Here’s a job listing that made a lot of game historians smile this week.
Nintendo of America is looking for a “Digital Archivist, Historical Systems.” The role is based in Redmond, Washington, works on a hybrid schedule, and the person hired will need to relocate.
What the job actually is
According to the listing, the archivist will collect “technical records, engineering documentation, source materials, and institutional knowledge” about Nintendo’s hardware and software. In practice that means:
- gathering and organising old engineering documents and source material;
- setting up rules so that information stays findable years from now;
- working with engineering, product, legal and business teams;
- and — the part we like most — interviewing long-time Nintendo developers and recording what they know.
Why this matters
Video games are surprisingly easy to lose. Studios close, servers shut down, old builds sit on hard drives nobody can open, and when experienced developers leave, a lot of knowledge walks out with them. Plenty of classic games survive today only because fans dumped and preserved them.
Nintendo has had fewer layoffs than many of its rivals, which means a lot of veterans are still there. A role like this is a way to capture what they know before they retire, not after.
A step, not a museum
To be clear, this is one job, not a public archive or a museum (though Nintendo does have one in Kyoto). Nobody’s promising that every old game will suddenly become playable again. But for a company that’s famously protective of its history, writing it down properly is a genuinely good sign.
If you’ve ever wanted to be paid to talk to the people who made Ocarina of Time, this might be your moment.
