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The National Videogame Museum (NVM) has launched a new initiative to develop best practice and share knowledge across the museum sector about preserving and exhibiting video games.
In conjunction with the Science and Media Museum, Bath Spa University, British Library and Museum of London and more, the NVM – which is situated in Sheffield, UK – has also partnered with BFI Southbank to launch of a new White Paper entitled “Time Extend” that details “video game history, heritage and preservation”.
“In order to develop as an art form, to become more diverse and reflect all kinds of areas of our lives, and to build a cultural confidence that is sometimes absent, we need to be able to learn about video games,” said Gina Jackson, Trustee for the BGI, the charity which governs the NVM. “In order to learn about them, we need to be able to access them and make sense of them. The work we’re doing at the NVM and BGI isn’t out of nostalgia. It’s out of a concern for the future. We want to be able to inspire and educate new kinds of game-makers to make new kinds of games.”
“This group is for anyone who cares about or works in video game preservation,” added Ian Livingstone, chair of the BGI. “We recognise that in the UK and around the world, the expertise in this field isn’t just locked inside museums and heritage institutions, but also inside a wide range of dedicated and passionate private collectors. The VHS will bring everyone together to preserve the important heritage of videogames in our country.”
The NVM educates the public on the art, science, history and technology of video games by celebrating video game culture and allowing the public to play most of its exhibits, which include games consoles, arcade machines and other interactive experiences, including some games designed exclusively for the Museum. It is the UK’s only permanently accessible collection of video games and related memorabilia and has welcomed over 140,000 visitors since it opened in 2016.
The NVM also specifically preserves the history of UK development through its UK Collection, a special collection launched with Rebellion that focuses “on the story of British videogames creation”.
