The Internet Archive Has Brought Back 900 Classic Arcade Games That You Can Play For Free

Remember those crowded 80s video arcades, where kids & teens would dump quarter after quarter into classic games like Pac Man and Galaga? You can now relive those days, sans quarters, right from the comfort of your desktop or laptop; and if you’re not old enough to remember those days, you can get a taste for what your parents were so excited about, thanks to the Internet Archive, which has brought back some 900 classic 80’s arcade games.

The Internet Archive, if you’re not familiar, is a project with the goal of archiving just about everything that has ever happened on the web. According to WQAD, the Archive receives support from such agencies as The National Science Foundation and The Library of Congress.

Last year, according to PC World, the Archive branched out into video games, with a project called Console Living Room, which provided simulations (called “emulators” in the industry) of video games from five ancient console systems: the Atari 2600 and 7800, the Magnavox Odyssey, the ColecoVision, and the Astrocade. Since then, the Sega Genesis and a couple of failures like the Watara SuperVision, have been archived.

Now, the Archive has expanded to include those arcade games that required you to get to an arcade somehow, pump a quarter into it, and stand at a cabinet to play, with titles like Q-Bert, Joust, and Arkanoid.

The developer behind the project, Jason Scott, hopes the retro arcade games bring back old players and new players alike.

“Obviously, a lot of people are going to migrate to games they recognize and ones that they may not have played in years. They’ll do a few rounds, probably get their a**es kicked, smile, and go back to their news sites. A few more, I hope, will go towards games they’ve never heard of, with rules they have to suss out, and maybe more people will play some of these arcades in the coming months than the games ever saw in their ‘real’ lifetimes. And my hope is that a handful, a probably tiny percentage, will begin plotting out ways to use this stuff in research, in writing, and remixing these old games into understanding their contexts. Time will tell.”

However, not all of the classic arcade games – some of which relied on joysticks or even paddle wheels – translate to keyboard and mouse. Also, as PC World reports, some of the games feature buggy sound – or no sound at all. Still, writes Hayden Dingman, it’s a good way to experience some nostalgia and blow a few hours.

If you’d like to play any of the 900 classic arcade games brought back via the Internet Archive, simply click here.

[Image courtesy of: Rent It Today]