#video game archival

[filipviewer-dot-exe]

Ik realiseerde me net dat ik mijn gecancelde-game masterpost hier nooit gepost heb. Voor context: ik heb een document met links naar gecancelde games die op de website van de gamemania staan alsof ze ooit zijn uitgekomen, met prijzen voor de tweedehands-versies er gewoon naast. Verderop meer over het belang van deze post.

De Xbox 360 en Playstation 3 ports van Mad Max.

Al waren deze ports wel aangekondigt tijdens de E3 in 2014, de game was te groot in schaal om ze speelbaar te kunnen maken op de last-gen consoles. Erg jammer, ik hou ervan als games net iets te veel in moeten leveren om ze speelbaar te maken op oudere platforms.

The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf

Met het succes van de eerste Witcher game kondigde CDPR eind 2008 een console-port van de game aan, die op de playstation 3 en Xbox 360 zou verschijnen. De game zou andere mechanics dan het origineel hebben, maar hetzelfde verhaal volgen. De game zou door een andere studio gemaakt worden, en doordat deze samenwerking moeizaam verliep is de game uiteindelijk helaas gecanceld

Fable Legends (deze game is sinds ik de post geschreven heb van de site verwijderd)

Deze MMORPG, ontwikkeld door Lionhead (die elke mainline game na de eerste gemaakt heeft), zou free2play zijn en was zelfs al in open beta voordat Microsoft, het moederbedrijf van Lionhead, de studio in 2016 sloot en daarmee ook de ontwikkeling van de game stopzette. 

Dying Light voor de Xbox 360 en Playstation 3

Deze ports zijn ook losgelaten nadat duidelijk werd dat de games te zwaar waren om in de tijd die ze hadden op de oudere consoles uit te brengen. Zoals jullie doorhebben was deze generatie berucht om hun ports: ze hadden een onmogelijk groot marktaandeel, dus ze konden de consoles niet in het verleden laten, maar de Playstation 3 had zo'n bijzondere architectuur dat het haast onmogelijk was 'even' een game naar dat platform over te zetten.

Heist

Van veel gecancelde games die niet in een serie/franchise zitten krijg je nooit te horen dat ze gemaakt waren, vandaar dat dit de eerste game in deze lijst is die niet verbonden is aan een andere serie. Volgens wikipedia is deze game gecancelled doordat de makers van het spel niet wisten waar ze aan begonnen (wat in het bijzonder voor problemen met de ps3 versie zorgde) maar ook omdat de studio te veel van ze vroeg. De game zou een open-world Mafia/GTA clone moeten worden en zich afspelen i nde onderwereld van San Francisco in de jaren '60, maar helaas is daar niks van gekomen

Twin Mirror

Helaas heeft de achtste console-generatie vroegtijdig de dood van fysieke media ingeluid. Vandaar dat deze game op de lijst staat: de game was aangekondigd met een fysieke versie, maar die is nooit uitgekomen (al schijnen we niet veel te missen).

https://www.gamemania.nl/nl/games/xbox-one/142499_twin-mirror/

Mijn punt.

Naast deze obscuurdere titels staan games als Prey 2 ook nog op de Game Mania website, maar ik denk dat jullie wel doorhebben dat het er een flink aantal zijn.

Ik heb deze post niet geschreven om te vragen of deze pagina’s van de site verwijderd worden, integendeel zelfs! Deze tweets zijn bedoeld als pleidooi om deze games op de site te laten staan, juist omdat ze gecanceld zijn.

Op Wikipedia en game gerelateerde nieuwssites is vaak informatie over de game te vinden, maar marketingmateriaal als de flaptekst en foto’s (en verwachte prijs)) zijn waardevolle onderdelen van de geschiedenis van games die niet overal terug te vinden is, laat staan in het Nederlands. Door deze pagina’s op de site te laten zou de website dus ook kunnen fungeren als archief! 

Het is echter verwarrend voor “gewone” klanten om als ze op Shrek games zoeken als eerste resultaat Shrek: Forever After voor de PSP en PS2 krijgen (disclaimer: helaas is deze game sinds het schrijven van mijn post ook van de site verwijderd), een versie van de game waar ik na een uur zoeken online 0 bronnen voor heb kunnen vinden (dus als jullie meer informatie hebben over deze ports, laat het me please weten). Om duidelijk te maken dat het om een gecancelde game gaat is echter niks meer dan een disclaimer nodig, dus dat is dan ook mijn voorstel om aan de pagina’s aan te passen, in plaats van ze te verwijderen.

Want al zijn fysieke games zo belangrijk voor het archiveren van media, weten welke fysieke games we juist niet hebben en waarom niet is net zo waardevol.

