[NewsPoster]

Last November, the Internet Archive debuted their new service, The Internet Arcade, where over 900 arcade titles from the 1980's and 90's were hosted for free play over a web browser. Today the service topped itself, expanding the the Software Library to include 2,300 MS-DOS-era games, available through the EM-DOSbox in-browser emulator.

The welcome message at the Software Library page stresses that the emulator is in beta, so users should expect there to be occasional issues. It runs as a JavaScript program, and runs "very slow" according to the FAQ, where users are encouraged to update their browsers to the latest version so as to ensure it runs at "top speed." Controls for the games are undocumented, so players will have to surmount that challenge before facing off against foes, or rescuing princesses menaced by giant apes.

Once that's done, users can rediscover such classics as the original versions of Prince of Persia, Where in the World is Carman Sandiego?, Wolfenstien 3D, and Sim City, just to name a few. Also available is Lost Vikings, a game developed by Silicon & Synapse, later known as Blizzard Entertainment.

Users can take a stroll down memory lane, or discover new-to-you classics at The Internet Archive: Software Library: MS-Dos Games. And yes, Oregon Trail is there, too.

[climacs]

i saw what you did there

[PolyEx]

The copyrights on these titles are still valid. I know some of these titles you can even purchase from licensed companies like Good Old Games. I see Disney titles as well as Sega, Nintendo etc. Companies that don't play nice when their IP is sold or given away by pirates. Isn't this site a willful copyright violation on the part of Jason Scott or did he go and get permission from the intellectual property owners before hand?

[Mike Wuerthele]

Nobody's really sure. It may fall under the library exemption, it may not. He has said that legitimate copyright claims will be acted upon swiftly.