Earlier this week, the Internet Archive announced its Historical Software Collection, a curated set of noteworthy games, productivity software, and more from the 1970s and 1980s. Though the tools to run things like Pac-Man or On-Line Systems’ Mystery House already existed, a team spent two years making a JavaScript port of the MESS emulator, which supports nearly 700 systems. JSMESS, which will eventually run games from 300 platforms, makes playing an emulated game as simple as opening a browser window. But what’s held in the software collection’s vault? Here’s a sample of what you’ll find in the current list.
From ‘Pac-Man’ to spreadsheets: digging into the Historical Software Collection
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
1/12The mostly non-interactive Atari Dealer Demo showcased the capabilities of the Atari 400 and 800. (1980)
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
Most Popular
Most Popular
- Google’s Pixel 11 series pairs a little new hardware with a lot of new software
- Xbox Elite 3 prototype pad leaks with tiny built-in screen
- How Google’s new Pixel 11 phones compare to last year’s models
- The 7 biggest announcements of Google’s Pixel 11 launch
- The Pixel Tag is Google’s answer to the AirTag
