Archaeologists Talk Archaeogaming
On a lark, I started a Twitter conversation on the evening of January 27th to lament the fact that relics in video games are never really used for archaeology. This […]
Thoughts from a Winning Bidder of an E.T. Game Excavated from Alamogordo
Introduction I received the comments below on Nov. 16, 2014, from an anonymous winning bidder of one of the E.T. games from the excavation in Alamogordo, New Mexico, that were […]
The Capitalism of Late Archaeology: Alamogordo’s Atari Games on Ebay
My friend, colleague, and fellow Punk Archaeologist Prof. Bill Caraher introduced me to what he calls the “archaeology of late capitalism”, and he wrote yesterday (Nov. 3, 2014 for those […]
Excavating the Atari Dump Site
Watch this space! I am still in Alamogordo to continue our archaeological work with the team today, April 27th, but will blog about the real-world excavation of video games when I am home. It’s like Tron, but in reverse. Or LARPing Dig Dug. For science.
Archaeogaming in Elder Scrolls Online: Back to the Beta
Below is a post that I was told to take down by Zenimax Online during the beta testing of Elder Scrolls Online earlier this year. I am reposting it now, but unfortunately the original images are no longer available. Hopefully the text is enough for now. I am looking forward to joining the full game soon for months of archaeogaming. […]
“Dumping the Alien”: Archaeogaming at South by Southwest 2014
Archaeogaming is as much about exploring and conducting archaeology within gaming environments (virtual space) as it is about understanding the history of video games in the real world (meat space). The perfect, literal embodiment of archaeogaming was discussed for an hour in Austin as part of the 2014 South by Southwest festival. “Dumping the Alien: Unearthing the Atari Graveyard” featured […]
The Philosophy of Archaeology in Video Games
Look out honey, ’cause I’m using technology! Ain’t got time to make no apology . . . . I’m the world’s forgotten boy, the one who’s searchin’, searchin’ to destroy —Iggy Pop I admit it: when I’m in-game, I am a baaaad archaeologist. Indiana Jones bad (especially when I’m playing him as my Lego alter ego). I don’t take notes. […]
Video Game Archaeology in Meatspace
William Rathje would have been all over this. And maybe Fox Mulder. Picture this if you will: Somewhere in the southern desert of New Mexico, more than 150 miles south of Albuquerque, lies a secret dump-site filled with E.T. technology covered in meters of cement. Thirty years ago, a high-tech corporation had gone too far too fast and decided to […]
What is Archaeogaming?
Let me begin at the beginning, a Level 1 n00b, but an archaeology “Master.” I was once a reluctant gamer who was dragged kicking and screaming into World of Warcraft […]
Archaeogaming 