Participatory Media and Game Preservation: A Taxonomy of YouTube Game-Related Content

Video games are both information objects as well as experiences of play. However, current methods of game preservation often fail to capture the full gaming experience. To address this, one proposed solution involves leveraging player-generated content as an alternative to emulation. To investigate the viability of this suggestion, we examine the following research questions: (1) What types of gameplay content exist on the platform YouTube? and (2) What are the challenges and opportunities in utilizing this style of community created content for game preservation? We introduce a Taxonomy of YouTube Game-Related Content to answer these questions and discuss its application, along with the challenges and opportunities that arose during its creation. Our taxonomy and findings suggest that although utilizing this content for game preservation requires additional knowledge of games and their community, as well as consideration of how the platform and creators impact game history, it also presents opportunities to preserve more diverse voices and experiences of play. Furthermore, it suggests YouTube videos offer a potential avenue, not only for preserving the game object, but also for preserving its broader cultural significance and multiple forms of knowledge. 87 Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science & Technology | Oct. 25 – 29, 2024 | Calgary, AB, Canada.