Often times people who have been in the gaming industry for a long time, have materials that are their own personal records. 

Companies, there are a couple of challenges here.  One is companies’ concern over intellectual property; we want to be careful with that.  Second is just a matter of focus.  Companies often are so focused on the next product and meeting the bottom line that they’re not as either able or willing to spend the time to really concentrate on preserving the past, what they’ve done as a company.  I’d say it’s less of an unwillingness than just a lack of time usually.  They’re on to the next game, so to spend the time to gather these materials for most companies is not a high priority. 

So, I would say that generally we’ve had the most luck with individuals.  Game developers themselves, or people who’ve covered games in the media who recognize the importance of this, or individual collectors.  And they’re the ones who really are able to take the time to gather the materials.  Even with companies, sometimes people change positions.  Video gaming is such a mobile industry, people are moving a lot.  So, you make a good contact, and they move to another company, so it’s a constant effort. 

(Game-Route) So it’s something that you keep working at, maybe 2 steps forward and 1 step back, but you keep trying to build up what you’ve done so far.

(J.P. Dyson) Yea, building relationships, building networks.  Which again is why we built slowly when we first got into this.  I remember going to GDC and making contacts there, and now going to more of those industry events, and trying to get out to the west coast as much as we can, and other places where there are gaming centers.  It’s a long-haul process, and your efforts build on each other.

Please check-out the rest of this 6-part interview:

• Interview Part 1 – Mission, Beginnings & Role
• Interview Part 2 – Game Preservation Process
• Interview Part 3 – Community Partership
• Interview Part 4 – Game Maker Spotlight
• Interview Part 5 – Museum Resources
• Interview Part 6 – Preservation & Education