Equipment & Software Archive

The Speculative Ludology Lab maintains a physical and digital archive housed in Tilton Memorial Library, designed to support platform-exclusive game analysis, historical game studies, and equitable student access.

Current Hardware Inventory

Modern Generation Hardware

  • PlayStation 5 Pro (Sony, 9th Gen): 2 units
  • Xbox Series X/S (Microsoft, 9th Gen): 2 units
  • Nintendo Switch 2 (Nintendo, 10th Gen): 2 units

Legacy & Historical Consoles

  • PlayStation 3 (Sony, 7th Gen): 1 unit (with backward compatibility for PS1 and PS2 titles)
  • Nintendo Wii (Nintendo, 7th Gen): 1 unit (with backward compatibility for GameCube titles)
  • Nintendo 64 (Nintendo, 5th Gen): 1 unit

RetroN Multi-System Consoles

  • Hyperkin RetroN 3 HD 3-in-1: 5 units (supporting NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis cartridges)
  • Hyperkin RetroN 3 AV 3-in-1: 3 units (supporting NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis cartridges)
  • Hyperkin RetroN 5 HD 5-in-1: 2 units (supporting NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance cartridges)

Software & Primary Text Library

The lab software catalog spans multiple console eras:

  • Fighting & Procedural Mechanics: Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection (PS5/Switch 2), Mortal Kombat II (SNES), Street Fighter II (SNES), Killer Instinct (SNES), Tekken 1 & 2 (PS1).
  • Survival, Precarity & Horror: The Last of Us (PS3), Dark Souls (PS3), Resident Evil 5, Metal Gear Solid (PS1), The Thing Remastered (PS5).
  • Open World, Spatial & Worldbuilding: Elden Ring (PS4), Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2 (PS3/PS4), No Man’s Sky (PS4), Shadow of the Colossus (PS2), Ōkami (PS2).
  • Platforming, System Mechanics & Classics: Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, & 3 (NES), Super Mario World (SNES), Super Mario 64 (N64), The Legend of Zelda (NES), Metroid (NES), Mega Man 2 (NES), Mega Man X (SNES), Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Genesis), Tomb Raider Collector’s Edition (PS1), Katamari Damacy (PS2), Stardew Valley (PS4).

Student & Faculty Access: Equity in Action

  • Equitable Checkout System at Tilton Library: All lab hardware, retro consoles, and software cartridges are housed directly in Tilton Memorial Library under a dedicated checkout catalog. This ensures students from all socioeconomic backgrounds can access expensive gaming systems and primary texts required for coursework, capstone projects, and independent research.