This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on January 25, 2006.

It has been one year since the “Great Video Game Experiment” was started at the public library where I work. And in those twelve months I’d have to say it has gone as good as anyone could have hoped. In the end, the numbers don’t lie, and a success is all this experiment can be called.

Seventy-seven PlayStation 2 titles have been added to the collection so far with at least a dozen still awaiting processing. Sadly, Culdcept, one of the games purchased in the initial batch of games at the end of 2004, is still on that list. It’s a little short of the 100 game target I had thought was reasonable back when I started, but 77 seems like a pretty respectable number.

Jak II was the first game to come back broken at the end of July. We had a pretty good run before that. Seven months and not a single problem to be investigated. And then Jak II comes back with a complaint that it won’t start after 8 circs. I pop it in my PS2 at home (because we can’t afford a test unit to sit in the library at all times) and sure enough, the game wouldn’t advance past the Dolby Surround logo. It looks much less scratched up than some of the titles, but it just won’t play.

This has seemed to be a trend as the year moved on. Many younger kids brought back certain titles and say “they’re too scratched to play”. But when I test them on my regularly cleaned PS2 at home they work fine. So back on the shelf they go. But it wouldn’t be unexpected if they didn’t work. Library materials get beaten up regularly. It happens. However, a theft ring is something nobody expects. Continue reading →