Will there ever be/is there

a (legal) video game archive?

I can get all sorts of old films from the many local video stores/libraries going back to the old silent films from the 1920s/30s (if you know where to look).

I can get all manner of music cds from music stores that cater to all manner of tastes both old and new.

Will I ever be able to walk into a library or store and be able to pick up copies of games like

- System Shock 2 (although I did see this one in my local Kmart about 6 months ago),

- Xcom series (never played this when it first arrived as pc not powerful enough)

- Master of Magic

- old Sierra adventure games

- Monkey Island Series (only ever played number 1)

and I'm sure you can all think of games that you either never played but would have liked to have had a go at or would like to see again.

Or are these and other games, including the ones currently 'new' & available, doomed to fade into obscurity with each generation.

Alternatively - is this a possibility one day:

Currently we can listen to the radio freely and hear music for a variety of tastes, of course with some advertising - yet we can also buy the same music to listen to as/when desired.

Currently we can watch free-to-air television stations and see movies, sports, news - and a host of other junk as well freely - yet we can also get the 'big screen' experience of the cinema if we pay a little more.

Will games ever become as mainstream (and accessible) as television and radio? Will we be able to just sit down on the couch, turn the 'multimedia console' on and flick through various (free) channels playing a game here and a game there instantly and yet still be able to get some kind of 'big screen experience' like at the movies if we pay a little more?

Well, you should probably check out abandonware sites. Check this for a definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware, although really, it generally means if the game isn't being sold anywhere (through a website or in store) and the developer doesn't mind, then it's classed as "abandonware" and you can download and play it for free.

There are some good sites around, http://abandonia.com/index2.php for one. http://www.the-underdogs.info/ is a true classic and has been around for a long time.

You probably won't find old sierra games because they're still being sold in box sets or the like. Same for Monkey Island. You can get all 4 for £4.99 here in the UK, so no complaint there. Full talkie versions too. You notice here, too: http://abandonia.com/genre.php?search=x-com , that x-com is still being sold and is protected by the ESA so isn't available.

You can also try out MAME, which is effectively the couch like flick through you talked about. But this is straying into illegal territory.

Have a look around abandonia (they update frequently), you're sure to find something you remember and want to play again.

No. And here's why: Movies and Music can transition media and technology fairly well. However thanks largely to Microsoft, you cannot play any game that is more than a couple of DirectX versions behind the current one. So while you may be able to get your hands on one of those games, actually playing it, is going to be next to impossible.

Not while Bill Gates is the "visionary" driving technology. When interviewed in "The Daily Show" he made it quite clear that his only real vision was "talking computers, that you can talk back to".

eBay?
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=x-com

hey, yah I was about to say that. Try ebay...

Whilst possible to get these games. (I use Home of the under Dogs ), the vast majority are simply not worth the time. The most annoying thing is 20,000,000,000Pixel scroll when you press left.
Mind you there are some classics that are worth it, if only to have on your psp. (What I tend to do, is emulate an amiga (Or Specturm or DOS etc), then download the games for that. that way Uncle Bill DX1000 wont have molested it)

Dos box can emulate the older games fairly well, Win95 games can be run in compatibility mode, I managed to play the original fallout on WinXP

World Of Spectrum is legal; Back 2 The Roots was legal, before it disappeared; Factor 5 used to (and maybe still do) host adf files for legitimate users to download, which is only one step away from digitally distributed retro (as, oddly, you couldn't buy the right to download the files if you hadn't owned the originals back in the day) so I guess there is hope.

Mostly we're seeing the trade off between the lowly gains of administrating an official system (especially considering PC's support requirements) and the corporate mindset (which sees it as suicidal to just give away assets for free), I think. Which is why you see CodeMasters sitting on a pile of games that people would love access to, but which they'll probably never monetize. Hope cancelled.

Like Cosmic Spacehead. Those where the days.

There's also the option of running your old windows 98 on a VM and playing the games through that. Works better than you think plus you can save state.

I cant think of any codemasters games I would like to play again

TOCA ?

Not really a game but I had a fun time playing with those Music Generator stuff...

Dizzy. BMX Simulator? Rockstar ate my hamster? ;-)

TOCA Race driver 2, the cut scenes add to it.....

How about this place?
It costs 4 bucks to join, but I was able to find System Shock
2, Settlers 2 among other goodies in the abandonware section.

I love that site.

Hint: just calling something 'abandonware' does not make it legal. Unlikely for the owners to care enough to sue perhaps, but still just as illegal as any other rip.

doesn't half take you backnonetheless....

My viewpoint is, if they don't have any means of allowing you to commercially access their game, it's considered legal ground, otherwise they would do something about it.

Well I suppose you're right, xlsior. I guess technically, a
game, like any other work protected under copyright law, must
be 95(?) years old before it is released into tyhe public
domain. Is that about right?

If so, I'll remove the link.