Classic games such as Oregon Trail are now available for free play through browsers.
The Internet Archive recently made classic computer games, such as The Oregon Trail, available for online play. Over 2,000 MS-DOS games and software are usable or playable by anyone with an Internet connection for no charge. Some of the software, such as The Oregon Trail, were designed and released back in the 1970’s.
“Tens of thousands of playable software titles from multiple computer platforms, allowing instant access to decades of computer history in your browser through the JSMESS emulator,” states the Internet Archive on their website.
The Internet Archive is a non-profit collection of various software and websites from the past. It functions as a virtual time capsule that captures the software world of the past. Currently, the library includes the Apple II, Atari 800, and ZX Spectrum computer platforms.
“Some of [the games] will still fall over and die, and many of them might be weird to play in a browser window, and of course you can’t really save things off for later, and that will limit things too. But on the whole, you will experience some analogue of the MS-DOS program, in your browser, instantly,” said software curator Jason Scott of Internet Archive in a post.
Those at Internet Archive ask for users to give input and hope to develop and improve their library through the feedback.
“I really worked hard to have only fully-functioning programs up, or at least, programs that gave viable, useful feedback,” said Scott.
A positive aspect of the archive is the ability to utilize the programs without the aid of a separate emulator program. Users can directly access and use the programs on the web browser itself. The library contains historically prominent programs that helped shape the current world of software technology. The list of programs includes games such as Prince of Persia, Bust-A-Move, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, as well as operating systems.