[probablyasocialecologist]

[blueskittlesart]

i hope everyone in nintendo’s management department dies and goes to hell no matter what and i’m not kidding

[mushimallo]

The contrast here was appalling

[madame-helen]

[osterby]

Here, have the top ten video game fandoms on The Archive of Our Own every year since the archive started

These tables show the current number of extant works (including archive locked works) on the AO3 created before Jan 1st of each year.

This is just the top fandom lists from a much larger project. For graphs, full details on methodology, a separate section on the Dragon Age tags, these lists in text rather than screenshot format, and more, see the full work here here

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62226781?view_full_work=true

EDIT: First error spotted! Legend of Zelda was missed in the 2024 list, I've updated the screenshot and it now correctly appears in ninth place

EDIT 2: Somehow the screenshots for 2019 and 2020 were missing? I'm blaming Tumblr, they're here now.

[sofy-tofy]

Rule of Rose | Official Game HD Render

Special thanks goes to @pearlwortwhite

[girlmadegrave]

Silent Hill 2 (2001)

[rlmartian]

Saw something like this but couldn’t find it again so I made it myself

[thisisrealy2kok]

Nintendo in 2001

[arconinternet]

Cosmology of Kyoto (Windows & Classic Mac, SOFTEDGE, 1995)

Roger Ebert's favorite game, simulating life, afterlife and reincarnation in Japan's Heian period. You can download it here or here, or download it pre-configured to run on modern versions of Windows here.

[lealz]

replaying lis for the millionth time cuz im bedridden and reminding myself to check the journals always!

[felassan]

Some more DA:TV and related snippets from Sylvia Feketekuty, Part 6. rest of post under a cut due to length and spoilers. [Post One, Post Two, Post Three, Post Four, Post Five]

User: "after [Emmrich and Rook's] argument they don’t really bring it up again, is it pretty much the case that Rook being lost in the fade made them both realise what was important so that conversation wasn’t really needed? or did they have it off-screen?" // Sylvia Feketekuty: ""is it pretty much the case that Rook being lost in the fade made them both realise what was important so that conversation wasn’t really needed? or did they have it off-screen?" I think either one is valid. There's some time skips, so I figured if you imagined your Rook and Emmrich talking about the argument, it could've happened while, say, they're traveling to the Necropolis. Flow-wise it seemed best to rely on that passage of time to smooth that part over, and get to the point where we enter the talk by the coffin. Or perhaps they're so in-sync that, like you said, Rook and Emmrich feel they can just move on. (If you bring Emmrich to Isle of the Gods he's apologetic there, and Rook picks up on it, so maybe that was enough short as it was.) (To my mind it's not a huge thing to declare one way or another, but I'd prefer this one to be player's choice)" [source, two, three, four]

User: "had a question about emmrich's last name. i know there is a banter with harding that confirms it is a commoner name, but i was interested in what his surname breaks down into meaning? I assumed volk=folk perhaps, but is there any other meaning/significance? thank you!" // Sylvia: "You pretty much have it right with "volk" = people. I liked the idea that Volkarin would sound fancy to someone speaking English (well Harding's not speaking English per se, but you know), but have its roots in something that plain. So yeah basically I got a kick out of the thought that in Nevarra, Emmrich's last name is the equivalent of Smith, or Jones, or Wilson. (The "arin" part is just because I thought together it paired well with "volk")" [source, two]

User: "With Hezenkoss, as a romanced rook, it feels like she's a bit jealous and was stuck in a one sided crush with her "friend" Was this intended? Or was she just competitive and annoyed at his popularity with everyone?" // Sylvia: "I always pictured Hezenkoss as annoyed that as they grew up, Emmrich become popular and effortlessly well-liked, while she, with her sheer brilliance, was clearly resented by jealous fools. Fools!!! (I pictured Johanna needling Emmrich over his romance mostly her going 'now there's some nice sore-spots I can press' because she has correctly anticipated his insecurities.) "become popular" Arg I meant to write BECAME. Cripes." [source, two, three] // Sylvia: "TBC I also don't want to invalidate any head-canons! My general rule is that if it's not stated outright in game, it's up for interpretation, regardless of my thoughts. La mort de l'auteur, etc." [source]

