200209 An Introduction to the Xbox Live Aracde. 'Go retro: Play the original arcade game.'

After discussing my current research interest with a work colleague I was invited to a demonstration of the Xbox LIVE Arcade interface used by Microsoft to sell previously released and 'retro' software titles. The online store is the Microsoft version of the Nintendo Wii Shop Channel, which also sells older games that can be played by using the console as an emulator for the Commodore 64, NES, N64 etc. The Xbox Live Arcade features games that were originally available in the arcade, games classics such as Pacman and Centipede for example, as well as games played on consoles such as the Dreamcast. Other game titles that originally featured on a variety of consoles (multi-platform console releases) are also available for download.

The Xbox LIVE Arcade interface was simple and easy to use providing the user with a preview of each game available for download. The preview usually provided an image from the original marketing of the game (the front cover of the game box for example) as well as the game title and a brief textual description. It was very easy to scroll through the available games and filter searches via a number of means. Whilst scrolling through the list of games several titles acted as triggers for recollection through discussion. This recollection ranged from short comments acknowledging that this title was 'known' or remembered through to brief discussions about the game itself in which memories were combined to confirm what the game looked like or what it was like to play. Individual game biographies began to emerge through this process of scrolling through the various games that were available for download. Gaming biographies were unique to each person but were punctuated by particular game titles relevant to a number of people (usually popular game titles such as Tron, Pacman, Speedball etc). Some game titles were recalled but had not previously been played, the LIVE Arcade provides a platform that can be used to play the lost games of the past, games that were never purchased or owned for one reason or another. After being shown the LIVE Arcade interface and the content available for download we started to play Left 4 Dead, developed by Valve and published by Electronic Arts.

After some reflection on this particular experience of reminiscing with friends about gaming personal and shared gaming experiences through conversation and game play I started to think about how to gather evidence of nostalgic recollection in the future.

• The evening as a whole was an enjoyable social experience but also served as an unstructured and informal space within which to discuss personal gaming experiences and biographies. The Xbox LIVE Arcade interface acted as a kind of scrapbook containing visual and descriptive references to previously played game titles. The presence of these online overviews, or summaries, acted as a starting point for discussion and reminiscence. It may be possible to formalise this unstructured and fluid experience in order to explore the intricacies of nostalgia experienced by research subjects in the future. A research subject, or group of subjects, could be presented with an Xbox 360 running the LIVE Arcade shop front. The interaction and discussion that follows (including which games are downloaded/played) could then be recorded on video. Content captured on tape could be studied after the event and worked into a more formal interview of the subject(s).
  
• A large proportion of the conversations occurring throughout the evening provided me with some interesting ideas and areas for further investigation. It would be useful to record these areas of interest shortly after their formulation - short blog or note entries would be useful and could be returned to at a later date for further development. The blog or note entries would serve as a formal marker for a potential area of interest.
• Recording of conversation may be useful in the future but this must be thought through carefully. Permission must, of course, be gained from those entering into discussion or interview. A knowledge that a conversation is being recorded for a formal purpose may lead those participating in discussion to act differently, feeling that they must 'perform' correctly. My experiences to-date do not result from the playing out of any particular research strategy, they are simply interesting conversations or game playing sessions that have occurred within a social space.
  
• It may be possible, as previously mentioned, to formalise discussion and game playing within a research framework in the future. It is important to think through a process of formalisation carefully as an experience for the research subject that appears to be less formal and structured may provide more detailed and interesting accounts of personal gaming experience. There must be a research focus at work during evidence collection but it is also important to provide a space within which the subject can reflect openly about gaming experience.
• It is also important to consider the distinction between social encounters and active research strategies. Conversations and game playing experiences that I am currently entering into through the course of day-to-day social occurrences are not directly associated with any specific research strategy. Post experience reflection on these events provides me with areas of interest to investigate further rather than material to be used directly as evidence. It is important to think about the distinction between normal social experience and targeted research. One element of evidence gathering should aim to use an informal social space through which insightful content (conversation, commentary, reflection etc) can be recorded.