Editing Game Preservation, Abandonware, and Digital Ephemerality (section)

== <span style="color: #FFFFFF;">Understanding</span> ==
Game preservation is understood through '''obsolescence''' and '''access'''.

'''The Scale of Loss''': A 2023 Video Game History Foundation study found that 87% of classic video games are out of print and essentially inaccessible through legitimate channels. The majority of gaming history is legally unavailable, technically inaccessible, or both. Unlike film (where nitrate decomposition created a preservation crisis that galvanized archivists and governments) or music (which has largely solved preservation through digital distribution), games exist in a legal and technical twilight where preservation is criminalized even as the works deteriorate.

'''Emulation as Cultural Necessity''': The game preservation community's primary tool — emulation — occupies a legally ambiguous space. The Supreme Court has held that emulation itself is legal (Sony v. Connectix, 2000), but creating ROM images from cartridges and distributing them may infringe copyright. This legal uncertainty has chilled institutional preservation efforts. The Video Game History Foundation and similar organizations are actively lobbying for copyright reform that treats games as cultural heritage deserving the same archival access as books and films.
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