Good Old Games Enters Open Beta, Classics For Everyone

I'm a big supporter of the website Good Old Games and how they make available, for cheap, some absolutely classic PC games that console gamers like myself missed out on when they were first released. For those that want some more info about them, check out I the impressions I wrote a while back of how well their system works based on their closed beta. Or even better yet, hop on over to GOG.com and check it out for yourself, because Good Old Games has now moved into an open beta that everyone can join in on.

Some new things have been added to GOG since my original beta impressions. First off, some of the new games that have been added include Earthworm Jim 1 + 2, Disciples, Battle Chess, and Gothic. I didn't know why I was so excited about Battle Chess, but I remembered playing it on a really old Mac in my Dad's office as a kid, and when I sat down to play it again the nostalgia was overwhelming.

GOG has also added a Wishlist feature, where people can suggest games that they want GOG to make available. Others can then vote on the requested games to show their support. Currently the top requested games include System Shock 2, Planetscape: Torment, Balder's Gate 2: Shadow of Amn, and all three original Monkey Island games. Of course, this isn't a guarantee that those games will be coming any time soon, if at all, but it's great to see the site actually listening to what people want and setting up an official way to request games rather than just let people comment in the forums where their requests may be overlooked.

There's also some bad news that I forgot to mention about the beta before. From what I've seen, all of the games require either Windows Vista or XP, so unfortunately Apple and Linux users are out of luck. Even Battle Chess, which I distinctly remember playing on an old Apple computer, is only Vista and XP compatible. It's unfortunate, and I'm assuming it has a lot to do with the emulators that the games need to be wrapped in so that they can be played on modern machines.

If you think you missed out on some classic PC games from the past 10-15 years, then it's definitely worth checking out. Especially since everything is DRM-free and the system requirements shouldn't be too steep even on today's mid-low level PCs.