National Videogame Archive

25th November 2008.  Nottingham, UK.  The UK's first official National Videogame Archive (NVA) has received its first donations of historic videogaming peripherals from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Harmonix at this year's GameCity festival in Nottingham, UK.    SCEE has given the NVA the very first EyeToy camera prototype and leading music game studio Harmonix has given a prototype drum kit and guitar from Rock Band.  

The priceless pieces of equipment are  all the more important as they represent particular innovations and revolutionary styles of videogaming – the EyeToy being arguably the first peripheral to create a new interface for videogame control via the camera; and Rock Band which has taken the music gaming phenomenon to greater heights.

"The amazing work that SCEE and Harmonix have both done to broaden audiences for videogaming make it especially appropriate that they should kick-off the NVA. Their work, perhaps more than any other developers has been not just about making great games - but pushing the boundaries of what games could be. We're incredibly excited that they have chosen to make these donations to the NVA", commented Iain Simons, Director of GameCity at Nottingham Trent University.

"We are excited about the National Videogame Archive and are proud to be a part of it," said Mike Haigh, Development Director at Sony's London Studio. "We felt the first EyeToy camera prototype was the perfect donation choice because it represents not only a ground-breaking game interface, but a moment in gaming history when a whole new audience began to play video games for the first time. We hope it inspires other developers to explore new ways of opening up video games to everyone."

Sean Baptiste, Manager of Community Development at Harmonix Music added, "Harmonix recognizes how important it is to document and preserve the history of this rapidly evolving industry. We're honored to be a donor to the National Videogame Archive and hope other companies will follow suit."

Visit www.savethevideogame.org to watch video clips of the SCEE and Harmonix donations. 

Press enquiries please contact:  Alison Beasley, Lincoln Beasley PR. 

E:  Alison@lincolnbeasley.co.uk T:  +44 (0) 1608 645756  M:  +(0) 7966 449130

About the National Videogame Archive

The NVA has been created in a bid to preserve the history of a global industry now worth an estimated £22bn.  Formed by academics at Nottingham Trent University and working in partnership with the National Media Museum in Bradford, the archive will recognise the significant contributions made by videogames to the diversity of popular culture across the globe.

 The new archive will be housed at the National Media Museum and will be managed, steered and researched in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University's Centre for Contemporary Play.  The Centre draws on academic strengths across a range of disciplines, including psychology, cultural studies, art and design and computer science. In addition to hardware and code, it will encompass the wider cultural phenomenon of videogames by documenting advertising campaigns, magazine reviews, artwork and the communities that sustain them - the overall aim being to collect, celebrate and preserve this vital cultural form for future generations.

To find out more about GameCity 3, go to www.gamecity.org

ENDS

The Centre for Contemporary Play, Nottingham Trent University The Centre brings together inter-disciplinary projects from across Nottingham Trent University with an interest in gaming - encouraging knowledge transfer between the university and the gaming industry.  The Centre for Contemporary Play is responsible for the running of the annual GameCity festival.  National Media Museum, Bradford

The National Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire opened as the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in 1983 and has since become one of the most visited UK museums outside London. The museum houses permanent galleries, temporary exhibition spaces and three cinema theatres including IMAX. The National Media Museum is part of the National Museums of Science and Industry (NMSI) family.

  For more information visit www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

GameCity Now in its 3rd year, GameCity celebrates the world of videogaming by drawing on the strong links between the city of Nottingham and the videogame industry to form an annual festival of interactive entertainment that isn't just for gamers.  It is a unique partnership which is led by Nottingham Trent University and includes the Department for Education and Skills, the East Midlands Development Agency and the Greater Nottingham Partnership.  The aim is to deliver a videogames festival in the same way that we have other kinds of art festivals – in multiple venues for different kinds of audiences at different times of the day.