| |
| |
|
Game Information |
|
|
|
Reviving Old Computer Games
Remember the good old days of gaming, when there were only 5 pixels in the protagonist and your imagination could turn them into a heroic figure of Schwarzenegger proportions? When the enemies and the heroes were distinguished by colour and you only needed one button on the joystick? Well times have changed and technology has moved on. Pulling my old Commodore 64 or Atari out of the back of the cupboard and setting them up often takes more time than the nostalgic pang lasts. I've also noticed that some of my old disks are starting to age and become corrupted. Enter the Internet. The wonderfully technologically gifted and giving Internet populace is out in force in their attempts to preserve the older side of gaming. Remakes and Emulators for almost any old machine can be found around the Internet. Emulators act as a layer between old software and new hardware allowing modern PCs to run programs that such hardware was never meant to see. Commodore 64, Amiga, NES, Master System, Arcade Machines and more have all been emulated and the necessary programs placed online for download, usually for free. Emulation is not a new idea. I had a hardware emulator for the VIC20 that plugged into the back of my Commodore 64 and allowed the use of the older VIC20 cartridges with the new hardware (I never actually owned a VIC20 or any programs for it but that's another issue). Emulator popularity has been fading in and out for many years, only coming into many people's attention with the release of Bleem!, a Playstation emulator for PC that was released while the PSOne still held a dominant share of the video game market. Bleemcast (a Playstation emulator for the Sega Dreamcast) soon followed causing one of the more interesting video game legal battles as Sony fought to have the emulator shut down. However, the emulators have a strong following and very active user base. Emulators are easy to find and download. Simply search for the system you want and add the word emulator to the end (e.g. "SNES Emulator") and you'll probably come up with a lot of hits. Be slightly wary as some emulator sites will either be false links or may contain pornographic ads. Setting the emulators up to run is usually fairly straightforward and there's a fair chance that you'll be able to find some documentation and help. Some of the newer systems require a BIOS image to be installed with the emulator. This is to get around the legal issues raised by Sony in the Bleem! legal battles by requiring you to be in possession of a Playstation BIOS (and hence, presumably, a Playstation) in order to play the games on your computer. Making a BIOS image to load into your computer will most likely be beyond your technical expertise, but a quick check of your console's case will reveal the file you need to get and then it's as simple as searching the internet for a BIOS image that matches the BIOS you already own. Of interest are the PC emulators now available. Windows no longer has very good support for older DOS-based games so there are a few emulators out there now to emulate the DOS environment. DOSBox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/) is probably the best known of the crop. There are also game-specific emulators such as ScummVM (www.scummvm.org) or DOOM Legacy (http://legacy.newdoom.com/) that focus specifically on certain games and hence are able to improve the experience for those particular titles. Once you have yourself an emulator you'll need to get yourself some programs to run with it. These programs are called 'ROMs' and are images of the original storage device that the program came on (be it a cartridge, tape, floppy or other). The process of creating a ROM is probably far too technical for the vast majority of computer users so you're probably going to have to find a 'backup' from somewhere to download. This is where the venture gets slightly foggy. Basically the deal is that you can only have a program ROM if you own the original program. So if you have boxes of old Amiga disks, NES cartridges, or other old gaming programs stored away somewhere, you're in luck, otherwise you're treading on legally shifty ground. While it can easily be argued that the downloading of a 1987 computer game is of no real consequence to the company that has in all likelihood closed down, copyright doesn't actually expire for 50 years and computer games just haven't been around that long. Online 'emulation' is a new area now being explored. The idea is that you simply play the game in your browser through a Java applet or Flash application. These might not always strictly be emulated programs but many remakes are feature perfect with the originals. The graphics, sounds, and game play remain intact. One excellent place to look for online games is Every Video Game (http://www.everyvideogame.com). While the site does not in fact contain 'every video game' it does have a very large list of old games from the arcades, GameBoy, NES, and Master System all playable through your browser. Many remakes can also be found at Shockwave's site (http://www.shockwave.com/sw/actiongames/arcade_classics/). Some of the old games have even been remade and updated for this modern world we now live in. Try doing a search for remakes of a game title you particularly enjoyed and you may be surprised at what you find. There are games that have been updated to be 3D, such as some old favourites of mine: Pac man (http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/f1292.html) and Barbarian (http://www.dgdevteam.tk/), and while these might not always be brilliant games or remakes in their own right, the thought and effort put in often leads to an enjoyable diversion. There are also more traditional versions of games that have just updated the code as well as possibly the graphics so that they can still be run. So if you're feeling nostalgic or just can't get the hang of these new-fangled games that require you to push fifty buttons in a precise configuration just to jump, you may like to check out the emulation and remake scene. It's surprisingly entertaining to go back in time to when games were simple yet fun. Daniel PunchM6.Net Web Helpershttp://www.m6.net
