Publishers are absolutely terrified "preserved video games would be used for recreational purposes," so the US copyright office has struck down a major effort for game preservation
Damn right that old video games would be used for entertainment. I have old books, which predate me by decades, that I still read. I watch old movies on DVD's. I see no reason why games should be any different.
I'm lucky that ever since I've been a gamer, I had a PC. Hardware is thus not a problem, and in my case, so is emulation, via VirtualBox. I kept the install disks and license keys (if applicable) for all operating systems I've used, so now I have several virtual images I spin up when I want to play a certain game. And I'm finding that I'm still spending most of my time with the older titles...
This will not help anyone who'd like to play their old favorite from the NES or Dreamcast era. And it's too late to advise only buying games that are platform independent. So kerp up the good fight. In the past you purchased games to own, not a "limited license". You are entitled to kerp using your entertainment product as you see fit.
I read an old book, and it didn't need batteries, nor had it microtransactions, nor advertisements, nor did it need updates. Worst of all, I got it for free at my local library. The terror!
We never had that kind of ads in our books, they came in catalogues I sadly never got to order from even if the "make your own radio"kit with crystal always looked awesome
Ha! I used to do that, too. They also had video tapes at mine, and audio. You could do all sorts of things there. It was publically funded, as it should.