User: "I recently made an appreciation post on reddit how relatable he is for me and how it helped me with my anxiety. There were also other users agreeing and sharing their love for the character." // Sylvia: "I read your post and the others, and I'm glad meeting Emmrich touched people like that. His story was a team effort, and everyone making him knew we needed to hit this theme right. (His actor Nick Boraine deserves especial praise for nailing those lines.) I have indeed experienced what Emmrich does, and from the thread and other fan interactions, it's not an uncommon thing. If I can offer something I read a long time ago: you have the right to think about death without being in a state of absolute fear. I don't know why, but that thought helped me focus when things were rough. Maybe because it was correct: we DO have that right. Even if life and our own psyches conspire against us, it's ours." [source, two, three] // User: "I felt seen in a way I never have when Emmrich said he is terrified of dying. I've had panic attacks about it since I was old enough to understand what death is. Thank you for making so many feel seen and helping people realize its not just *them.*" // Sylvia: "I'm really glad it helped, because the conclusion I've come to is this is more common than we think, it's just not something people talk about." [source]

Sylvia: "(Full credit to the great feedback I got from the other writers and editors early on [re: Emmrich], he wouldn't be as good without them.)" [source] // Sylvia: "All credit to the team, especially the writers and editors who gave feedback that made him so much better during those early days and beyond." [source]

Sylvia: ""who came up with Davrin's "hand-to-bone combat" line?? 🤣" Haha that was Davrin's writer, John Dombrow! I'll let him know you (and other people) got a chuckle out of it!" [source]

User, on Manfred: ""I'm so curious -what about the almonds caught his fancy, and why so many?" Some things are a mystery even to me when it comes to Manfred. (Whatever his reason, I thought as a vegetarian Emmrich would probably have a lot of nuts handy which was the germ of the idea.)" // Sylvia: "Some things are a mystery even to me when it comes to Manfred. (Whatever his reason, I thought as a vegetarian Emmrich would probably have a lot of nuts handy which was the germ of the idea.)" [source]

User: "When Rook romances Emmrich, through banter we can see that Emmrich is surprised that the other companions know about the relationship, and also h says to Johanna that it's a private matter. Is it because he wants to keep things private only, is it because he is worried that Rook may not be the one true love, or is he worried about the age gap, or all these reasons and/or others?" // Sylvia: "In this particular case, I think Emmrich just wanted to be discrete because he didn't want to assume it was a serious thing, and for people to think HE thought it was serious. (Though his line to Hezenkoss is snappish specifically because he knows she's needling him, haha.)" [source]

Sylvia: Down Among the Dead Men and Luck in the Gardens "mean a lot to me, being my first published stories in a book.)" [source]

User: "Are there any other areas of Thedas that you think young Altus mages would tour? Poor Dorian looked like a fish out of water in Ferelden." // Sylvia: "Completely talking off the cuff here, but Orlais and Antiva, certainly, and some of the "better" Free Marcher states seem like good candidates. (Poor Ferelden! Always forgotten by the north.)" [source]

User: "I know you said previously that emmrich doesn't really vibe with cats or dogs But like if rook already has a dog or something (that someone is like pet sitting for them while they're kicked out of their faction and traveling with varric) would that be a deal breaker" // Sylvia: "Nah that'd be fine, they're not his favorites but he'll put up with them for Rook." [source]

Sylvia: "I have indeed seen Cushing's version of Hound of the Baskervilles, for some reason that part where he whirls around and throws the knife is embedded into my brain. What a great Holmes he made." [source]

User: "1. Where did Emmrich live in Nevarar when he was a child? 2. When do you think his birthday is? 👀 3. How did Johanna know him?" // Sylvia: "1. He lived inside the bounds of Nevarra City itself. He's always been a city boy. 2. For some reason, he feels like a January/February birthday to me. 3. They met as young students in the Mourn Watch." [source]

User: "if Emmrich didn't think it was serious when he'd always wanted one true love -apparently-, why did he embark on this relationship, especially with so much passion?" // Sylvia: "I think he thought it wouldn't be so serious at first, but then things progressed. And people want conflicting things, sometimes." [source]

User: "I really love Strife being a love interest for Emmrich! What lead to him as the choice if he isn't romanced?" // Sylvia: "The writing team discussed who felt right, and I liked that Strife was from one of the factions because it gives the feeling of your followers interacting with the wider world. And I felt Strife would provide a nice contrast with the romance with Rook. Unlike them, he's more established in his place in the world, like Emmrich is. Just felt like a different dynamic." [source, two] // User: "Strife balances Emmrich well since they are both interested in study but have gone about it differently." // Sylvia: "Agreed! (I wish I had thought to put it like that.)" [source]

User: "how are pets and animals honoured in the Necropolis and by the Mourn Watchers? The same as any other being?" // Sylvia: "Beloved animals are absolutely permitted to be buried with families. Mild Necropolis exploration spoiler: inside the passage you unlock after finding all the wisps in the belfry area, there's actually some caskets for faithful hounds interred in the crypt." [source]

