Console Classix

Other (objects, etc.) theme

Available to play at Console Classix

3511
games
27
platforms
Console Classix is an online rental service that allows emulated games to be played legally under Windows or Linux* as long as connection to the site is maintained. No games are sold using the service. Members can choose the free service or paid service. Paid service allows unlimited access to all copies of all available games for a monthly fee and can be month-to-month with the service being automatically downgraded to free service if/when not paid for. Paid service also includes access to CC's online videogame market where users can buy, sell, and trade their games. This includes trading their games to Console Classix for membership fee refunds. Free service includes NES, Atari 2600, and Colecovision games when available (only 1 copy at a time for each game is provided to all free service customers). Also, when new games are acquired for the free systems, they are _sometimes_ marked as paid service games for a limited time before become available to free costumers. Sample games for paid service systems are provided to free costumers on a list that rotates every month, and all games have been provided to free customers for a short time during promotional offers. Public domain or free-to-play homebrew games are always listed in the free samples section.
The games are essentially streamed though technically, the entire game is cached (preloaded in memory?) on the client before play. Momentary loss of connection will not effect gameplay but longer disconnects will pause the game and wait for the client to reconnect and the game and system state are preserved. The encrypted cached games are played using open source emulators that are installed on the client machine as part of the Console Classix package. Even though the emulators in use are available for Mac, Linux and Windows (x86), the Console Classix software only supports Windows and Linux*

* On 2011-08-19, a custom version of fceux and cross platform versions of the Console Classix library was made avaiable at the Console Classix Forums. Linux and Windows compiles of the library are currently in testing. Linux users can play NES games by placing the library in a suitable place (/usr/lib/ for instance) and running fceux_cc from the command-line.
Contrast
Unlike other digital distribution services, Console Classix does not depend on licensing agreements to limit which games they may distribute or when they can or can't distribute them for commercially published games. Their only limits are technical, purchasing the games, and legally transferring them to digital copy in a 'clean room' manor. In theory, they will eventually have all games. As this occurs, this tag will become less useful and the contrasting Not on Console Classix will be used instead.
Console Classix also provides a growing number of games that were never commercial published or were/are published in a very limited scale; that is, prototype, unreleased, canceled, and homebrew games.

The first Console Classix video game was released on October 1977.

Sega, Nintendo and Konami published most of these games.

Parent group

Media: Download

Related site

Platforms

Mega Drive 677
SNES 669
NES 519
GBA 383
GBC 288
GB 278
Game Gear 218
Master System 129
Atari 2600 111
ColecoVision 100
N64 91
PC Engine 21
Windows 6
MS-DOS 3
Apple II E 2
Atari 5200 2
Arcade 2
Famicom Disk System 2
MSX 2
Mac OS Classic 1
Nintendo DS 1
NEC PC6001 1
Coleco Adam 1
Intellivision 1
X68000 1
TI99 1
Odyssey2 1

By year

777981838587899193959799010305070911 4401102203300

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