Introducing: The Internet Arcade. Not content with provide the global treasure (and source of endless fun and fascination) that is the Wayback Machine, The Internet Archive has just unveiled its collection of in-browser arcade games. Over 900 of them and counting.
The Internet Arcade is a web-based library of arcade (coin-operated) video games from the 1970s through to the 1990s, emulated in JSMAME, part of the JSMESS software package. Containing hundreds of games ranging through many different genres and styles, the Arcade provides research, comparison, and entertainment in the realm of the Video Game Arcade.
The game collection ranges from early “bronze-age” videogames, with black and white screens and simple sounds, through to large-scale games containing digitized voices, images and music. Most games are playable in some form, although some are useful more for verification of behavior or programming due to the intensity and requirements of their systems.
At a time when the gaming chunk of the internet seems intent on yet another civil war it’s heartwarming to see this sort of thing going on. Something worthy done purely for the greater good.