Archival Research Guidelines
Learn effective strategies for researching the history of mobile games using digital archives and advanced search techniques.
Search Techniques
Narrow Your Search
Use quotation marks to search for an exact word or phrase. This ensures you find pages containing that specific phrase.
"Gameboy Color"Exclude Irrelevant Results
Use the minus (hyphen) sign to exclude words from your search results. Useful for filtering out unwanted versions or topics.
Gameboy -color -advanceFile Type Search
To find specific document types, add "filetype:" followed by the type. Great for finding manuals or papers.
Slots of Fun filetype:pdfSpecific Site & Domain Search
Search within a specific website or domain type (like .edu for academic resources) using "site:".
site:mgrl.ncsu.chass.eduGameboy site:.eduMore Advanced Techniques
Download Advanced Internet Research Techniques Guide (PDF)Wayback Machine
Use the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine to view archived copies (caches) of defunct gaming websites.
Visit Archive.orgRecommended Readings
Playful urban spaces: A historical approach to mobile games
de Souza e Silva, A., & Hjorth, L. (2009)
Victorian snakes? Towards a cultural history of mobile games
Parikka, J., & Suominen, J. (2006)
Software presentation: The retro mobile gaming database
Silva, A. D. S. E., & Glover-Rijkse, R. (2023)