Preserving the Art of Play

What the Library of Congress can't offer, for the most part, is the opportunity to play the games in its collection. "We just don't have the infrastructure in place right now," Gibson says. It's also a product of the institution's approach to preservation: In some cases, game titles in the collection arrive still packaged in shrink-wrap--and when they do, they're likely to stay that way. Ultimately, Gibson would love to create digital copies of some items but that would have as much or more to do with the instability of optical media than a plan to make games playable. By and large, this is preservation for preservation's sake: an attempt to ensure that everything the library archives in its Culpeper, Virginia, facility will endure for as long as possible.