Disappearing Games

I'm concerned about our videogame heritage.
There are dedicated centres whose role it is to preserve works of art, film, literature, important buildings and artefacts. But for videogames the situation is similar to times gone by where only avid independant “collectors” are gathering, catalogueing and preserving games and hardware.
There are already problems where old computer data on ancient hard drives and unsupported portable formats has been lost or is costing hundreds of thousands of pounds to retrieve. What happens when all those battery saves on SNES and Megadrive cartridges go? Will anyone have the know-how and equipment to replace the part? What about old gaming hardware? There must be few spare parts for those floating around and even fewer people who could custom make new components.
Websites like the Game Innovation Database are starting to document the development of recognisable game design features and tracking their progress through time and formats, but what of the games themselves? I am greatly looking forward to the Nintendo Virtual Console on the Wii, with downloadable classic games, but electronic versions of these games can only take preservation so far. How much of a contribution to the art world would be lost if the only versions of the old masters paintings left in existance were copies or photographs?
I hope someone starts a proper collection soon, because I know I don't have the money!