Rob Zacny has written a very interesting piece on game preservation and the culture of remembering the past for The Escapist. He writes: "Preserving and promoting classic games is vital to the health of the entire industry. In gaming, as much as any art form, "merit" is not always self-evident. Anyone with a passionate interest in game development should have a sense of what has already been achieved, and that cannot be developed if gamers are only playing "the latest and greatest" titles." (Rob Zacny)

Stanford graduate and HTGG member Nicholas Werner has recently completed his second major machinima project. Titled "Deserter," the movie is based on the Halo 3 engine, it is 20 minute long and publicly available on the Machinima Archive. The plot: "A veteran soldier deserts his post, as another tries to find him."

To watch the movie, click here.

Henry Lowood's short essay on the genesis and evolution of the Machinima Archive has been published on the Summer 2008 issue of Mediascape journal.

This is just a reminder that proposals (abstracts) for the special issue of of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing devoted to the history of computer games are due today.

Here is the Call for Papers.

Welcome to the new website of the How They Got Game project!

Since its inception in 2000 as one of the founding projects of the new Stanford Humanities Lab, How They Got Game has been focused on the history of interactive simulations and digital games.  We are still going strong, with new projects such as "Preserving Virtual Worlds" funded by the U.S. Library of Congress, our partnership with HPS Simulations, and the Machinima Archive. 

This is a Call for Papers for a special issue of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

Proposals due: 15 May 2008
Response to authors: 1 June 2008
Drafts due: 15 October 2008
Submissions due for editorial review: 1 December 2008

Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi (Interactive Screens. Cinema in Videogames) is a new collection of essays that explore the complex relationship between film and digital games edited by Matteo Bittanti, Associate Researcher at the Stanford Humanities Lab. Published by Meltemi Editore, the book was originally conceived and written while Matteo was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford and it is part of How They Got Game.

Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi is the result of a collective effort.

This is a Call for Papers for a special issue of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

Proposals due: 15 May 2008
Response to authors: 1 June 2008
Drafts due: 15 October 2008
Submissions due for editorial review: 1 December 2008