This should be illegal, companies should be forced to open-source games (or at least provide the code to people who bought it) if they decide to discontinue it, so people can preserve it on their own.

    • @Naz@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      I have a folder on my D: called OLDINSTALL.

      It’s my entire hard drive from 1996, including DOS.

      I think it’s a couple hundred megabytes in size, but the vast majority of the files and games were exclusively in floppy disk format.

      I don’t have a floppy drive or any disks anymore.

          • @millie@lemmy.filmEnglish
            3•1 year ago

            Literally every seeder is part of that archive. You can look at individual trackers in the microcosm as individual archives and indices, but it’s the culture of piracy that causes the wide scale collection and preservation of media.

            We’re actually at this kind of interesting cross-generational point of guerilla archival where it’s become easier to find certain obscure pieces of media history. I suspect this is in large part due to things like bounties, where suddenly a forgotten VHS of a 35 year old HBO special that aired once or twice could be a step toward a higher rank and greater access to a wider range of media.

            Modern piracy has a strong incentive toward finding lost material that’s no longer readily available. Zero day content is great, but have you seen the RADAR pilot or both seasons of AfterMASH?

            They belong in a museum. Indie would be proud, even if Harrison wouldn’t. Not that I know his perspective on piracy.