Slashdot Mirror
Videogames on Library Shelves
illumina+us writes "According to an article at Gaming Target libraries across the nation are shelving video games and you will soon see them at your local branch. To quote the article: 'Public libraries all over the country have been adding video games to their collections. Its very possible that a library in your hometown has games on its shelf right now.'"
My local library has carried video games since my C64 days.
Library card applications have gone through the roof!
I think it is a good idea... because as an adult I do not feel particularly good about reading a novel... I know I am wasting my time, there is nothing more noble about reading a Pratchett or seeing a movie, or playing a computer game.
Plus it'll cut the cost for kids, and let them choose more. I say good.
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
I wonder what the legal ramifications of this would be/will be if they do not just limit themselves to console games, but include computer games as well. Even if the games include prohibitive EULAs, if the librarians don't install the software themselves, buth rather provide the physical media (boxes, serials, etc...) it would be a violation of the end-user at best, but not the library. Is this correct?
"You can have this copy of the Necronomicon when you pry it from my cold dead hands, sucka!"
Anyone know what's the cheat code so the topheavy bookmobiles are not as likely to tip over during high speed chases? The only code I know so far is the "Shhhh" mode that gets rid of the sounds.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
From the article: "The second qualifier: no Simpsons games just yet. I don't know why, but that was rule number two."
...but bravo for the library giving the negative to any of the Simpsons games.
I'm sorry, but what Simpsons game on the PS2 qualifies as a critical favorite or bestseller? Maybe it was a personal favorite or something he wanted to play but hadn't...glad he isn't picking my local library video game selection.
My Xbox Live Gamer Card
It's almost 10 years since belgian "mediatheque" (= libraries for music & video) expanded to also features CD ... and at least 7 years for games.
I suppose it's the same in most countries.
#include "coucou.h"
I guess that the "book library" is such a venerable and beloved institution that Borders, etc won't file frivolous lawsuits against libraries for their competition. It would make them look very very bad. However, the "videogame library" is a newer and odder concept, and might be fair game.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Libraries already carry videos, DVDs and CDs, so this seems to be a logical next step for them. Libraries even used to provide record albums for checking out starting back in the '70's, so they have a long history behind this.
Making all these things available for free is what libraries are about - a resource for those who can't afford it. Not everyone can buy every $30-$50 game that they want. If the libraries are providing educational games, as well as the fun time-wasters, then its a good public service.
Sig cancelled due to lack of interest
"The reports, as you know are limited to MMORPGs. Go get a copy of a 'classic' and I want you to deeply analyze l33tsp34k.
(groans)
"No, no! I don't want to hear any of that... Just get into it and take your time. Make it count. Your grade depends on it..."
Daddy! It's for a report! My grade depends on it! DADDY!
i work in the library software buisness. while talking to our customers, we get asked if things even stranger then video games can be cataloged. i don't find this surprising in the least. libraries, in general, are a public entity. whether they be a public library, a school library, etc, a large portion of the library market is public in some way. yes, there is the occation church library, or private collection, but almost everything is public. granted, i don't seen the value of placing games in a school library, but the public library should reflect the tastes and desires of the local area, so i think this is great. of course, no i wave to go add 'ps2', 'xbox', 'gcn' et al to my list of media types for our software . . .
What a total waste of taxpayer dollars! But then again, I suppose that's what people thought when they started adding videos and popular fiction books to library shelves. Indeed, a game such as Final Fantasy VII has just as much plot and "literary value" as your average romance novel or Adam Sandler film. Video games are products of our culture, and as such would tell us and future generations a lot about ourselves and our times, so there's no reason why they shouldn't be archived as books are in libraries. And it would bring the teenagers in, and maybe while they're at the library they might actually pick up a good book or something...