User: "My question is do the mourn watcher/nevarra in general raise their pets after they die to keep them around? like a dog skeleton with a whisp in it?" // Sylvia: "To be honest I hadn't thought out this one, but it's a very good question. I'm not sure how common that would be, or even if it's permitted to have pets running around the family crypt. (I definitely thing people would WANT to do it.) You know, I think I'm going to have to leave this one in the vague quantum foam of the future. I think I'd want to not only double check existing lore, but answer that in-game (or in a book or etc.) if we ever need to. (Hope that's not too much of a cop out. Sometimes I like to leave questions I'm not sure about alone, because until it's in an official game or story, it doesn't quite count.)" [source, two, three]

User: "how long has Manfred been under Emmrich's care?" // Sylvia: "That's a good question, yet another thing I left a little vague in case I needed to define it concretely in the future. And since I've left, the answer is very much in my head only. But I feel it's likely to have at least been a decade. (Hezenkoss acts like she knows about Manfred, I figure she could've met him during an earlier clash. But I don't think Manfred was around when she and Emmrich were young students.)" [source, two]

User: "if Emmrich had tattoos, on what theme would they be?" // Sylvia: "Something anatomical/surgical, patterned on the MW's mystic theories of the body and death, feels appropriate to me." [source]

Sylvia: "BioWare put out an infographic about choices a few weeks ago, and "lich" was winning out. 1) When Emmrich says how he feels will change did he just mean his senses or is it on an emotional level?" He's definitely talking about his senses in that scene. On an emotional level: unknown. (I imagine it WOULD change someone because it's such a big shift, but exactly what does it do, mystically, if anything, is something I'd like to leave alone since I didn't really cover that in the game, and it feels like it'd been bigger consideration if that makes sense.) I kind of want how the lich-romance proceeds to live in players' imaginations, purely so people can tailor it to their own story. I'm afraid any writer-declaration would narrow the possibilities instead of expanding them, if that makes sense." [source, two, three, four]

Sylvia: ""I've been waiting for Nevarra for years and it was everything i could have dreamed of and MORE!" I'm very glad to hear it. The rest of the Necropolis team and I were very excited to finally get to portray even a small portion of the ancient and hallowed graves of Nevarra." [source]

User: "If I remember correctly, we only really see Emmrich use necromantic magic in-game. Are there other types of magic (elemental, healing/spirit, etc) that you think he would gravitate toward?" // Sylvia: "Hrm. He does have a bit of healing magic, mechanically in combat. It coudl work, but somehow I don't think Emmrich would ever be a high-level healer. He could maybe get the basics but it's not his great gift. Something about the gravic magic of the force mage specialty feels appropriate though." [source]

Sylvia: "I'm so glad you liked meeting and getting to know our necromancer. (Huge props to our cinematic and audio team on that garden scene, it was incredible seeing it come in finished for the first time.)" [source]

Allegra Clark: "I just wanted to say that I miss you so much and I’m so excited for whatever comes next in your career. Josephine means so much to me and I’ve fallen utterly in love with Emmrich (how dare you, he’s perfect). Thank you for trusting me with your child over a decade ago ❤️" [source] // Sylvia: "Allegra! Thank you so much! I'm so excited you've been digging our gentleman necromancer. I hope you've been seeing people ping me about their love of Josephine. I heard someone very good did her voice.. Thank YOU for embodying her so quickly and completely!" [source, two]

User: "how was Emmrich doing when Rook was trapped in the Fade?" // Sylvia: "Probably very poorly! Poor man would've been incredibly anxious and working all hours towards a solution." [source]

User: "So i asked you before what music emmrich does like but um is there any music he hates I feel like he'd die if someone took him to a death metal concert XD" // Sylvia: "I think that's a good one to pick, lol. "It's all just noise!"" [source]

User: "Did Emmrich teach (or at least attempt to teach) Manfred how to read?" // Sylvia: "I think that was beyond his skillset, beforehand; Manfred could be taught to recognize objects, but the abstraction of reading was one step too much at that point." [source]

User: "Do Mourn Watchers undergo a Harrowing?" // Sylvia: "They do! You may've missed it but there's a MWer in the Necropolis who mentions MW Harrowings if you go by them. (The MW has had to suspend theirs because chaos in the Fade.) But that's a temporary suspension, probably resolved by the time the credits roll. In general: I figure that if you're a mage who underwent a harrowing in some other circle, that stands, but that the MW would also perform harrowings for students they took in early. Also: not a silly question! It doesn't really come up with the MW except that one ambient line, and it's very easy to miss." [source, two, three]

