Preserving Soundscapes–The Necessity to Archive Pokemon Black & White: Super Music Collection

Abstract

Preserving video games is a growing challenge as legacy hardware and software slowly disappear. This paper examines the issue by analyzing the track “Final Battle! (N)” from the four-disc compilation of Pokemon Black & Pokemon White: Super Music Collection (2010) for the Nintendo DS. In doing so, a fundamental paradox in game preservation emerges: how do we capture a dynamic, interactive piece of music on a static, physical format like a compact disc? To safeguard the legacy of this medium, institutional libraries must actively archive video game soundtracks and their underlying code to save the history of interactive music before the original devices and digital files disappear forever.