Lost games

[guidance]

What is the future for old games?
We have books written from hundreds of years ago still in perfect condition, we have movies remade and redone so audiences now can enjoy what was created in the past, but what about our games? I've recently tried to go back and play games I was never able to from the generation that I didn't grow up in. Finding copies of these games are becoming more and more difficult, the only way now is through Ebay or find a rare working torrent. These aren't giant problems for the everyday Ebay shopper and downloader, but what about the people who don't think about putting that extra step in there video game purchase and because the game is now hidden through that extra step they wont be able to experience the games from our past. Whats becoming worse is that it just gets harder to run these games (on PC I don't know what the future of console backwards compatibility is but if the PS3 is anything to go by, nothing good) emulators are good but same games are too far gone. I was never able to make Rayman forever run well on my PC and I have a legit copy of that game. In 10 years people are going to have to emulate the xbox 360, and PS3 which will take a very long time to emulate. The life span of games are very short, which is very sad when some games are worth sharing with future generations. Some games might be recreated but not all that deserve it. How do we keep our games from becoming lost?

 

[khaimera]

So this thread isn't about Lost Via Domus for the 360? Oh well, seems to me that technology will allow for games to continue forever. They are just code after all right?

 

[80Maxwell08]

GOG I guess? Other than that I honestly don't have any idea on every game aside from holding on to them or what they taught you that you would want to share to future generations.

 

[guidance]

I have never heard of GOG, it has fallout and beyond good and evil so I have happy.

 

[Morgan Howe]

lol i have an old microwave box filled with old game disks, some are crazy old, like jazz jack rabit, most don't work which is to bad cuz some are favorites from a forgot era and dead companies.
like Westwood's emperor: battle for dune *_* god i love that game.
but alas, i think old games will get as much respect from gamers in the future as they do now.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I've started already. I am fortunate enough to be close to a play-n-trade which still sell games as old as Atari era. Most of them are used however, coming without manuals or boxes but it's still better than nothing. Other than that, you can download certain classic games on PSN, XBL and, Nintendo's Virtual Console.

 

[Snork Maiden]

Most of them are used however, coming without manuals or boxes but it's still better than nothing

I think the boxes and manuals are without a doubt the important things to look after in respect to preserving old games. Certainly in the 90s (and early 2000s) games often came with some awesome stuff that really added to the experience, and it's this extra stuff that is usually lost. Looking back through my old Mega Drive games young me had next to no regard for manuals at all - 90% are lost, and replacing manuals is difficult enough without trying to replace stuff like world maps.

Some games might be recreated but not all that deserve it. How do we keep our games from becoming lost?

Are you talking about the "future" of old games in respect to the next generation actually being able to play them, or in respect to the fact that the next generation might not be able to hold them in their hands? The number of games that have no version at all stored somewhere is slim, to say the least. I find it difficult to imagine a single SNES ROM that isn't stuck on the internet, for example.

If you do mean preserving the hard copies then... bleh. I love collecting old games, but the fundamental experience doesn't change depending on whether you play it on the PC or on the original platform. As a parallel, I appreciate that people enjoy collecting and playing vinyls, but I don't believe that playing the Beatles (say) on such a format is in any way required to get the full enjoyment out of it.

 

[Frybird]

Thanks to emulation and being a digital medium i also don't worry about good old games being preserved.

The not-as-good and bad-ones though...well, they are fricken dead.

Captcha: The uticstru. Sounds like a Doctor Who Villian