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.'"

In other news

[tod_miller]

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.

Not just console games?

[kenthorvath]

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?

Re:In other news

[hey!]

Choices are funny things.

If given a choice of playing video games or doing just about anything else, my kids will of course play video games. If there were no computer games at the library, it would probably still be their favorite place on earth, but if the computers are free they'll make a beeline for them and play until the librarian kicks them off.

But interestingly, I don't think they really are happier playing video games, or really have more fun playing video games, than playing ball outside, or reading a book, or drawing a picture. There's someting profound here about human psychology going on, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Simpsons Game?

[pnice]

From the article: "The second qualifier: no Simpsons games just yet. I don't know why, but that was rule number two."

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.

...but bravo for the library giving the negative to any of the Simpsons games.

other side of coin

[turbopunk]

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 . . .

Transient?

[VendingMenace]

The only real objection to this that i can think of is this;

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. :D

Ideal situations

[An'Desha Danin]

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.

Emulation thoughts...

[True Vox]

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.

List

[kernel_dan]

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.