AACA Library looking to add auto-related video games to its collections

Images courtesy AACA Library.

Libraries aren’t exactly arcades, but video games did provide an introduction to cool cars for many a younger automotive enthusiast, so the AACA Library recently added a small collection of racing simulator and other video games from the 1980s and 1990s to its collections.

“It’s a good way to connect to a younger crowd,” Assistant Librarian Matt Hocker said. “It’s really a cultural heritage thing.”

According to Hocker, the inspiration for the initiative came from the donation to the library of a 2003 Nissan 350Z sales brochure. Along with the paper literature came a music CD and a demo for a 350Z-focused version of Gran Turismo for the PlayStation 2. “We realized that plenty of companies used video games as a platform for advertising their products,” Hocker said.

In turn, Chris Ritter, the head librarian at the AACA Library, asked if any of the library staff had any video games and consoles at home they could bring in. Hocker recalled an old 16-bit Sega Genesis gathering dust in his basement along with a few racing games, and the other librarians found a few more second-hand games to add to the collection.

Some of the video games currently in the AACA Libary’s collection.

“I think video games serve almost as a bridge from one hobby to the next, or as a gateway to discovery,” Hocker said. “The games that people played when they were younger build an appreciation for the cars in the games.”

Key example: Well before Nissan ever considered exporting the GT-R to the United States, the Skyline nameplate became legendary among younger car enthusiasts in the United States who had never seen one in the flesh but who had driven one in the Need For Speed and Gran Turismo video game series. Demand from those video game fans in part led to the current U.S.-market GT-R beginning in 2008.

The library currently has the Genesis and its games set up to play on a big-screen television in the library’s lobby, and Hocker said the library is considering hosting tournaments in the future, should there be enough interest. In addition, the library has put out a call for donations of other video games and consoles.

“We’ll take anything as far back as the Magnavox Odyssey up until the present,” Hocker said, though he noted that, due to space limitations, the library cannot accept donations of arcade cabinets. Even non-functioning consoles can be made to work again with simple repairs or through commercial repair services, Hocker noted.

For more information on the collection and how to donate to the library, visit AACALibrary.org.

from Hemmings Daily – News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/2d6uYab