Perhaps the wide-spread adoption among libraries of a specific video game format (such as the PS2) would also spur on a whole new set of edutainment titles, multimedia encyclopedias and technical manuals and such that would be available for libraries to check out to their patrons. If Sony maintains backwards compatibility with the PS2 format for at least the next few generations, these would still remain useful for some time, unlike the multimedia CD-ROMs of the early '90s that require Windows 3.1 or an old version of the Mac OS and Quicktime to run. With the graphics capabilities of the PS2, you could make, for instance, car and appliance repair manuals, that allow you to rotate the engine on the screen and take things apart and put them back together again before working on the actual equipment. Or you could put the entire Project Gutenberg library on a PS2 DVD, which could print to a USB printer or save to a USB keyfob. This would actually be a boon to poorer families, who might be able to afford a $149 PS2 but not a computer with a DVD drive that could handle the graphics required for similar full-screen video and 3D object manipulation.
That said, a PS2-updated version of A Brief History of Time CD-ROM would be super-cool...
The only real objection to this that i can think of is this;
:D
When my tax $$ goes to buying a book, i expect that the book will be used until it wears out. That is, there is no reason why a book that is bought today cannot be read 50 years from now. The technology needed for reading books is quite static.
However, with video games, i see no reason to expect that games bought today will be used much even 5 years from now. Any consol games surely will be horribly out of date and few people will even own the consols anymore. Computer games will be somewhat better, but not much.
The same problem (to a lesser degree) can be seen with the VHS collections. Really, how much are those collections used anymore and will they even exist in the next few years?
The buying a video games just seems like a good way to run through the budgetary money that is already quite low for most public libraries. Why spend $50 on a game that will be used for a few years when you could buy 5 books for the same price and have them last for 25 years? It just doesn't seem like good fiscal management to me.
On the other hand, i love games, and i am exicted to see libraries carrying them. I do think that it is a legitamate thing for libraries to carry -- as they function as repositories of culture. I just think that given the limited budgets that most libraries have to work with they money is better spent on less transitory media.
I realize that adding games might make libraries more populare thus raising their budget. however, i think that DVD collections are much more effective at that. Lets face it, the majority of gamers are young children. And they don't constitute the voting power that adults do.
I guess i am torn. I love the idea of libraries carrying games, but i don't like the idea of them spending money on something that will only be usefull for a few years. Perhaps libraries should have game collections, but they should be entirely built off of donations. Who knows.
no, that would be outlaw golf
ok, i admit it, i'm a golf game junkie . . .
Given sufficient time and budget (laughable, I know), there's no reason why a library should limit inself to one particular system when major technical and artistic advances are being made on practically every platform.
Also, given any kind of decent budget, there is no reason for games to become quickly obsolete. Simply pick up a few decent-condition used consoles after they fall out favor. If I can scrape up a near-mint SNES off of eBay for $25 it shouldn't be that hard to supply people with the hardware they need to play "obsolete" games. I realise this is a bit of a pipe dream since libraries are woefully underfunded as it is, but it's a concession that will have to made eventually if video games are actually considered by libraries to be a ligitimate medium and not just a quick way to post better numbers (which it unfortunately appears they are).
And I appreciate that the guy from TFA had a really crappy distributor to work with and he couldn't get M-rated titles, but if I walked into a library and saw that pile of games on the shelf I think I'd have to be dragged out laughing. If you're going to buy PS2 games for an instutution created ostensibly to promote the arts to the public and you can't get your hands on ICO and Metal Gear Solid 2 or 3, you might as well just give up and keep the money for next year.
Anything you might ever need to say about anything has already been said better by Penny Arcade.
What if the US government made emulation legal for systems 10 years or older for librarys ONLY. I know it will take legal fanageling, but it could be worth the trouble. I see no problem of offering an archive of all the NES games ever made and an emulator. That wouldn't be so bad, would it? I can see no PS2 emulators 'till 2011, but com'on: NES etc. is old.
"Gratuitous complexity is akin to chaos" - True Vox
Here's the list of games he chose: Alias
Amplitude
Culdcept
ESPN NBA 2K5
ESPN NFL 2K5
ESPN NHL 2K5
Finding Nemo
Gradius V
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Hot Shots Golf Fore!
The Incredibles
Katamari Damacy
Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Scaler
Sonic Mega Collection Plus
Spider-Man 2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Van Helsing
WWE Smackdown VS Raw
Most of the games have liscensed content, raising their popularity but not their worth as a game. There may be some good ones, but this list does not include ones for hardcore gamers.
Illegal? Samir, This is America.