How GOG.com Save And Restore Classic Videogames

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Alan

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“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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Games generally take one of three paths to the GOG storefront. Newer titles are procured by the company’s Business Development team, while small indie releases are often submitted directly by their development studios (Lords of Xulima and Sunless Sea being two such examples). The vast majority of older titles, however, take the third path; whether they’ve climbed the Community Wishlist or are simply a favourite of GOG’s developers, their distribution rights must be hunted down manually. To that end, the legal team scrutinise the storied history of the game’s original development studio, connecting the dots between mergers, buyouts, and bankruptcies, searching for clues as to which publisher or conglomerate to contact.

“On more than one occasion, our community was also extremely helpful in tracking down classic games,” says Paczyński. “A GOGer might know somebody involved with a release, or try a few of their own leads and share anything that they come up with. There’s actually a community thread on our forums dedicated specifically to this sort of thing, and in the past we’ve been able to follow up on these leads to release the games they requested. It’s always awesome to add a game to GOG.com that’s the product of a combined effort between our team and our community.”
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http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/201...e-and-restore-classic-videogames/#more-314725

The guys over at GOG.com are doing an awesome job. Support them!
 
Please don't pirate their games. Support cheap and DRM free games!!!
 
I've actually actively been replacing my previously pirated games with GOG versions. Gives me a nice warm fuzzy feeling to know I have done the right thing :)

Not sure when I will get around to playing all those games though.. currently about 50 items in my GOG library.
 
Anybody tried the $3 mystery game during this sale?
 
Pitbull said:
I LOVED this game. But won't it do funny shyte on out new machines?
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The GOG team make sure their games are compatible with the latest operating systems and work on current machines. As much as humanly possible anyway.

If you do have a problem there's tech support, help from other members and if all else fails there's a 30 day money back guarantee
 
Alan said:
The GOG team make sure their games are compatible with the latest operating systems and work on current machines. As much as humanly possible anyway.

If you do have a problem there's tech support, help from other members and if all else fails there's a 30 day money back guarantee
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Thanks Alan, I'll buy it just for laughs :)
 
I bought Pagan Ultima VIII from them a while ago. Haven't played it yet, but good to have it. Hoping now that they release TOCA Race Driver 3 at some stage.
 
Agent_Smith said:
I bought Pagan Ultima VIII from them a while ago. Haven't played it yet, but good to have it. Hoping now that they release TOCA Race Driver 3 at some stage.
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Toca 2 Touring cars would be nice for dose of nostalgia.
 
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