Internet Archive puts classic 70s and 80s games online for free
At the moment, the games don't have sound.
National Monitor, Craig Manning | December 28, 2013
Who needs to keep old video game consoles in their basement, collecting
dust, when all of the classic games those consoles supported are playable
online? Who needs to spend money amassing a sprawling video game collection
when older games can be accessed on the web for a fee of approximately
nothing?
Those are the questions being posed by the Internet Archive which, according
to a report published on Friday by Digital Spy, recently made a huge
collection of older video games available and playable online for free. Don't
get too excited yet to play through all of those Super Nintendo and N64
games from your youth, though: at the moment, the so-called Internet Archive
Console Living Room, is only dedicated to the most retro of gaming consoles.
So far, the Console Living Room includes sections for five different gaming
consoles, the Atari 2600, the Atari 7800 ProSystem, the ColecoVision, the
Magnavox Odyssey, and the Astrocade. The Atari consoles are still remembered
fondly by many gamers, while some of the other models have been a bit more
forgotten over time. Regardless of how successful the gaming systems were
back in the day, however, hundreds of their games have now been modified for
emulated computer and internet use. From "Donkey Kong" to "Pac-Man" and from
"Asteroids" to old licensed games like "Spider-Man" and "The Return of the
Jedi," the Internet Archive Console Living Room will allow players to
recapture the timeless throwback feel of 1970s and 1980s gaming.
At the moment, the games don't have sound, removing the beeps and blips that
would truly posit the Internet Archive Console Living Room as a vintage and
nostalgic experience. However, Jason Scott, one of the Internet Archive's
curators suggested that the Console Living Room section would be receiving
some overhauls and improvements over the next few months. Sound will be one
of those improvements, as will an expansion of the game library. Could
players see games from more recent consoles, such as early Nintendo or Sega
models, make their way to the Archive over the next few years? That remains
to be seen, but if the experiment is well received, it's a possibility.
However, before the Archive can get Nintendo, it needs to get through the
early stages of implementing the Console Living Room as a widely used and
respected tool. Scott says he wants the instant availability of the games to
open up opportunities for "commentary, education, enjoyment, and memory."
However, it's currently unclear whether or not the Archive has permission to
emulate every game it currently has in its collection. Some retro game
developers may prefer to port their own games over to smartphones so that
they can make a profit off the retro gaming revival.
https://archive.org/details/consolelivingroom
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