Super Mario Boards

Me when ROMs and ISOs:

@Zdrmonster Productions Same and it's why I literally can't bring myself to care if people pirate old games that you can't get new copies of cuz like...the only other way to get them is to buy used copies on the aftermarket.

@Thomas the Tank Engine Now go play Virtual Mario https://archive.org/details/game-maker_virtual-mario

I wonder if they count the always-online games that are dead too

You may have a point, but the existentialist in me can't really care. Think about how much stuff from the past 6000 years that's already been lost to time. You can't, because nobody today knows or cares about it. Stuff like video games from 30 years ago can feel important now, but that's just because it's the era we're living in. 100 years from now, all but the greatest will be lost to time. Think of all the beloved classical composers who's music is still loved today. Were they they only ones of their time? Definitely not. But they're the ones who's work has stood the test of time.

Doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Preservation and accessibility is paramount. You're also wrong about "nobody today knows or cares about it". Collectors and museums pay prime money for cryptic finds. Some people's work were certainly wiped from record-destroying or overlooked and deliberately "forgotten" simply that they're from an undesirable and disadvantaged socio-economic classification such as being a female composer. But doesn't mean "nobody cares" about such works. Most historians lament the lack of this stuff, in fact. Most content MAY be mediocre and whatnot, but I still think it's still important to keep a record.