Retro PC games store to open in September

Posted at: 12:10pm 14th July 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

Classic games available from just £3, and with no DRM either

Ever been tempted to build a Pentium III machine with a Voodoo3 and Windows 98, just so that you can replay some of your favourite classic games? If so, you may be spared the pain because a Good Old Games plans to offer a boatload of classic PC titles for download, and they’ll all be compatible with Windows XP and Vista.

A list of titles hasn’t been released yet, but a teaser photo on the website’s front page features the boxes for a number of titles including MDK, Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Fallout 2 and Operation Flashpoint. Of course, some of these titles will run on Windows XP anyway, but we’re assuming that there will be more older titles available when the site launches in September.

Best of all, the old games will be priced at just $5.99 US (£3.02) and $9.99 US (£5.03), and they won’t come with DRM either. Good Old Games claims that it hates ‘draconian DRM schemes just as much as you do, so at GOG.com you don't just buy the game, you actually own it. Once you download a game, you can install it on any PC and even re-download it whenever you want, as many times as you need, and you can play it without an internet connection.’

Good Old Games, which is the brainchild of CD Projekt, the Polish developer of The Witcher, reckons that this could be a chance for older gamers to stop being cruelly chastised by their kids for being rubbish at the latest fames. ‘We’ve got games your 10-year-old won’t be better at,’ claims Good Old Games. ‘Don’t let your kids mock the graphics; remind them that the classics never go out of style, unlike their totally wicked haircut.’

Good Old Games isn’t the first online distribution service that offers older games. Valve’s Steam service currently offers old id DOS games, including Wolfenstein 3D and the original Doom titles, as well as old Windows 3D games such as Half-Life and Unreal, all of which run on current versions of Windows. However, we have to admit that Good Old Games’ cheap prices and lack of DRM is looking very appealing.

The site will launch later in September this year, but you can sign up here for a chance to have a play on the closed BETA at the moment.