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
7 Simple Steps to Avoid Being a Newbie in Online Games It doesn't matter if you are new to online roleplaying games. The road to becoming elite isn't easily traveled. Are You A PC Gamer And Want The Best Out Of Your Graphics Card? IntroductionIn this article you will learn how to get the most out of your graphics card by installing new drivers and tweaking Windows. The guide is based around Windows XP Professional Edition but you can use the same guide to tweak other Windows operating systems. XBOX 360 vs. PS3: an in Depth Look All gamers are awaiting the release of the Xbox 360 and the PS3. This article takes an in depth look at how the two systems compare. Ten Things You Should Know in Video Games BloodRayne | It's Zero Hour | Midasplayer |The latest in online gaming | Computer GamesYou are not an hardcore person in playing video Games and if you want to know the facts which I set hereunder, there are many attraction in playing video which I may share an idea to those wish to play video games:1. Two giant video games company, that is ATARI and SEGA having its own unique historical. Free Pocket PC Casino Game Casino Gambling Wherever You LikeAre you absolutely crazy about pocket pc gaming? One of the very best things about pocket pc casino games is that nearly all of them are free games. There is a free pocket pc casino game everywhere you look on the Internet. Rent Games Online for the Kids It's risky business allowing your children to play games online. I know that may sound funny but I have a good argument to back up my opinion. Xbox vs. PS2 Game Consoles There has been a great deal of discussion regarding the two most popular gaming consoles currently on the market: Playstation 2 (PS2) and Xbox. PS2 is a Sony product, while Xbox is owned by the software giant Microsoft. Why We Play Games, Part 2 Last week we started to get into the motivation of the gamer. We discussed challenge and its ugly stepsister competition, two of the most common motivators. The Future of Submarine Games In the last six months, the demise of sims has been pronounced in abundance. Print mags and sim webzines have been telling you sims are being cancelled left and right Jane's A-10: Cancelled. Classic Fragfest: Quake III Arena As graphics technology improves in leaps and bounds for the next pc generation, more and more gamers expect, and more or less demand, new and innovating concepts to blow their mind. However, there are some games out there that simply stand the test of time for pure entertainment. Codename Revolution - Nintendos Next Generation Gaming System Over the past year or so plenty of hype, mystery and controversy has been raised over the new Nintendo Console. Systems like the Xbox have taken the lead in gaming with offering capabilities such as online multiplayer. Solitaire RULES Half Life DROOLS It's a popularity contest.Solitaire is hip, cool, and way more popular than Half Life 2. Play a Cool Jeep Game Online If there were anything that could excite a Jeep enthusiast more than a 4x4 trail run, it would have to be a Jeep game! Jeep games are as close to the real thing as you can possibly get without actually being in a Jeep. The best part about Jeep games online are they are completely free, so play away to your heart's content. How to Write a Business Plan While Playing BizTech 2.0 is an entrepreneur education program offering business assistance to students over 13. Free Games For Your Pocket PC Admit It-You're Often BoredA pocket pc has about a million uses. But one of the most popular uses of a pocket pc is to play games on it. A Comparison Of the Next Generation Gaming Consoles (Part 1) It's been about 5 years since we have seen a new video game console. By spring of next year all three major companies will have released their new systems. The Story Behind OpenSimcity I've always liked to play SimCity since I was little. I used to play the version for Super Nintendo for hours then and then. Evolution of Gaming : Graphics vs Gameplay If you are old enough to remember the early days of computer gaming you know there were a lot of great games that were fun because of the exceptional gameplay and not just the graphics. Gaming started to become a little more popular in the 90s once people started buying computers. Popular Electronic Games - They Are Not Just For Kids Anymore Superheroes battle monsters and space invaders in fast action games. Players take on the role of these superheroes in epic battles. RPG: Table and Computer It's not a secret that table RPG games are not so popular as they used to be. However a certain number of amateurs are still fond of them.
|
|
home | site map |
| © 2006 |
