Playing classic games on a new PC

Retro cool
Retro gaming is very popular, and for good reason. Many of the games enjoyed today are directly influenced by older titles. One of our old favourites is Wolfenstein 3D. This is largely credited as the direct precursor of such critically acclaimed titles as Doom, Quake, and Half Life.

Wolfenstein 3D's charm was the extraordinary air of tension. Its dark, creepy corridors conveyed a sense of desperation, which would change to one of jubilation on the numerous occasions when you found yourself barely surviving a level, clutching a knife, ammunition spent, with just five per cent of your health remaining.

If you like your gaming action a little less violent, you might prefer to check out Elite. Developed in 1982 by two Cambridge University students, this was one of the first ever 3D games. Players took control of a lowly space craft and were challenged to survive in a hostile galaxy full of traders, pirates, and bounty hunters.

The beauty of Elite was that you could earn money in a number of ways. Take machinery from an industrial planet to an agricultural one, and food on the return journey, or become a space pirate and get your cash the easy way.

More constructive gaming can be found in the first incarnation of SimCity, as you take the role of city planner building a city from scratch. The needs and desires of your citizens have to be constantly balanced; no one wants a long journey to work but neither do they want a factory at the end of their garden.

For more variety, there are scenarios such as Hamburg in 1944 or a monster attack in the 1950s to test your disaster responses.

Console copies
Computers are clever enough to emulate just about any machine, including games consoles, but be warned, console games are subject to far more stringent copyright restrictions than PC games.

In most cases, you can legally download a console emulator, such as FCE Ultra for NES, or eSPXe for PlayStation from sites such as www.emulator-zone.com, but it is illegal to download the game files, called Roms, to play on them.

Oldies but goodies
If you're tired of playing modern games, hopefully we have given you an insight into how you can enjoy the classic games that influenced them. It's not always a straightforward process getting these games to work, and there can be some small expense involved, but you will be rewarded by finding that your favourite games of yesteryear can still be enjoyed in their full glory today.

It's quite clear that many of these games were created using more imagination and hard work than many modern titles and, despite their rather dated graphics, they are often a lot more fun.

Getting games
Getting old games via the internet is easy. As these games were designed a long time ago, they tend to be very small, and can be downloaded quickly, even with a dial-up internet connection. The following is a collection of sites that you may find valuable for learning about classic titles, downloading games, and meeting like-minded people.

www.dosgames.com
Dosgames.com contains an archive of over 400 - you guessed it - Dos games. Full games are available, alongside shareware and demos. There is also a handy forum for talking to both new and experienced gamers, and a section devoted to essential utilities you may need when playing classic games.

www.abandonia.com
Abandonia is a massive resource for shareware, freeware and so-called 'abandonware' - computer software that is no longer sold or supported by its developer. The term also describes software that is still available to buy, but on which further support and development has ceased. Abandonware is technically illegal, but its supporters claim that the copyright holders of 'abandoned' games are in no way financially harmed by the distribution of discontinued software.

www.the-underdogs.org
Home of The Underdogs (HOTU) is designed to act as a museum of underrated PC games of all ages. It provides links and information for numerous classic titles, plus downloadable links to discontinued games. HOTU also has a searchable database containing instruction manuals, reviews, hints and fan sites and related information.

eBay and fan sites
As it is not legal to play old console games on your computer, you will be pleased to hear you can cheaply buy retro gaming hardware from auction sites such as eBay.

Some of our favourites include the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES, both of which can be bought for under £50. If you really know your gaming history, you could look out for even more obscure hardware such as the Vectrex, or Colecovision. These consoles never achieved the same stratospheric success as those from industry leaders Nintendo and Sega, so they are more difficult to find.

More information on defunct gaming formats can be found at enthusiast websites such as www.old-computers.com. Here you'll find information on retro hardware and software, online versions of old games magazines, a forum, chat room and an online shop selling even the most obscure of gaming formats.