GOG has always been at the heart of retro PC gaming. It has a vast storefront with newer games, but GOG is where you can find DRM-free copies of Beyond Good & Evil or Silent Hill 4: The Room (that’s just some of what’s in my GOG library, but you get the idea). There are a lot of games you could play through GOG that would be difficult to get anywhere else.
GOG, owned by CD Projekt Red, is capitalizing on that brand with the GOG Preservation Program, which was announced on Wednesday. Games in this program are called “Good Old Games” now on the storefront, and will be supported by GOG in as close to their original state as possible for modern PCs.
“If a game is part of the Preservation Program, it means that we commit our own resources to maintaining its compatibility with modern and future systems,” the blog post announcement reads. So while games currently work on Windows 10 and 11 (no Mac or Linux just yet), the promise means they’ll even work on future PCs.
Currently, there are 100 games in the program, including popular titles like System Shock 2, Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, and the original Diablo, with more set to be added. A lot of these games have been on the store for a while, but the program acts as GOG’s guarantee that they’ll receive updates from GOG itself, even if the original developer has moved on, and meet certain standards for the player. They’re also DRM-free, so you don’t have to worry about the license being revoked with a delisting or not being able to play it without an internet connection.
For example, GOG published the Resident Evil Bundle earlier this year, which featured the first three original Resident Evil titles for $25. GOG only added some quality-of-life improvements, like new rendering options, more localization, and controller support, and ensured it would run on modern PCs. Basically, it’s as close to the original experience as you can get beyond an emulator or an older physical copy.
Games preservation has been in a bad place for a while, with companies shutting down older stores that often featured digital-only titles. While Sony eventually reversed its decision to close the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita storefronts after backlash, Nintendo removed its Wii U and 3DS eShops for good in 2023. While platforms have made improvements in this area, with both Nintendo and PlayStation publishing retro titles on their subscription services and Xbox supporting backward compatibility on its modern consoles, PC hasn’t fared as well. Remakes are great, but they often can’t replicate the feeling of the original release.
“Unfortunately, the classic PC games market is in a sorry state. It’s too tiny for leading platforms to give it any attention. Classic releases often get the sell-it-and-forget-it treatment, and as time goes on and technology evolves, compatibility issues arise and remain unaddressed,” the GOG blog post read.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.