As much as I like Nightdive for what they do, I have a hard time going all in on the idea that they are doing something good for game preservation. They certainly do help bring things that have been lost to time back for a while, but if we take a quote from the interview
As technology advances those requirements become more and more difficult to acquire or emulate making some video games unplayable. As an art form this is unacceptable - years of collective time spent by artists, designers, and programmers should never be lost. These games can never be played again, but more importantly we can never learn from them.
All of Nightdive’s remasters are going to fall to this exact fate, technology marches on, their releases stop working natively, require some level of emulation, and ultimately get lost to time.
It would be different if they open sourced their remasters, but understably they are probably restricted from doing so.
It’s not really game preservation. For many of these titles, it’s just one last hurrarh.
I found out about GOG because I was looking for a really old game and found it in a torrent. The torrent mentioned it came from GOG and I checked it out and ended up buying the game from there.
The game is Mob Rule and I got it well after its original release but this was still some time ago I happened to pick it up at Big Lots when they used to have obscure PC games. It was a ton of fun but I lost the CD and couldn’t find the game anywhere, not even torrents, for many years until one year I searched for it again and found it.
Very thankful to GOG for bringing it back and giving me the chance to have it digitally now so I will be less likely to lose it again. Thats what game preservation is about!
Bit hard to narrow it down… what do you enjoy? And have you played much from that era?
Just off the top of my head… simcity 2000, Ultima 4,5,6,7, the quest for glory series, civilization 1 and 2, fallout 1 and 2, xcom, master of orion… there are a ton of classics that are still worth playing.
For something perhaps a little less popular, maybe try Tex Murphy?
Edit: oh, I just remembered Commandos! if you’re a masochist, anyway. That game is hard as balls. Fun, though.
Great list - these are all worth checking out. Some of these games I spent way too much time playing.
I think Ultima 7 is probably one of the best RPGs of the 90s. Ultima 6 might have been the first to 'clutter your entire world with junk' game, but was both beautiful and massive for its time (though 7 did everything better).
It's hard to go wrong with most of the classic Sierra games, though the text entry ones are in a special difficulty level of their own. King's Quest series. Conquests of Camelot was enjoyable. Colonel's bequest. Space quest series.
The Kyrandia games were enjoyable but I played them not too long ago.
Personal favorite from the era: X-Wing! There were plenty of better Star Wars flights sims in the years after it, but the original on floppy disks holds a special place in my heart.
Tyrian 2000 is an easy choice given it’s permanently free on GOG. It’s a really fun old shmup with story and arcade modes, lots of difficulty settings (look up cheat codes if you need to make it harder) and a pretty solid amount of weapon customization. Still very much holds up today.
Is it just me or is this sale a little underwhelming? Cyberpunk 2077 is a good test case - it is only 40% off. Not terrible but it has been 50% off many times in the past.
Likely corresponding to the release of the DLC (today?). Everyone had an opportunity to get in ahead of time if they wished. I suspect we will still see sales for 50% off the base game within a month.
Cyberpunk was shit at launch and they had to sell it at a loss. But now engagement is at an all time high due to Phantom Liberty and the 2.0 update that essentially had “finished” the game.
Don’t expect steep discounts on it anymore…at least not for a very long while…that window has closed.
Oh wow… they have The Saboteur for $5. I didn’t know it was available on the PC. I loved that game, warts and all. IIRC it was the first game I ever worked to get 100% achievements on.
Shame to hear it doesn’t run on the steam deck. I use Linux on my gaming desktop and if it won’t work on the deck it usually won’t work on my desktop either
gog.com
Aktywne