SoftwareNothing’s made me want to reject modernity more than this videogame scholar documenting the installers of yesteryearWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
SoftwareNothing’s made me want to reject modernity more than this videogame scholar documenting the installers of yesteryearWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: @autorun.ini on Twitter/X / BioWare)
The year is 2024. You’ve just purchased a new game on Steam. You open your library (or click the prompt on your receipt page) and direct the storefront to your SSD. You hang around a while to see how fast your download speed is, doing the prerequisite fretting over whether your internet is suddenly dying without you noticing, then go back to your life.
It’s not exactly a process that builds hype—I mean, it’s functional most of the time. Stress-free, even. But we’ve traded out convenience for theatre. Thegame installers of yoreused to give you a feeling of transition from the ordinary doldrum of your life. A reward for buying and inserting a disk—animations, music, terrible font choices—a little treat while you waited for your computer to do its thing.
In case this is all sounding a little before-your-time, however,autorun.ini on Twitteris here to help.
Named after a type of file typically packaged with CDs back in the day, autorun.ini has made it their mission to catalogue “retail game installers”, and has been doing so since June of last year, starting (fittingly) with Windows 2000. Gotta install that before you download other early-2000s essentials, afterall. Like MSN Messenger. Or Teamspeak. Remember Teamspeak?
(Image credit: @autorun.ini on Twitter/X.)
Other gems from their hoard include the OG World of Warcraft, the theatrical and ominous greeting theme of the first Baldur’s Gate, and the explosive ini of 1995’s The Ultimate Doom, which perfectly times the window’s appearance with a blast following a chunky, compressed shotgun cock. Music to my ears.
(Image credit: @autorun.ini on Twitter/X.)
Baldur’s Gate (1998) pic.twitter.com/2EELCCLGhnApril 29, 2024
Baldur’s Gate (1998) pic.twitter.com/2EELCCLGhnApril 29, 2024
(Image credit: @autorun.ini on Twitter/X.)
Unfortunately, these things have pretty much gone the way of the dodo. The closest we get are in-house launchers for MMORPGs like Final Fantasy 14. Occasionally, a studio like Larian might have an all-in-one launcher for its games—but the closest you get to that sinking-into-a-bath feeling nowadays is patiently waiting for a game’s shaders to compile on your first boot-up, or something like World of Warcraft’s login screen.
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Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11
The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April
Lords of the Fallen publisher embraces fear of the DEI boogeyman, says it will not include ‘any social or political agendas’ in its games
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’
If you’re trying to convince me your ‘companionship’ robot is ‘lifelike’, maybe don’t rip her face off in the demo video
Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans
The Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcements
Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot
Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba
Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’
Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene
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