Platform holders strive to preserve gaming history

Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have revealed their past and current strategies for preserving the history of their consoles.

In an extract on Gamasutra, Where Games Go To Sleep was told that Microsoft is serious about preserving games for the Xbox and Xbox 360.

"The source code and all the materials used to build the products for the games released after 2000 are already stored on highly reliable present-day storage media, in secure, temperature & humidity controlled locations," Microsoft Games Studio's Ken Lobb said.

Games published before 2000 will soon be shifted to similarly-protected modern media formats.

Nintendo famously goes even further, preserving not just games and source code but a treasure trove of design docvuments and other materials.

"Nintendo keeps a wealth of materials related to its past games, up to and including even original design sketches and documents," PR director Marc Franklin said.

Sony's massive archives of material from the PSOne and PS2 eras present specific challenges. A SCEA representative got into the technicalities, admitting the company is seeking solutions to the problems of lost and expired hardware keys and legacy file types requiring specific hardware.

Parts one, two and three of Where Games Go To Sleep are now complete - well worth a read if you have the time.