GOG's senior business developer, Marcin Paczyński, said, “The longer you wait to restore the game, the more difficult it may be to bring the game again.
If you have read video game preservation, you may find the same amazing problem. All entertainment industries have a problem of preserving history, but video games seem to be one of the worst cases. According to the Video Game History Foundation, you can access only 13 % of all video games released before 2010.
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There are many reasons behind the low numbers, including copyright laws, license problems, and games in different formats, including the hostility and cost of the right holders, the lack of the right -handed hardware. But perhaps the most relevant problem is perhaps many video game companies have nothing to do to preserve their history.
This is where GOG (Good Old Games) comes in. Polish company, a subsidiary of CD PROJEKT, has been doing its best to restore and preserve the history of the media since 2008.
Digital Distribution Platform provides selective and DRM free catalogs. In other words, all games will have to be kept, and you don't have to worry about being offline offline or lack of update and new system compatibility.
GOG now has more than 8,000 video games in the library, up to the recent blockbuster release, which has never been heard from Hibrure Classics. But how did everything start?
Illegal cloning, Pegasus and Baldur's doors
The history of GOG begins before the official foundation. In the 90s, Poland had a very different relationship with illegal cloning compared to other countries. People accepted it. Since PC games were one -third of the minimum wage at the time, it was difficult to buy the original game, but it was difficult to find.
Marcin Paczyński and Technical Engineer ADAM Ziółkowski talked about the childhood of playing Pegasus, NES's boot leg version, one of the only cheap consoles for most families. They didn't know that this was not a true system created by Nintendo, and it would take a few years to be able to handle the first original game.
“There was a floppy party where people come together. [Amiga] Paczyński describes Diskettes. “They will copy everything they have in large quantities and share pirated software without purchasing pirated software.”
The situation changed when Baldur's doors were released from Poland by CD Projekt. The game has been completely translated into Polish, with the actual local actors on the stage adding talent to the existing characters of the classic RPG.
Paczyński said, “For me, one of the first original games will be Baldur's gate.” For many people in Poland, it was actually the first original game they bought. As a company, CD PROJEKT has achieved amazing success. “
After successfully publishing the game for several years, CD PROJEKT received the attention of mainstream when The Witcher was released in 2007. In 2008, we distributed PC games and made GOG as a means of competing with STEAM.
Favorite classic, preparation
Nearly 20 years later, GOG started the GOG preservation program. It is a change of brands about what we did from the beginning of maintaining and preserving classical games on modern PCs. According to Paczyński, most people who use GOG do not know that classic games are built, maintained and screened in -house. Paczyński and his team wanted to change this.
In the case of GOG, the classic game is more than 10 years old. So you can think of Fallout 4, Bloodborne, Rocket League and Batman: Arkham Knight. sorry.
Ziółkowski said, “This idea is that the user doesn't have to push the play button as in the console and don't bother any settings.” All default settings should be as optimized as possible. Controller support must be right from the beginning. “
Ziółkowski continues to explain that the program is “lifetime warranty.” If the update is broken or the next Windows OS does not work, make sure the technology team is fixed. It also goes back to a wide range of catalogs so that all titles pass the current quality standard.
The GOG Preservation Program has restored about 150 games, including Silent Hill 4, Fear Platinum, Fallout 2, Deus Ex Goty Edition, Jagged Alliance 2, and the first six Ultima items. But it is not enough for Paczyński. He talks about the goal of a company that raises numbers to 500 by the end of 2025, but he knows that this is too ambitious.
Please play your role with Dreamlist
The technical aspect of game restoration and maintenance is only one aspect of the preservation program. GOG also introduced Dreamlist, a weaper who can vote for a game to be restored. It works as a community -based tool that can add opinions on why a particular game is so special.
Paczyński said, “Dreamlist helps us to prioritize certain titles.” There are many games that cannot be used now, and only four of us in our business department. Publishers are also paying attention. “
Ziółkowski said, “This is actually helpful for the conversation with the publisher and the holder of the right.” These testimonies of fans motivate them to announce the game and spend the time and effort needed to reclaim the game. “
But how does restoration start?
The restoration of old games usually starts with Dreamlist. This helps to prioritize what games the team will focus on. Then there is a research stage where you need to find out who owns the right to the game. After that, the business department arrives at the company and tries to solve the contract.
Bigger studios and publishers generally take time because they concentrate their resources on the current or upcoming games, and may not see the benefits of restoring games decades ago at low prices.
Paczyński also says that restoring video games is a constant race for time. The more you wait for GOG to work with a specific title, the harder it becomes.
Paczyński said, “I have been fighting for a few years.“ I couldn't get it. All the response I gained was not clear why.
“A few years later, I am in GDC. I am talking with a person working at the time. He says there's a big fire in the company. Most of the files in that era are gone.”
In the bright side, Paczyński guarantees that his team has found many people in a large company that is interested in the game preservation and promotes and promotes all the efforts required by the early stage of the process.
For example, you can read a story about how GOG collaborates with CAPCOM to restore the original Resident Evil Trilogy.
This is when all the parties involved in the contract will begin. Ziółkowski's team begins to evaluate the title, what they can do, and improved places. Priority is to run on a modern resolution, activate window mode, and add wide screen and modern controller support among other quality of life.
Will the video game preservation better?
GOG is doing the tasks that all studios in the industry need to do. But when he asks Paczyński about the future of game preservation, he is optimistic.
Paczyński said, “I think it will be better for what we see and what we have heard from a specific partner. This seems to be much more focused on the conservation of games these days.
“The company's correct incentives will do everything. There's a lot to do, but you'll get better as gamers' interest in game preservation increases.”
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