87% Missing: the Disappearance of Classic Video Games | Video Game History Foundation

gamehistory.org

Games @sh.itjust.works

foobar @lemmy.villa-straylight.social

2y ago

87% Missing: the Disappearance of Classic Video Games | Video Game History Foundation

gamehistory.org /87percent/

RetroGaming @lemmy.world

aion @lemmy.world

2y ago

Study: 87% of classic video games are not legally available

gamehistory.org /87percent/

30 comments

I've found this to be a pretty good resource for abandoned video games: https://www.myabandonware.com/
This is why sites and services like Archive.org, MyAbandonWare and Myrient are absolutely vital, and why IP owners generally suck balls.
Most classic video games are on my computer, so this study was wrong.
- The study acknowledges that piracy is a way to play, but it isn’t legal. Basically we need an equivalent of the Library of Congress for video games, which is a reasonable request and conclusion. There is no way to play without ripping your own cartridges, and even that is still legally gray. See https://youtu.be/yj9Gk84jRiE
  
  Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/yj9Gk84jRiE
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.
  
  All noted and agreed, I was just being superficially snarky.
- Ye-harr
Emulation is a moral imperative.
Mobygames is the place for abandonware games.
I also remember people made a more-or-less complete archive of US Playstaion 1 games and distributed it via Usenet IIRC
That NES controller cable hurts.
I've kept all but my 3DO since 1986 and games. My Sega Master System is the oldest though I have a refurbished Atari 2600. Others include the NES, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, XBox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, WiiU (my kid used to have a Wii but sold it), and Switch. My wife hounds me because most she thinks are for display but they still work. I have countless games for all of them.
- I got lucky and got my NES serviced by Nintendo shortly before the release of the Gamecube, when they were still servicing all their old consoles. Soon enough the Wii released, and when they started releasing old games digitally, they stopped servicing their old consoles.
  I'm still glad my NES works great to this day.
  
  I will say my original Legend of Zelda is difficult to get working.
Still have a bag of old snes and n64 carts in my closet along with at least 1-2 snes and n64 consoles from my childhood.
I would go to garage sales with my mom as a kid every weekend and I still do sometimes looking for clueless people throwing out old consoles.
- I still have all my old N64 carts too. Worried that the internal batteries are dead and my childhood saves long gone.
not their problem, this is our solution aHR0cHM6Ly9teXJpZW50LmVyaXN0YS5tZS9maWxlcy9SZWR1bXAvIGFuZCBodHRwczovL3ZpbW0ubmV0Lz9wPXZhdWx0
eh, just pirate the game. if it's not available anywhere then it probably wasn't worth having in the first place.
- I agree with your first statement, but not the second one.
  
  Same. Companies like Nintendo have repeatedly proven that they have zero interest in preserving their old games. In fact, they often do the exact opposite, and work to stop people from preserving their own (legally owned) game libraries. But Nintendo also has zero interest in re-releasing those older games. So the only way you’re able to realistically play them is via piracy, since the actual company that owns the rights won’t release them for sale on a legal platform.
- NCAA Football 14 fans making angry noises.
They’re video games, who gives a shit. Most things are lost over time.
- So why should the Library of Congress exist? Why should the Internet Archive exist?
  "They're books, who gives a shit. Most things are lost over time." "They're web pages, who gives a shit. Most things are lost over time."
  There's value in record-keeping. People can analyze it on a technical perspective (like a literary analysis). People can enjoy old games (like reading a book from the 1500s). People can analyze trends in the industry. There are endless reasons why record-keeping could be useful, and you can never plan for all of them ahead of time.
  
  Oh yes, let’s worry about saving the intellectual capitol of paper boy, frogger, etc. It’s meaningless bs that’s why it doesn’t matter.

30 comments