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[Cheater‽]

It is annoying when games check to see if you don't meet the minimum requirements and then refuse to run if you don't.  I've run enough games with half the necessary RAM to at least want to give it a go.

Seriously. I don't meet a single one of Assassin's Creed minimum requirements and yet I can play it fine only have a problem also reported by people with computers that are more that enough to run the game.

[Baba Brainchild]

I, too, have backwards-compatibility-related rage. So much rage, in fact, that I can only hope to express it through small pictures of people with highly expressive faces.

 

Seriously, I'm a younger player. There are so so so many great games out there that aren't made to run on my relatively new computer. I hate having to take my chances with emulators and updaters to play good old games. Rar!

[Cheater‽]

Luckily the only PC game I have compatibility problems is MGS.

Curiously, the only old game that would bother me if it had compatibility problems.

[Garthy]

When I'm trying old PC games, in rough order:

1. Try on my laptop, has the weakest spec of my current PCs.
2. Try on VMware- though other virtual machines would possibly work too if you're not a fan.
3. Go into my cupboard, where I've stored my old-gen PCs. Dig one out, dig out the last OS installation media I knew it worked with, install that, then install the game. Go hunting for old drivers and DX releases online and through my archives. Hook up to modern monitor and controls. Play.

Old console/Amiga/C64 games- emulator obviously, though if I've got the console and original media (usually the case) I'll sometimes compare the results.

Sometimes it doesn't work anyway, and sometimes the game isn't as good as you remembered. That leads me to step 4:

4. Look for modern indie remake. Pay $10-$20 to author. Play that for many hours instead.

As for dealing with the upgrade cycle- there are so many games out there it hardly matters. I just pick up last-years major commercial releases from the bargain bins, and stock up on indie titles. That way I don't pay the early adopter premium for hardware or software. I just upgrade when my work needs require it, then shuffle the machines down.

It'll be a bit sad in ten years though. I know I'm not going to be able to play half the games I bought now due to activation issues, etc.

[Cheater‽]

Right now I've decided that I'm not getting rid of any old hardware. Until it dies, that's it.

It'll be a bit sad in ten years though. I know I'm not going to be able to play half the games I bought now due to activation issues, etc.

Because no one is going to circumvent that copy protection EVER (2 weeks)

[Garthy]

Right now I've decided that I'm not getting rid of any old hardware. Until it dies, that's it.

It builds up after a while. I tend to keep old "selected" hardware. That is, a selection of hardware so that I can the use bulk of the old software I still want to. I used to keep everything- it took up a lot of space, and costs when moving house. Consoles generally aren't very big so they're immune to this rule. Anyway, I pack things away much better nowadays.

Because no one is going to circumvent that copy protection EVER (2 weeks)

Haha, yes, very true, and probably faster than two weeks too. Of course, that's all assuming the game is fairly popular and no crucial content is stored on the server. And that I can find the cracked version in ten years time. And that it works as well as my legitimate version did.

Unfortunately, some of the games I enjoy are somewhat niche offerings, and might not draw the same cracking interest. So in time, they are probably going to die.

Of course, someone will have done a remake by then.