Internet Archive Launches Arcade of Classic Games In the Browser

SternisheFan tips news that the Internet Archive has launched the "Internet Arcade," a collection of over 900 arcade games from the '70s, '80s, and '90s that are free to play in an emulated, browser-based environment. The Arcade makes use of JavaScript Mess, which the crew at the Archive has been working on for several years. Obviously, a lot of people are going to migrate to games they recognize and ones that they may not have played in years. They’ll do a few rounds, probably get their @$%^& kicked, smile, and go back to their news sites. A few more, I hope, will go towards games they've never heard of, with rules they have to suss out, and maybe more people will play some of these arcades in the coming months than the games ever saw in their "real" lifetimes. And my hope is that a handful, a probably tiny percentage, will begin plotting out ways to use this stuff in research, in writing, and remixing these old games into understanding their contexts.

Comments

Sweet!!

[rodrigoandrade]

Goodbye productivity!!

Re:Sweet!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Goodbye productivity!!

You can really say this with a straight face while surfing slashdot?

Re:Sweet!!

[zAPPzAPP]

But he produced a first post!

Re:Sweet!!

[Tyr07]

This has been done and around for a long time.

http://www.virtualsupernes.com...

Re:Sweet!!

[mccalli]

Although I agree the sentiment, I disagree specifically on Street Fighter 2 (well...on the Hyperfighting/Turbo edition anyway). Always found that one holds up because the characters are well balanced, the moves are easy'ish to remember so when playing people who are good it's less about remembering the framerate for the super-ultra-mega-30-button-combo-string and more about actual weighted tactics.

I find it interesting that my kids, who are used to playing the newest and prettiest editions of the Tekken series, still go back to Street Fighter 2 Hyperfighting. They weren't even alive when it came out and have no nostalgic feelings towards it, so clearly the game has got something to it which stands the test of time.

Re:Sweet!!

[Jason Levine]

I felt the same way when I re-watched some episodes of Voltron on Netflix. I remembered an exciting, top notch animated show. I saw cheesy dialogue and plot holes that you could pilot a giant space robot through. There are somethings that you can relive the glory of - that stand the test of time - and other things that just are better left in your memory.

Re:Sweet!!

[ArcadeMan]

...clearly the game has got something to it which stands the test of time.

Of course it does. Her name is Chun-Li.

How long will it last...

[MindPrison]

...before the copyright holders come to collect?

Roms are being deleted all the time on the internet, I know...because I've constantly tried to find the original Arcade Pac Man roms, but the copyrights are still in effect as various companies sell retrogames themselves, which they hold the license to.

Re: How long will it last...

[frikken lazerz]

Wrong. Sadly, just because the company doesn't exist doesn't mean it's public domain. The copyrights don't expire upon a company going out of business.

Re: How long will it last...

[Jason Levine]

Which is one big reason why I advocate for shorter copyright terms. Let's say you remembered a great, somewhat obscure game from the 80's and wanted to remake it. You wanted to do it properly, however, and get permission from the copyright owners. The company that owned the copyright is likely long since bankrupt and following the ownership of the copyright can be murky at times. You might even locate one company, get permission, and find yourself sued afterwards by a second company who claims ownership. Often, two companies will claim copyright and it will be up to the courts to untangle the mess. If the courts have trouble with this, what hope does your average producer of content have to find the right company.

Now, if copyright expired 14 years after registration (with a one-time 14 year renewal), like it originally was set, you could be sure that any game from 1986 or before was public domain. As for games after 1986, you would know who renewed the copyright under 14 years ago so you would only need to sift through 13 years or less of copyright transferals - instead of 30+ years now.

A 14+14 copyright system would drastically reduce the number of orphan works out there.

Re:Get your naming right, Soulskill

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

Besides, "JavaScript Mess" is redundant.