There's no lack of love for retro in the modern gaming world; but certain old games run the risk of being forgotten thanks to their incompatibility with current hardware. PC games especially suffer from this problem; I have an entire binder full of PC CD-ROM games from around 1996-2002 sitting next to my computer desk, and my Vista OS will run about 10% of them. Services like GameTap have done a great job with prolonging the life of older PC games, but the newest kid on the block, GOG (Good Old Games), is focusing entirely on this platform. And I am very happy that they're doing this.
GOG works a lot like Steam, except they play a little looser with the rules and have a much smaller catalog at the moment. All their games--chosen mostly from Interplay's catalog from the past 15 years--are under 9.99, compatible with XP and Vista, and are shockingly DRM free. And if that wasn't enough, each download comes with various bonuses like PDF manuals, soundtracks, wallpapers, and avatars. If the wave of the future is buying things you've already bought, then sign me up.
They're offering a buy-one-get-one deal during the free beta (which is still open), so I decided to induge my perverse curiosity in bombs of the past and bought a copy of Shiny's Messiah for six bucks. I haven't decided on what game to grab for free yet, but I'm leaning towards something from the MDK series, because there's really nothing else like it. I'm hoping that GOG's catalog grows much larger, because I really wouldn't mind replacing everything disc in my binder with a functional, digital copy.
Of course, the problem here is that some companies are awfully stingy with old IP, even if it's dead and unprofitable. Don't expect to see any Lucasarts adventure games on GOG; the company has been so bitchy about their past legacy that fans were pretty much forced to make their PC adventure back catalog compatible with just about every electronic device on earth. And I'm still concerned that the Bullfrog catalog, coming from a time when Peter Molyneux could talk out of his ass and actually back it up, will be forever locked in an underground EA Vault. If I can't play either Dungeon Keeper game again before I die, I'm afraid there's not much left to live for. But for the time being, GOG is a step in the right direction.
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