Internet Archive Plugs 900 Classic Arcade Games into Your Browser

Diposkan oleh silent aja 6:26 AM Post a Comment

No quarters required

It used to be that if you wanted to waste some time at work, you fired up Minesweeper, Solitaire, or my personal favorite, SkiFree. Boy have times changed. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet and the efforts of the Internet Archive, time wasting just got a whole hell of a lot more fun. Now when you have some spare time to kill -- or even when you don't -- you can head over to the Internet Arcade and relive 900 classic arcade games right within your browser.

Feel free to offer up excuses in the comments that I can use to explain why I'm suddenly late turning in assignments. Even typing this short article is taking way longer than it should, and it's because I'm getting lost in a sea of nostalgia replaying arcade hits that stole my youth and my quarter collection.

The Internet Arcade is a logical fork of the Console Living Room, which itself is a collection of old school console games broken up by console, like the infamous Atari 2600 and lesser known gaming machines like the Amstrad GX-4000.

In both instances, the Internet Archive has done a marvelous job backing up all that classic gaming goodness through JSMESS, or the JavaScript MESS project, which emulates all those titles through JavaScript. It took a bit of work, but it's working well now, and working in your browser -- it doesn't get much more convenient than that.

'Of the roughly 900 arcade games (yes, nine hundred arcade games) up there, some are in pretty weird shape - vector games are an issue, scaling is broken for some, and some have control mechanisms that are just not going to translate to a keyboard or even a joypad. But damn if so many are good enough. More than good enough. In the right browser, on a speedy machine, it almost feels perfect. The usual debates about the 'realness' of emulation come into play, but it works,' said Jason Scott, who's leading the online project.

The occasional quirk aside, this is an awesome thing Jason has done. There are so many titles to revisit, like Birdie King, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Street Fighter II, Zaxxon, and the list goes on.

Clear your schedule for the rest of the day and then check 'em out here.