DoesItPlay? on Game Preservation by Big Companies: “Short-Term Profit Always Seems to Trump Long-Term Thinking.”
INTERVIEW – DoesItPlay? is a games preservation organization that started in 2019, and came to prominence by highlighting the hidden issue of PlayStation’s “CBOMB” – a technical issue that could render older disc-based games completely unplayable.
It most recently partnered with Lost in Cult for that company’s Editions range of games, which highlights cult favorites and ensures, through DoesItPlay?, that they will be available to play internet-free forever.
Eneba Independent Gaming News recently spoke with the current owner and head admin of DoesItPlay?, Clemens Istel, about the organization’s background and continued game preservation efforts.
DoesItPlay? is an international community – whereabouts are members located? Does this factor into how games are tested? (eg. does it allow for specific game/console localisation use?)
I live in Austria. Our webmaster is French. The majority of testers live in the USA, but we also have core members in the UK, Australia and Puerto Rico. Add to that a number of semi-regular contributors around the globe, from Italy to France to Israel and Germany, etc.
This decentralized set-up poses both challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, we have a lot of different sources to get games from. Some of them allow us to review games close to release, which is always an advantage in the media world.
On the other hand, when it comes to review copies, which are already rare, some companies can’t ship to certain countries, so we need to juggle our resources when it comes to those. We still want to capitalize on these opportunities as we finance almost everything out of our own pockets still.
The only semi-blind spot is Asia. We need to import regional exclusives to the west, if we want to test those. Which is both expensive and takes time for them to arrive here.
What consoles/platforms do you typically test on? Do you ever test old games on old consoles?
We focus on the three main console brands: PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox. That also includes legacy systems that had the option to go online and apply patches and additional content to games. That is where the issues really started. We always throw a couple of PS3, Xbox 360 or PlayStation Vita in between, among others.
There’s a robust list of criteria DoesItPlay? uses to test games, including whether it can be played offline. What happens when you come across a title that is either reliant on the internet to play, or requires logging in to something like a Battlenet or Ubisoft account – are these games completely beyond being saved?
Games with mandatory online requirements are indeed a preservation issue. If there is no end of life plan for these, they might very well cease to function. The StopKillingGames initiative currently leads the charge to push for legislative change around that topic.
We’ve been supporting their cause and the adjacent European Citizens’ Initiative from the very start. I highly recommend looking into the work of Ross Scott aka Accursed Farms, who is the person behind it.
The DoesItPlay? site notes a few other modern things that can affect game availability/preservation, such as delisting and expired licences – how prevalent are these types of issues?
They are a constant threat. Delistings are often brushed off as a non-issue with the argument that you can redownload your purchased games. While that is true, for a while at least, it completely ignores the aspect of discoverability and preserving history.
If you want to get into a game that has been delisted, you have no legal option of obtaining it anymore. Sure, there are ROMs and pirated copies, but sharing those is obviously illegal in almost all cases. Plus, you can’t expect the average user to go through the lengths it requires to play those. There has to be a legal option for the public, similar to a library.
Expired licenses only amplify this issue. There are instances where remasters replace the original game files due to expired licenses. For example, the original GTA Trilogy from the PS2 era has been delisted and replaced by the remastered trilogy due to a few music tracks.
Those old games exist in other forms, such as physical releases, thankfully. But this shows how quick history can be erased, as the changes in the remasters also altered the playing experience quite a bit.
Objectively speaking, how important is it that these sorts of practices exist? Are they all counter to game preservation, or can any be used to help keep a game running/available?
Delistings, server shutdowns and licensing issues are all concerning hurdles for game preservation. The eventuality of these things pushes people to do something about it, at least.
This is one of the many areas where the industry needs to change their way of thinking. Decisions are obviously made for business reasons, but for some reason valuing and preserving their own history for the public is nothing most companies are concerned enough about.
In the current climate, this would be an easy quick win in terms of PR and earning good will from customers. Yet, short-term profit always seems to trump long-term thinking. Sad to see. Especially since external approaches are sometimes met with harsh pushbacks from said companies.
Speaking of pushbacks, has DoesItPlay? ever encountered any kind of resistance to its work?
We’ve certainly tried to find collaborations. But game preservation is not a field that is rich with funding. Most groups are small and operate with very limited resources, as do we. I firmly believe that all players would achieve much more, if we united under one banner. At the very least in terms of visibility.
There’s also the issue of people starting a project and not wanting to let it evolve because they are too attached to it. Understandably so, but it also stops the efforts from reaching their full potential.
The whole field of preservation is very fractured and the fact that it still has a lot of legal barriers to overcome makes things extra difficult. Just look at the ESA deliberately sabotaging the efforts of the Internet Archive in the USA. The biggest enemies of preservation are the companies who make the products people want to preserve. Some of them have their own so-called preservation departments, but what they do is different from the idea of preservation for the general public.
Following on from this, what led to the Lost in Cult partnership?
It’s a natural fit. We’ve obviously known each other for a while and share the same values when it comes to the importance of preservation (DoesItPlay? was originally founded by Jon Doyle, who now runs Lost in Cult). Combining our expertise was the logical next step.
That’s also why we created our badge of approval. It is designed to highlight high standard physical releases and guarantee those by our involvement in the whole production process.
Our service surrounding the badge will help to bring publishers and players together, who both value high quality products. Physical enthusiasts are a demanding group, and rightfully so. By granting our badge publishers will earn the trust from a tricky audience in times when they look for a beacon of reliability.
With every empty disc like DOOM: The Dark Ages, with every code-in-a-box release from Microsoft, with every game-key card from Nintendo, trust in physical media is eroding. Our badge erases doubt for customers and is a perfect way for publishers to win them over. We would very much like to see more publishers work with us and adopt the program.
What is DoesItPlay?’s ‘Holy Grail’ of lost games? Do you have a console/device you’d love to have the chance to test games on but remains out of reach (for whatever reason, such as cost, availability, etc)?
Impossible to limit this to one choice, or even a couple of items. By default you can put every limited print release on that list. Some of these go for steep, steeeeeeep sums on eBay. Some are just ultra rare and tucked away by hardcore collectors or scalpers. Think of things like Poop Slinger by Limited Rare Games, or early Limited Run Games titles like Firewatch. The latter we tested already, thankfully.
How do you explain the idea of game preservation to someone who doesn’t really understand its importance? What can they do to help?
Combine the idea of a museum and a public library with the aspect of interactivity that comes with the medium of video games. Much like paintings or music, video games are art. They are also the commercially most successful entertainment medium on the planet.
And arguably the most influential one. You can buy gaming merch in the biggest clothing chains of the world. Football players celebrate goals with Fortnite emotes. There is not a commuting train around any larger city without a group of kids talking about a game they play together after school.
The cultural impact is undeniably gigantic. It shapes our very existence. It is part of our history. And to know where we go, we need to know where we came from. Game preservation is a fundamental necessity to understand the world as it exists today.
