The National Film and Sound Archive announced on Thursday that it would begin collecting Australian video games for archival preservation.
Making the announcement ahead of Friday's launch of Game Masters: The Exhibition, the archive will start its collection with eight Australian-made games. These range from The Hobbit - made in 1982 - to the upcoming virtual reality experience, Espire 1.
"This is a new frontier for archives around the world," director Jan Muller said.
"Like film, recorded sound and television before it, video games have had a huge lasting impact on society. The NFSA collection reflects the cultural diversity and breadth of experience of Australians, and it is constantly evolving just like our creative industries."
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With 80 playable games, Game Masters: The Exhibition showcases five decades of video game history beginning with the likes of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong and heading into the world of virtual reality.
"The exhibition reads as a who is who of pioneers and innovators in the gaming space," Mr Muller said.
"Whether you're a die hard fanatic or a novice, you can discover the artistry and the magic of games. There are special things waiting for you in Game Masters."
Originally curated by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in 2012, the exhibition has been visited by 1.2 million people worldwide. It's Canberra-debut, however, will see new video games added to it's collection, including BAFTA-winning mobile game Florence.
"One of my favourite things about art history is that it doesn't just teach you about events, it teaches you about people and how we reacted to things that were happening at any given time so to getting to see that through games as well is really great," ABC's Good Game Spawn Point presenter Angharad 'Rad' Yeo said.
"Having a timeline like [in Game Masters], also shows us how games have evolved. We didn't use to have women developing games much at all but now when you go through and you have a look, we're seeing games like Florence.
"The NFSA is doubling down on that but choosing to archive games and preserve them which will add to that, and add the ability for future generations to interact with these amazing works and learn from them."
- Game Masters: The Exhibition runs at the National Film and Sound Archive until March 9, 2020.
