Preservation projects

"...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 What was considered "new" or "innovating" can slowly become "outdated" or "useless" to some people.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	Platform(s)	Latest version	Active	Recommended	Preserves the following software
eXoDOS	Windows	5.0	✓	✓	DOS games
eXoWin3x	Windows	2.0	✓	✓	Windows 3x games
Retro Learning Pack	Windows		✓	✓	MS-DOS & Windows 3.1 educational software
eXoScummVM	Windows		✓	✓	ScummVM games
eXoAppleIIGS	Windows	1.0	✓	✓	Apple IIGS games & apps
Flashpoint	Windows	13 "Dart Frog"	✓	✓	Flash and other web games
instance_archive();	Windows	15/10/2021	✓	✓	GameMaker games.
Kahvibreak	Windows Linux	1.6	✓	✓	J2ME games
Pleasuredome	Windows	0.265	✓	✓	MAME & Non-MAME romsets
Emerson Arcadia 2001 Central	Online	N/A	✓	✓	Signetics 2650-based machines (Interton VC 4000, Elektor TV Games Computer, et al.)
INTV Funhouse	Online	N/A	✓	✓	Intellivision fun, facts, tips & pics!
hShop	3DS	N/A	✓	✓	The ultimate 3DS content website
Ghost eShop	3DS	N/A	✓	✓	The ultimate content for 3DS Website
Myrient	Online	N/A	✓	✓	A reenvisioning of video game preservation
GameTDB	Online	N/A	✓	✓	Box art for GCN, NDS, 3DS, Wii, Wii U, and PS3
Flipnote Archive	Online	N/A	✗	✓	Nintendo's Flipnote Hatena
Archiverse	Online	N/A	✗	✓	Nintendo's Miiverse
Open Shop Channel	Online	N/A	✓	✓	Homebrew apps library for the Wii
MarioCube	Online	N/A	✓	✓	Rare files for Wii/GCN. WiiWare/Virtual Console WADs from Wii Shop Channel
Redump	Online	N/A	✓	✓	Database of checksums for disc-based games
TOSEC	Online	N/A	✓	✓	Database of checksums for disc- and cartridge-based games
No-Intro	Online	N/A	✓	✓	Database of checksums for cartridge-based games

Revive Projects

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.

Private Platform Servers

Name	Platform(s)	Active	Recommended	Preserves the following service
Goldberg Emulator	PC, Steam	✓	✓	Steam's online features (use multiplayer over LAN)
RiiConnect24	Wii	✓	✓	WiiConnect24
WiiLink	Wii	✓	✓	WiiConnect24 and obscure out-of-region Wii Channels
Wiimmfi	Wii, DS	✓	✓	Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Sudomemo	3DS, DSi, Online	✓	✓	Flipnote Hatena
Pretendo	3DS, Wii U	✓	WIP	Nintendo Network
rverse	3DS	✓	✓	Miiverse Network
RPCN	PS3	✓	WIP	Playstation Network
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)
The Archstones	PS3	✓	✓	Demons Souls
Destination Home	PS3	✓	WIP	Playstation Home and Sony Medius Servers
Insignia	Xbox	✓	✓	Original Xbox Live Network
PSORG Revival	PS3	✓	WIP	Playstation Network

Private Game Servers

Name	Platform(s)	Official Servers/Active	Revived?	Revive Group/Community	Revived Platform(s)
Battlefield 1943		~ Servers for Battlefield 1943 will be shut down on December 8, 2023.	✗	N/A	N/A
Battlefield Bad Company		~ Servers for Battlefield Bad Company will be shut down on December 8, 2023.	✗	N/A	N/A
Battlefield Bad Company 2		~ Servers for Battlefield Bad Company 2 will be shut down on December 8, 2023.	✗	N/A	N/A
Free Realms		✗ The game's servers were shut down on March 31, 2014 in a closure of three other SOE MMOs that year.	WIP	Free Realms Sunrise
Happy Wars		~ Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows servers shut down on December 17, 2018. The Xbox One and Xbox Series home console versions is now the only platform the game can be played on.	WIP	?
Flatout 2/Ultimate Carnage		~ Flatout 2 servers were down. However FlatOut Ultimate Carnage multiplayer still works in 2022 and will likely work forever since it uses P2P for connecting/hosting servers. Also GFWL has merged with Xbox Live and still works with FlatOut Ultimate Carnage.	✓ for Flatout 2	OpenSpy

References for this list can be found in Talk:Preservation projects#My "revive projects" bookmarks.

Proxy Projects

These kind of projects usually retrieves pages from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine or OoCities and delivers them in their original form, without toolbars, scripts and other extraneous content that may confuse retro browsers. These are quite useful especially for DOS-based, Windows 1.0x/2x/3x series, Windows 9x series, Windows NT series and MacOS emulators and Hypervisors.

Name	Active	Recommended
ProtoWeb	✓	✓
WaybackProxy	✓	~