Video Game Collection Underutilized at National Diet Library; Only 16 Instances of Play in 2 Years

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:07 JST, August 11, 2024

Video games collected by the National Diet Library in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, through the publication deposit system have been underutilized, with only 16 recorded instances of them being played at the library over the past two years.

The National Diet Library Law requires publishers and others to deposit publications to the library when they are released. When the law was revised in 2000, commercially available video games were included in the deposit system.

The library in June 2022 started a program to allow visitors to play some of the games, about 3,300 title, in its collection on a trial basis. However, due partly to a lack of advertisement, there have been only 16 instances of a video game being played in the about two years until Jul7 27. The program limits the use of video games to research and study, and the library checks how the user plans to publicize the results of the play session.

When the program started, the library supplied PlayStation 1, 2 and 3 video game consoles, and later added the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Portable. The library says it has no plan to expand the current scope of use. It has said that agreements signed with related organizations state that the program will give consideration so as not to harm software developers and other parties unjustly. “We don’t want them to be used like it’s an arcade,” an official said.

Ken Akamatsu, a manga artist and member of the House of Councillors, who has experience in game software development, said, “New ideas are sometimes born when creators play old games,” and told the Diet that games at the library should be allowed to be used for the purpose of game development as well.

“Contributing to recreation is one of the purposes of a library, and games play an important role in that respect,” said Kazufumi Fukuda, an associate professor at Ristumeikan University who researches video games.