You Can Now Play Old Sports Arcade Games Thanks to the Internet Archive
Feeling nostalgic for video games of the 1990’s? How about the 80’s? Maybe even the original 70’s games? If so, then good news everyone! The Internet Archive (IA) just expanded their Arcade section and added a wide variety of games from previous decades. The Arcade boasts over 900 different games, ranging from SEGA Champion Boxing to Champion Baseball to both Hyper Sports as well as Hyper Olympics.
Rather than requiring a download and setup of an emulator, IA runs games within your browser. The website suggests Firefox, though I didn’t come across any issues using Chrome. My fondness of baseball is no secret around these digital pages, so the first game I loaded up was Curve Ball, published three years prior to my existence.
There is a brief loading screen, but at least there aren’t any cartridges to blow into.
And it is worth the wait. Those graphics are glorious.
Each game will have different buttons on your keyboard — or use a controller, unfortunately my joystick wasn’t allowed to be used — to accomplish different things. Bunting, swinging and pitching inside or out are all various options and if using your keyboard, can be changed at will.
I didn’t come across an error in the games I explored, but IA provides the email address of their primary Operator, Jason Scott, on their website. In a blog post that went up yesterday, Scott outlines any known issues as well as thanks for every who has helped get the site up and running. Head over there and show your support by putting up a triple bogey while on the first hole of Birdie King 3. Failing that, you could always grab a Shasta, your all-Rush mix-tape and play on Saturday night.
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.