Being a bit of a retro gamer collector/enthusiast it really warms my heart to see ongoing preservation efforts. A particularly fine example is The Console Living Room hosted over at The Internet Archive.
This site gives excellent information regarding the origins of the home console and what we were playing in the wild heady days of the 70s and 80s (such as the Atari 2600 and the Colecovision). That isn't the best bit though. It also offers playable versions of many titles in your browser.
The graphics may be basic and the game play restricted by the technology available at the time but there is not denying that these early pioneering games pushed the limit of what was available and the developers created experiences that still influence modern blockbusters. I'd recommend heading over and having a game or two of Pitfall 2, H.E.R.O (Atari 2600), the excellent conversions of Donkey Kong or Spy Hunter (Colecovision) or perhaps.... well just dive in and explore.
The preservation of video games is an ongoing concern. With many titles only ever released on cassette tape or old school 5" floppy disks the deterioration of the media is a major concern. Added to the fact that much of the hardware needed to play games is now very difficult to find in working order (and even more difficult to keep working) and there are huge libraries of games and software that could potentially never be seen again.
I applaud the efforts of The Internet Archive and their dedication to preserving digital history. Seriously head over there and have a look around. There is the very good chance you could get lost for hours!
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