What to do with very old PC games

biggles

2[H]4U
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Hello all. I was wondering what others do with very old PC game discs and boxes. Nowadays most of us get our PC games through the digital services: Steam, Epic, Ubisoft, etc. Me included.

I still have discs and manuals for a bunch of very old games. Partial list: Doom 3, Civilization III, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Splinter Cell (original), Rainbow Six Vegas, Halo, Unreal Tournament 2004, and more (around 25-30 games in total). I am not sure if these will even run on Windows 10, pretty sure they were all designed for Windows XP.

So, do people tend to:
1. Give to Goodwill,
2. Give to friends,
3. Keep and store as collectibles,
4. Dispose in trash.

Or is there another smart way to manage old PC games in physical form?
 
Kept all mine and glad I did since I have been building and playing retro systems last couple years.

Sell them to me. :D Seriously though. Look what some of your games are selling for on Ebay. Might be surprised. Some with the original "big box" command big bucks.
 
Kept all mine and glad I did since I have been building and playing retro systems last couple years.

Sell them to me. :D Seriously though. Look what some of your games are selling for on Ebay. Might be surprised. Some with the original "big box" command big bucks.
Do old games run okay on Windows 10?
 
Get DOSBox. Great DOS emulator to run the older games.
 
I keep all my PC games. You'll regret it sooner or later if you get rid of them. I have been on a vintage gaming run this year that I've been pulling from my collection since it's been such a slog for new releases. I just installed Grand Prix Legends from my original big box retail copy last night with all the mods I've missed in the last 15 years. I also got NASCAR Racing 2003 Season installed last week after fighting with old InstallShield installers on NASCAR 3 with no success.
Get DOSBox. Great DOS emulator to run the older games.
The games listed aren't even DOS games. All the games listed in the OP run fine on modern machines with Windows 10.
 
Kept all mine and glad I did since I have been building and playing retro systems last couple years.

Sell them to me. :D Seriously though. Look what some of your games are selling for on Ebay. Might be surprised. Some with the original "big box" command big bucks.
I'm not sure EBay is the best place to get an idea. According to them, many games I own can't even be bought anymore for under $200. Yet despite 50+ auctions on some of these games, none of them have any watchers nor bidders. This whole vintage game auction scam that's been going on has gotten people to think they have goldmines in their hand, and caused people to start bids at completely unrealistic values that will never sell.
 
Hello all. I was wondering what others do with very old PC game discs and boxes. Nowadays most of us get our PC games through the digital services: Steam, Epic, Ubisoft, etc. Me included.

I still have discs and manuals for a bunch of very old games. Partial list: Doom 3, Civilization III, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Splinter Cell (original), Rainbow Six Vegas, Halo, Unreal Tournament 2004, and more (around 25-30 games in total). I am not sure if these will even run on Windows 10, pretty sure they were all designed for Windows XP.

So, do people tend to:
1. Give to Goodwill,
2. Give to friends,
3. Keep and store as collectibles,
4. Dispose in trash.

Or is there another smart way to manage old PC games in physical form?
Keep or give to friends you know will keep them and not toss them.

I have boxes for older games along with the manuals and discs, and regret not having the boxes for a bunch more (FreeSpace 2 stings, especially).
 
Okay thanks for the advice. I will try Windows compatibility mode and see if they still work. Luckily, my desktop still has an optical drive, no problem there.
 
Okay thanks for the advice. I will try Windows compatibility mode and see if they still work. Luckily, my desktop still has an optical drive, no problem there.
No compatibility options are needed for the games you listed, unless there was something in particular you were having an issue with. PC Gaming Wiki usually has good solutions if you run into issues. I've actually not run into a single game yet that required running in compatibility mode with an older version of Windows.
 
Microwave them :p

(except Doom 3)

I suggest ripping the discs, and storing them on an SSD or something along those lines though. The discs take up space. If you aren't a collector, there's no point in using the optical media. If you have older games than these, that need DOS or even Win9x, the MiSTer might be a good option. (you'd still want to rip them in this case)
 
I keep them and put them on a shelf. These are my Amiga games I bought back in the early 90's.
I still have receipts in the boxes too.
IMG_1599.JPG
 
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