[typing]
Greetings and welcome to another LGR video on a topic you all can't stop messaging me about.
Over the course of the past...couple weeks, by the time this video goes public,
you may have seen the news that Archive.org has posted over 2,000 DOS PC games for free.
Not only that, but they're playable right from your browser using EX DOSBox,
without the need to install anything extra or rely on clunky stuff like Java.
If you're like me, you've also received over 2,000 emails,
tweets, Facebook mentions, comments, carrier pigeons and whatever else,
about this news and probably going a little crazy,
so you decided to do a video on it, like I'm going right now.
That said, thank you very much to everyone that let me know this existed, but you can stop now.
As for the news itself and what I think about it,
well, it's pretty freakin' awesome to see this niche hobby of mine
get some more mainstream exposure, I guess.
And hopefully this will open some eyes to both the merits of forgotten DOS games
and the idea of software preservation in general.
I mean, these are both subjects I'm very passionate about,
so any time I see a high-profile launch of a library like this,
it's pretty exciting on the one hand.
It's my hope that this leads to further appreciation and preservation of classic PC games,
and even not-so-classic ones, because those need lovin', too.
On the other hand, it doesn't affect me very much personally at all,
and leaves a LOT to be desired, and why is that?
Well, not only do I own and play a lot of these games on the actual hardware
or configure my own DOSBox emulators,
but sites like this have existed for years.
And they not only let you download tons of DOS games for free,
but let you play them in your browser, too.
RGB DOS Games is one such site,
and I find it far more valuable due to the way it provides links to multiple versions
of obscure PC titles.
The in-browser gaming that they have works,
but it relies on extra software and honestly, I never use it.
But, hey, it was there, so that was cool.
But, yes, Archive.org is doing something entirely different here,
not only in having a crapload more games,
but the in-browser gameplay is far superior
...for the most part.
Pretty much all you have to do is click a game, click Play, and there you go.
You can do whatever you want without having to configure anything.
That said, it's got some real issues at times
with games being configured entirely incorrectly
and as such being unplayable.
Either that, or the emulation itself just isn't up to snuff,
with graphical, sound and input issues all over the place.
[warbling "Jazz Jackrabbit" music plays]
The other issue is that there seems to be zero quality control,
which for a site calling itself a library and this being curated,
is pretty lame.
It seems they've just uploaded any game they can get their hands on,
without any checks and balances,
and that's a shame when it comes to games of major significance.
I mean, why is SimCity some weird cracked version
with a bunch of extra tile sets and customized junk in there by default, screwing it up?
Others simply are unplayable due to not including any cracks at all
because you'd need the original manual to refer to in order to bypass its copy protection.
So, unless you actually have that on hand,
or can find a copy online,
or someone in the comments comes to the rescue,
then you're out of luck. You can't play the game.
Which brings me to the other issue that I have and–
well, not an issue of mine but an issue that some publishers may have,
and that is the legality of this.
Now, again, personally, this doesn't affect me.
I think that vintage software should be saved regardless of legality.
And indeed, there are preservation societies
and even the American government that tends to agree.
Archive.org themselves have a page
stating they've received exemption from some parts of the DMCA in order to preserve old software,
and that's great!
But there's a difference between archiving
and making it available for free,
and effectively distributing it to anyone with an Internet connection.
As much as I like that idea in a way,
it's also moving into a legal gray area,
even if stuff is only playable in a browser,
since lots of these games in their software library are still sold on services
like GOG.com and Steam by their respective rights holders.
There are tons of full-version games in here
that even the shadiest abandonware sites won't touch,
and that makes me worry about the future of this archive and the site itself.
Archive.org is a fantastic and invaluable resource,
and I use it for almost every single one of my videos,
either to look up old websites or find some obscure shareware version of a game.
So when I see *this* stuff
that my freedom-loving, copyright-hating side adores,
but the other side of me that worries that they're going to get in trouble and get shut down
and is weirded out over,
yeah, that's...it's a bit strange, you know?
I'm just worried about the future of the site itself more than the legal issues.
I mean, they also had the movie "The Interview" up available for free streaming on the site
on Christmas Day.
What? You can't argue that that's any kind of archiving.
And, yes, I know that has to do with user-submitted stuff,
but I mean it's still kind of a problem.
And it could bite them in the butt.
That said, the site is still currently up,
and it's available to use and it's super easy to play a ton of great games
that are otherwise more difficult to do so.
It's obvious there was a ton of work that went into this,
and the fact that millions of people are now playing DOS games
is a feat in and of itself, and I approve wholeheartedly.
Getting this stuff into the hands of people is how you get people to remember it
and care about this, which is great.
So go and check it out while it's still a free-for-all, Old West of old school PC gaming,
because I'm really curious to see how long it'll last.
[MIDI music plays]
And if you enjoyed this ramble about old software,
on a site that is actually pretty frickin' awesome,
but yet I'm concerned about their well-being,
then, uh...well this is the only video that I've done like that, so my apologies.
But there are a lot of other videos on games
that I really like...
And computer hardware and a bunch of other sweet stuff,
if you like this kind of stuff that's sweet.
So checking out my channel and subscribing would be beneficial to you,
if you think it would be beneficial to you.
There's always Twitter and Facebook and Patreon for doing all of the extra online things.
I don't feel like talkin' anymore.
I would actually rather go play some Europa Universalis,
so I'm gonna go and do that.
But thank you very much for watching.