GOG - How To Save And Restore Classic Videogames @ Rock, Paper, Shotgun

HiddenX

HiddenX

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Rock, Paper Shotgun with an interesting article on how GOG is getting their games:

“Hunting for distribution rights is essentially detective work,” says Marcin Paczyński, Head of Product at GOG. “Rights can repeatedly change hands or be split up between different parties, and it’s our job to get to the bottom of what happened.”

Preservation of old games involves more than just an extra patch. The journey from dusty unplayable relic to polished, cross-platform installer is a minefield of technical and legal obstacles. The team at Good Old Games remain the industry leaders in the restoration of classic PC games, tasked with reverse engineering code written more than 20 years ago, unraveling knotty licensing issues left behind by defunct development studios, and battling lethargy on the part of skeptical publishers. It’s a thrilling and, at times, gruelling process, but – as the GOG team will testify – it never fails to surprise.

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That's probably one of the best articles I've read in a long time. Considering the work that goes into getting these games into our digital hands again, and the amazing prices they sell them for, i'm amazed it happens at all. Their passion appears to be just like those restoring museum pieces.
 
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interesting point right at the very end of the article re: archive.org's giving away all these ms-dos games w/out regard to their legal rights. The article strongly hints that this cuts into the profits of GOG who made the effort to provide these legitimately.
 
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All hail GOG. :worship:

They're pretty awesome and deserve our cash for the work they do. Number one digital retailer for me.
 
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