Candice Cranmer and Dr Cynde Moya present at NDF23. Candice is a Time-based Media Conservator, Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Cydne is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology.

Abstract:

In a first for ACMI, we made over twenty, significant, Australian videogames from the 1980’s and 1990’s accessible to our visitors via our website this year. Using the Emulation as a Service Infrastructure (EaaSI) and in collaboration with Swinburne University of Technology, we’ve imaged obsolete carriers and made nostalgic videogames such as Flight of the Amazon Queen and Mugsy’s Revenge playable in our gallery spaces and accessible on visitor’s personal devices.

In the next phase of this project, we will focus on the preservation of and access to unique interactive artworks. Working closely with Australian artists will give us the opportunity to explore authenticity in emulation and compare native hardware with emulated environments.

While emulation practice is not new, embedding EaaSi into our preservation works is allowing access to software, videogames, artworks and documents not seen in decades and to also share these findings with many GLAM sector partners across Australia.