We are a project of the Herní historie association, aimed at preserving gaming culture within the Czech and Slovak Republic. Our main activity is cataloging and archiving all artifacts connected to gaming history, such as magazines, period hardware, or game-related media. We collaborate with numerous international organizations and strive to establish an official institution that would oversee the local footprint in this cultural sector.
Interactive entertainment is still a very young field. We can observe how our understanding of gaming history deepens every day, and it is necessary to make organized efforts aimed at preserving this history. We believe that the Czech and Slovak Republics deserve representation in the international efforts we often contribute to. This enthusiasm has led us to launch a project that will strive to save as much as possible from the early days of gaming culture in our region.
Over time, it will be necessary to establish an official institution to represent our cultural footprint within gaming culture. What it will look like is still a question, but until then, we will strive to pave the way for it. We collect all materials and information to ensure they are accessible for future efforts in the field. Our scope is broad: in addition to physical and digital archiving, it is also necessary to talk to creators, acquire development materials, build connections with similar organizations, and ensure this work becomes easier for newly emerging games.
It is certain that this is a long-term endeavor, but we see its value. It's clear that interest in games continues to grow and that video games are gaining social prestige. We are proud to be at the emergence of this new media format. Many of us have dedicated most of our lives to gaming, and we are ready to put significant effort into this non-profit project. Alongside maintaining a comprehensive archive, we also work to popularize historical games and make them accessible in their authentic form through RetroHerna.
As part of our archival activities, we aim to preserve materials and data using the best technologies and the highest current standards. We place emphasis on backing up not only data but also metadata, such as the chosen archiving method and other contextual details. Physical materials are scanned at the highest possible quality and without lossy compression. Analog and digital media are backed up using specialized hardware, and we even contribute to testing and developing new solutions. Where appropriate, we share the results of our work with international databases such as Redump and No-Intro. All original copies and physical artifacts are stored in a inventoried archive, kept dry and at a stabilized temperature.
No medium is sustainable or suitable for long-term archiving. Media such as optical drives and hard disks lose data over time; dedicated backup technologies like tapes lose hardware support for reading them; and even with preserved digital carriers, recovering data from outdated formats can be challenging. Today is the perfect time to digitize the data and create new copies.
We approach each individual item with the utmost care and are also regularly involved in extensive archival projects. We are happy to help you rescue data from obscure media or organize a project for digitizing an entire archive. Feel free to contact us.
