Difference between revisions of "Preservation projects"

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Nothing gold can stay."
 
Nothing gold can stay."
 
- Robert Frost (1874-1963)</blockquote>
 
- Robert Frost (1874-1963)</blockquote>
Over the years, technology has been constantly evolving.  What was considered "new" or "innovating" can slowly become "outdated" or "useless" to some people.  Whether it be that product X comes out and replaces product Y, company B buys company A and decides to remove their existing products, or a company decides it's unprofitable to continue maintaining support for legacy products, all things are at risk of disappearing someday.  Because of this, many people have decided to take it upon themselves to preserve what others would consider to be not as important.  In some way, emulation has a major role for preserving software in general (what's to point of archiving a bunch of old games if you have no way of playing them!).   
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Over the years, technology has been constantly evolving.  What was considered "new" or "innovating" can slowly become "outdated" or "useless" to some people.  Whether it be that product X comes out and replaces product Y, company B buys company A and decides to remove their existing products, or a company decides it's unprofitable to continue maintaining support for legacy products, all things are at risk of disappearing someday.  Because of this, many people have decided to take it upon themselves to preserve what others would consider to be not as important.  In some way, emulation has a major role for preserving software in general (what's the point of archiving a bunch of old games if you have no way of playing them!).   
  
 
==Preservation projects==
 
==Preservation projects==

Revision as of 19:50, 14 January 2020

"...So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay."

- Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Over the years, technology has been constantly evolving. What was considered "new" or "innovating" can slowly become "outdated" or "useless" to some people. Whether it be that product X comes out and replaces product Y, company B buys company A and decides to remove their existing products, or a company decides it's unprofitable to continue maintaining support for legacy products, all things are at risk of disappearing someday. Because of this, many people have decided to take it upon themselves to preserve what others would consider to be not as important. In some way, emulation has a major role for preserving software in general (what's the point of archiving a bunch of old games if you have no way of playing them!).

Preservation projects

Name Operating System(s) Latest version Active Recommended Preserves the following software
eXoDOS Windows 4.0 DOS games
Flashpoint Windows 7.0 Flash and other web games
instance_archive(); Windows 16/11/2019 GameMaker games.
Kahvibreak Windows 1.2 J2ME games
GameTDB Online N/A Box art for GCN, NDS, 3DS, Wii, Wii U, and PS3
Archiverse Online N/A Nintendo's Miiverse
MarioCube Online N/A Rare files for Wii/GCN. WiiWare/Virtual Console WADs from Wii Shop Channel
Redump Online N/A Database of verified checksums for disc-based games
No-Intro Online N/A Database of verified checksums for cartridge-based games

Private Servers

Online functionality is something most at risk of disappearing. After a while, the cost of maintaining and hosting a server for an older product can seem too much of a hassle for a company to deal with, causing them to shut it down. MMOs are especially at risk as the entirety of the game is based around online. If the game has no way of allowing the user to host their own server then once the service ends, so does the game. This will especially be a problem in the distant future as more and more games become more dependent on online services. Even if initial interest has dead off, there will still be a surprising amounts of fans who will want to keep it alive by collaborating together and creating their own functioning server.

Name Operating System(s) Active Recommended Preserves the following service
RiiConnect24 Wii WiiConnect24
Wiimmfi Wii, DS Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Sudomemo Online, DSi Flipnote Hatena
Ultima Windows Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst
Ephinea Windows Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst
Schthack PSO Windows, GCN, Dreamcast Phantasy Star Online (various)
Sylverant Windows, GCN, Dreamcast Phantasy Star Online (various)