Introduction

In the middle of 2019, the UK's National Videogame Museum (NVM) unveiled its latest—and by far its largest—exhibit. ‘Platform 14’ explores the phenomenon of converting, or ‘porting’, videogames across different systems. It allows visitors to investigate what is lost, what is gained, and what changes as ‘the same game’ is translated and remade for different platforms. It is a physically large, even imposing, exhibit that comprises 24 50-inch displays. Half of the displays are dedicated to providing instruction and interpretative context, with the remaining fourteen dedicated to playable versions of a game. Crucially, then, these are fourteen versions of the same game that are simultaneously viewable and playable. The focus on the conversion of a single game across multiple platforms and the simultaneity of the display are absolutely central to the exhibit, which is predicated on the idea of facilitating comparison of different platforms. The exhibit opened showcasing fourteen versions of Donkey Kong, ranging from home computer incarnations, such as the ZX Spectrum and the Dragon 32, through TV-connected consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System and handheld devices such as the Game & Watch. Versions on display included titles created or licensed by Nintendo as well as unofficially-sanctioned ‘clones’ or remakes. clones’ or remakes.

As well as being undeniably arresting in its size and scale, the exhibit is intended to draw attention to a crucial question that cuts to the very heart of videogame history, game preservation and exhibition and, I would argue, impacts all aspects of game studies scholarship, and yet which is very rarely acknowledged or discussed.