(With) Videogame History Moving Beyond Retrogaming Ahm, Kristian Redhead

(Re)Playing (with) Videogame History Moving Beyond Retrogaming Ahm, Kristian Redhead Publication date: 2018 Citation for published version (APA): Ahm, K. R. (2018, Sep 12). (Re)Playing (with) Videogame History: Moving Beyond Retrogaming. https://www.academia.edu/37325146/_Re_Playing_with_Videogame_History_Moving_beyond_Retrogaming Download date: 26. sep.. 2021 (Re)Playing (with) Videogame History Moving beyond Retrogaming by Kristian Redhead Ahm Master’s Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in IT – Games At The IT-University of Copenhagen, Center for Computer Games Research September 2018 Under the Supervision of Associate Professor Hans-Joachim Backe Resumé Forfatteren af dette speciale har foretaget en kvalitativ undersøgelse, hvor 9 spillere af gamle spil, også kaldet retrogamere, er blevet interviewet om deres motivationer for at spille gamle spil, hvordan de spiller dem og hvor længe. Ved at indtage et fænomenologisk ståsted, ønsker dette speciale at undersøge, hvordan disse gamle spil manifesterer sig i respondenternes livsverdener og hvad dette indebærer for deres opfattelse og brug af disse gamle spil. Denne undersøgelse er blevet betragtet som frugtbar, da den kan problematisere og videreudvikle den nuværende akademiske diskurs omkring retrogaming, der reducerer alle nutidige interaktioner med gamle spil til en aktivitet, der er motiveret af nostalgi. Ved at analysere de indsamlede interviewdata, argumenteres der i dette speciale for, at der eksisterer flere motivationer til at spille gamle spil, udover nostalgi. Dette speciale identificerer fire motivationer udover nostalgi. Den første type, kaldet amatørarkæologen, er interesseret i at spille ”dårlige” og kuriøse gamle spil, på grund af en form for ironisk nydelse og historisk nysgerrighed. Den anden type, amatørkunsthistorikeren, er interesseret i at spille de gamle spil der er blevet anerkendt som klassikere, for at forstå computerspillets historiske udvikling, hovedsageligt fra et design perspektiv. Den tredje motivation er baseret på en glæde ved gamle spils fysikalitet og holdbarhed. Her identificeres også en historisk interesse for computerspillets teknologiske udvikling. Den sidste motivation udover nostalgi er mere pragmatisk. Her spilles gamle spil ud fra den motivation, at de er mere simple og/eller mere udfordrende end moderne spil. I diskussionen præsenteres en typologi af spillere, baseret på analysens resultater. Derefter argumenteres der for, at feltet der beskæftiger sig med nutidige interaktioner med gamle spil, er nødt til at udvide sit begrebsapparat, for ikke at sammenblande mange forskelligartede interaktioner under et vagt begreb som retrogaming. I den sammenhæng introducerer forfatteren to nye begreber han selv har defineret, historical play og nostalgic play. II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all my respondents, without whom this thesis would never have existed. A very special thanks to Hans-Joachim Backe, whose support as a supervisor, teacher and mentor has made all the difference, not just for this thesis, but to me as a person. This thesis is dedicated to Emma, who always grounds me on greener pastures, when my head gets stuck in a raincloud. III Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Literature Review ...................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Conceptualizing the cultural after-life of videogames ............................................................................ 8 2.1.1 Situating retrogaming ....................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Videogame after-lives ....................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Retrogaming, nostalgia and cultural heritage ....................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Retrogaming framed as juvenile & nostalgic .................................................................................. 11 2.2.2 Boym’s restorative and reflective nostalgia ................................................................................... 12 2.2.3 Old games as cultural heritage ....................................................................................................... 13 2.3 History didactics .................................................................................................................................... 14 2.3.1 The presence of the past ................................................................................................................ 14 2.3.2 Historical culture ............................................................................................................................ 14 2.3.3 Historical consciousness ................................................................................................................. 15 2.3.4 History-use ...................................................................................................................................... 15 2.3.5 Canon and archive .......................................................................................................................... 16 2.3.6 Memory studies and the influence of Maurice Halbwachs ............................................................ 16 3. Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 18 3.1 Unit of analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 18 3.2 Phenomenological psychology .............................................................................................................. 18 3.3 The interview method ........................................................................................................................... 19 3.4 The interview guide ............................................................................................................................... 20 3.5 Ethics...................................................................................................................................................... 21 3.6 Sampling & recruiting ............................................................................................................................ 21 3.6.1 The respondents ............................................................................................................................. 22 3.7 Data collection ....................................................................................................................................... 23 3.8 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 23 4. Analysis .................................................................................................................................................... 24 4.1 Motivations for playing old games ........................................................................................................ 24 4.1.1 Nostalgia ......................................................................................................................................... 24 4.1.2 Digging in the crates – Amateur archaeologists ............................................................................. 27 4.1.3 Back to the roots – Amateur art historians .................................................................................... 31 4.1.4 Engaging with technologies past .................................................................................................... 34 4.1.5 Challenge and/or simplicity contra modern games ....................................................................... 38 IV 4.2 Privileging the ‘authentic’ experience ................................................................................................... 41 4.3 Playing and collecting old games between the public and the private ................................................. 45 5. Discussion ................................................................................................................................................ 49 5.1 Synthesizing the main findings .............................................................................................................. 49 5.2 Historical play, nostalgic play and retrogaming .................................................................................... 53 5.3 Limitations of the research .................................................................................................................... 57 5.3.1 Lack of possibility to determine causes .......................................................................................... 57 5.3.2 Sole focus on the Danish retrogaming community ........................................................................ 57 5.3.3 Lack of focus on archivist and curator roles ................................................................................... 58 5.3.4 Overly broad problem statement ..................................................................................................

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