Retro gaming
In 1997, Ralph Barbagallo of Digital Diner magazine stated that the contemporary interest of older video games grew with the emergence of the internet through Usenet discussion groups like rec.games.video.classic and its own dedicated IRC channel.
Several regulars from these discussion groups began developing their own personal web pages, such as popular sites like Greg Chance's The History of Home Video Games Homepage.
These included the release of Stella Gets a New Brain, a re-release on compact disc of cassette tape-based games for the Atari 2600.
New games also began appearing for the Atari 2600, such as the 1995 release of Ed Federmeyer's rendition of Tetris titled EdTris 2600.
These may be based on a general concept of retro, as with Cave Story, or an attempt to imitate a specific piece of hardware, as with the MSX color palette of La Mulana.
This concept, known as deliberate retro[7] and NosCon,[8] gained popularity due part to the independent gaming scene,[9] where the short development time was attractive and commercial viability was not a concern.
Vintage retro gaming can involve collecting original cartridge and disc media[11] and arcade and console hardware, which can be expensive and rare.
These enhanced remakes include Pac-Man: Championship Edition, Space Invaders Extreme, Super Mega Worm, and 3D Dot Game Heroes.
[20] Online platforms for older video game re-releases include Nintendo's Virtual Console and Sony's PlayStation Network.
Mobile application developers have been purchasing the rights and licensing to re-release older arcade games on iOS and Android operating systems.
Some publishers are creating spinoffs to their older games, keeping the core gameplay while adding new features, levels, and styles of play.
[11] The first known instance of the term "Retro" in terms of gaming came from the online video game store RetroGames[21] launched in 1997 as a joint effort of Turbo Zone Direct and Robert Frasure, specializing in primarily TurboGrafx, Sega Master System, and NES systems and repairs.
[1] Many gameplay videos posted online feature attempts at breaking speedrun or high score records.
[26] Face-to-face competition of Super Street Fighter II Turbo has been featured in the Evolution Championship Series.
An exemption in the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act allows consumers to modify video games they already own to make them playable.
[33] However, the duration of copyright on creative works in most countries is far longer than the era of home computing, leading to criticism that software piracy is the only way to preserve some titles.
[34] Emulators are typically created by third parties, and the software they run is often taken directly from the original games and put online for free download.
The 9th District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Lewis Galoob Toys, stating such modifications did not infringe copyright, permitting the continued sale of the Game Genie.
