Have you really never heard of GOG? It’s an awesome platform. They allow you to actually buy games so you can 100% own them drm free. No Steam or whatever other game launcher is needed. Also they specialize in older games, so it’s perfect for this use case.
Comment on Have win7 laptop. What to play on it?
helenslunch@feddit.nl 1 week ago
Ignorant one here:
How would you play anything on it? Steam is no longer supported. The OS itself I don’t think is any longer supported? Are you planning to pirate them all?
I’m just gonna be another Lemmite and suggest replacing W7 with Linux 🤷
ISOmorph@feddit.de 1 week ago
helenslunch@feddit.nl 1 week ago
Of course I’ve heard of GoG. Didn’t realize they would run without the launcher though…
ISOmorph@feddit.de 1 week ago
Well, things used to run on MS DOS, so Win 7 really isn’t an issue.
helenslunch@feddit.nl 1 week ago
Of course they used to work, that doesn’t mean they’ll still work today…
Redkey@programming.dev 1 week ago
Back in the olden days, when we used kerosene-powered computers and it took a three day round trip to get IP packets via the local stagecoach mail delivery, we still had games even though Steam didn’t exist yet. :b
We used to transfer software on these things called disks. Some of them were magnetic, and some of them used lasers (you could tell them apart because for the laser ones it was usually spelled “disc” with a “c”).
Anyway, those dis(k/c)s mostly still work, and we still have working drives that can read them, and because the brilliant idea of making software contact the publisher to ask if it was OK to run had only just been invented, we can generally still play games from the period that way. Some people kept their old games, but others sell them secondhand, which I believe the publishers still haven’t managed to lobby successfully to be made illegal, unless I missed a news report.
Even if you can’t get the original physical media for a game, sites like GOG sell legal digital downloads of many old games, which are almost always just the actual old software wrapped in a compatibility layer of some kind that is easy to remove, so you can usually get the games running natively on period hardware/software. Finally, some nicer developers and publishers have officially declared some of their old games as free for everyone to play.
There are still legal options for playing old games on old systems.
allo@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Love GoG. 100%
helenslunch@feddit.nl 1 week ago
Yeah dude I’m not that young LOL where are you getting the discs though?
Redkey@programming.dev 1 week ago
The same places you get old console games. Online auction and classifieds sites, and thrift stores, mostly. Flea markets and garage sales too, but they’re more hit-and-miss.
helenslunch@feddit.nl 1 week ago
Got it.