Cast-offs from the Golden Age
By Melanie Swalwell
Design by Erik Loyer

Project Credits

Acknowledgement is due the entire Vectors team, for their collegiality and hospitality during the residency, and for the support they are giving to experimental scholarly projects. One of the high points of this project has been working with Erik Loyer, who has been a most generous collaborator, and the 'dream' collaborator to work with from a distance, a significant factor given that this project was developed with us on either side of the Pacific. It has been a joy to work with Erik. Steve Anderson has offered thoughtful critique and encouragement at important stages along the way. Craig Dietrich worked on an improved version of the entry tool, which made my life so much easier.

For permission to republish material, I acknowledge: Aaron Wheeler; Andreas Lange; Alexander Turnbull Library; Archives New Zealand; Bits & Bytes; Chris Matthews; Dick Smith Electronics; the Dominion Post; Homebuy; Janet Bayly; Jason Wilson; Michael Davidson; New Zealand Women's Weekly; Nomac Publishing Ltd; Smiths City; The Star newspaper; and Toyworld.

Credit is due my informants, who so generously shared their knowledge with me, as well as my research assistants and collaborators: Janet Bayly, Kerstin Grosch, Songiee Han, and Jason Wilson. Gregor Cameron provided technical assistance. I am appreciative of the contributions of Alan Bell and the other members of the New Zealand Game Collectors network, particularly my expert informants and sometime collaborators, Michael Davidson and Aaron Wheeler.

Many others have contributed to this research, as colleagues, sponsors, and providers of materials, for which I am grateful. Thank you to staff of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand (a special thanks to Barbara Brownlie, Ephemera Librarian); Amanda Brown and the staff of the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre, Christchurch City Library; Te Manawa Museums Trust, Palmerston North; the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington; and Wellington City Library.

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Melanie Swalwell   melanie.swalwell@vuw.ac.nz
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/seft/media-studies/staff/melanieswalwell.aspx
AuthorMelanie Swalwell is a media and cultural researcher and theorist, lecturing in the Media Studies Programme at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her research centres on newer media with particular attention to media arts and digital games, as well as the intersections of these. She completed a PhD on intersections between the senses, technology and affect in 2002. Since then, her essays have appeared in Convergence, Reconstruction, Realtime and various other venues. Currently, Melanie is editing (together with Jason Wilson) a collection of essays attending to the particular pleasures and engagements of computer gameplay (McFarland & Co). Other work addresses the development of LAN gaming groups, and the construction of debates about censorship of games.

Erik Loyer   erik@song.nu | http://www.erikloyer.com
Designer ProgrammerErik Loyer's interactive artworks have been exhibited online and in festivals and museums throughout the United States and abroad, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Prix Ars Electronica; and Transmediale. Loyer is the creator of The Lair of the Marrow Monkey, one of the first websites to be added to the permanent collection of a major art museum, and Chroma, an award-winning web serial about the racial politics of virtual reality. As Creative Director for Vectors, he has designed numerous multimedia essays in collaboration with leading humanities scholars. Loyer's commercial portfolio includes Clio and One Show Gold Award-winning work for Vodafone as well as projects for BMW and Sony. He is the recipient of a Rockefeller Film/Video/Multimedia Fellowship, and his works have been honored in the Montreal International Festival of New Cinema and New Media and the California Design Biennial. Loyer has a B.A. in Cinema/Television Production from the University of Southern California.