User: "Doing a 3rd MW playthrough after not playing one for a couple of months feels like coming home again" // Sylvia: "That's some commitment to the dead! The Mourn Watch approve." [source]

User: "if two mourn watchers were to share a piece of grave dowry between them, that's grounds for a serious relationship?" // Sylvia: "You mean like each one having the half of a necklace, or having the same bit of gold made into matching rings? Or swapping jewelry? Either way, what a nice idea. It could be!" [source]

Sylvia: "Emmrichwas very much the work of the team, including some very good feedback early on from the other writers and editors." [source]

Sylvia: "The team and I were also super excited to get to explore the Necropolis. It was an honour to open up the tombs to everyone." [source]

User: "Emmerich's particular respect for trans characters was extremely enticing to me." // Sylvia: "Thanks, I'm glad he resonated. (Some trans colleagues kindly spent the time to give me some feedback on the wording of the lines, which I think made them way better.)" [source]

User: "Emmrich is so amazing" // Sylvia: "Thank you again, that is incredible to hear. (And I want to mention, only possible with the team; they helped improve the story every step.)" [source]

Sylvia: Tevinter Nights "was a fun collection to work on" [source]

User: "Does lich Emmrich feel anything when Rook kisses him or touches him?" // Sylvia: "yeah, I don't think he's "numb" so to speak, he can sense a touch (with his new powers from beyond the graaaaaave 🪦💀🌹)" [source]

User: "about Emmrich so i know he's into flowers and botany but is he into plant meanings and symbolism" // Sylvia: "I think he is - Emmrich mentions some flowers that are "famed in verse and song", I think he'd enjoy reading up on the cultural importance and symbolism layered on to them." [source]

User: "Obv the game mechanics require Rook to make the choice but would a romanced Emmrich choose to become a Lich if the choice was in his hands? Would he abandon his dream for love?" // Sylvia: "I must refuse to answer on the grounds that it's too melancholy to contemplate. ;_;" [source]

User: "On the dinner date in the Necropolis I loved how Emmrich felt philosophical, it was so relatable, especially when he talked about the connection to something finer than we are. It was magical!" // Sylvia: "I'm really pleased that last part of the dinner date, resonated with you, I was trying really hard to get a certain feeling across." [source]

User: "What month do you think Emmrich was born in? I really wanna know what my guy's zodiac sign is" // Sylvia: "I don't know anything about zodiac stuff but weirdly, I do have a range, for some reason I always thought it'd be January or February." [source]

User: "1. How does Emmrich feel about children, both in general and possibly having them? 2. Would Emmrich be into gift-giving?" // Sylvia: "1. In general, he likes kids okay, and tries to be kind, but his students are mostly older so he doesn't really chat with many. Regarding having them, if circumstances aligned so that was the case, I think he'd be excited if maybe a little overwhelmed by the thought. 2. I think so! Not overbearing about it, but he would like to show some tokens of affection at appropriate times. (There's no way he's not delighted to get gifts.)" [source, two]

[osterby]

Historical top video game fandoms on AO3, and how they've grown over the life of the archive

I dove into the depths of AO3 and figured out the top video game fandoms each year, and put them all on some graphs.

Here's everything which at one point was among the top five within the video game section.

Here's everything except Genshin Impact, just for better visuals

And here're the historical top five split into two graphs so you can see the larger and smaller fandoms separately (note the difference in scale)

Here's a log scale showing the growth of the top video game fandoms against the growth of the entire archive.

For more graphs, a separate section on Dragon Age, and a full writeup of how I obtained these numbers and what they mean, see the full work on AO3.

Interactable versions of the graphs are on a Google spreadsheet here.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62226781/chapters/159187414

____________

Methodology: Short Version (the long version is here)

I used Wayback machine snapshots to estimate the top fandoms tags in the Video Game Fandoms category per year, sifted out tags that aren't actually video game fandoms (for example, Harry Potter is there on the strength of Hogwarts Mystery and a Lego game alone), and then made some judgement calls about when to track a single game's tag vs a franchise's tag vs a mid-level umbrella tag. These descisions were based primarily on consulting with fans of the games/franchises in question and asking what they consider to be separate fandoms, but was also influenced by how tags are wrangled into dependencies on AO3 (which influences what data is acutally available to track in the first place).

Then I verified/updated the Wayback lists by searching AO3 for works within each tag created before a Jan 1st of each year and tracked the top five of those tags for each year over the life of the archive, and finally used Google Sheets to turn those numbers into graphs.

[sofy-tofy]

American Mcgee's Alice appearence on the english magazine "Game Developer" (issue April 2001).