A Video Game Librarian Overview

Over at Gaming Target, John Scalzo talks about the video game his library started to rent and how well the expirement turned out. He goes into how long it took to get breakage (seven months), what happens with thefts (hunt 'em down) and also the odd contradictions between R rated movies, which are allowed, and M rated games, which aren't:

I've tried to push games with a "tame M" like Neo Contra and games that spawned R-rated movies (which we do own) like Resident Evil 4, but no dice. The M is the roadblock, not the content descriptors. Yet, R-rated movies are everywhere. In fact, many patrons are requesting the new Unrated Director's Cut (read: NC-17) DVDs that have become all the rage these days and they are being added as fast as they can be purchased. It's a strange double standard, but one that almost has to be respected at this point. The collection is too small to fill it with games that can only be appreciated by a small percentage of our patrons.

-- The Video Game Librarian: It's The End of the Year As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

I remember thinking it was radical that a library might rent music, much less DVDs and PS2 titles. It's been a woefully long time since I've stepped into a library, so I would find around Chicago. It's great to see some places take the idea seriously, however.



tagged: library, gaming