A Box Full Of Free: JogoBox
JogoBox is a superb idea. Download the installer and run the file and, right there on your computer, is a window into the past. No, sod that, not a window, a gateway, because you can step right through this and be back in the time of DOS and Dune II. With an interface a little like Desura, JogoBox is a compilation of free games, a digital distribution service without any charges. The first screen that met me offered Lost Vikings, One Must Fall: 2097, Beneath a Steel Sky and (ugh) Rick Dangerous. It's like having nostalgia injected into my eyeballs. Click one, it downloads, you play, with any necessary DOSboxing handled by JogoBox. There are some new freeware games as well. Get it here.
Given that Golden Axe, as just one example, is available in the JogoBox but is also for sale on Steam, I'm not convinced all of the existing content will remain in the box. When asked about the rights to the games by indiegames.com, co-creator Renate Geven's response was thus: "...we try to focus on freeware and abandonware games. In most cases we contact the developers to ask their permission to distribute their game. In most cases, their response is positive because they see JogoBox as an extra platform to distribute their game on." What about in the cases that aren't 'most'?
While there's plenty of great stuff, special mention must be given to the grouping of games. The categories include 'Girls', so you could even let a lady play with your JogoBox. Or perhaps you are a lady! JogoBox will delight you.
"Play all kinds of fun girly games! Would you like to go on a date, decorate your room or perhaps marry Justin Bieber?"
To be fair, I'm not a girl and I don't want to do any of those things so this is probably an accurate summation of womanly desires. Looking at the actual list, there's a lot of games about making out and putting clothes on as well, and those are things that I'd rather do than marry Justin Bieber, so perhaps I am a bit of a girl.