Steam, Direct2Drive, GamersGate… others, I’m sure. All of these digital stores have huge collections of games on tap. More often than not, they’re more modern, current games. Which isn’t a surprise considering that even ten years ago there really wasn’t a single digital distribution store around (Steam launched in 2003). Still, each one of them has quite the collection of retro games and yet… they’re completely buried.

For those of us who are already in love with the classics, it’s perfectly fine the way they’ve been organized. We know what we want and how to find it. For example, finding X-Com on Steam is very simple. The problem lies in getting others who are unfamiliar with retro games to find them appropriately without having to recommend every single game possible… and believe me, we do try.

I think there’s a fundamental need for people to simply browse through selections of games and see which one appeals to them most. Something as simple as browsing through the Action or Indie sections of a store, for example, can easily lead to a purchase. But there is no retro section to browse through and too often said retro games pale in comparison to modern titles next to it.

Of course, it’s easy to ignore them. After all there’s no human element behind retro games as there would be with indie games. Still, it’s very important to remember and cherish our gaming past as we do with movies, music and books. Experiencing a game from 10-20 years ago is akin to remembering what it was like to be a gamer back then which was significantly different.

Now granted, figuring out just what counts as “retro” or “classic” can be difficult for some. But it’s not an exact science and nobody is going to harangue anybody else for their specific interpretation. We’ve certainly been unscathed by it.

Anyway, it’s a simple request. Steam, especially, is very difficult to just browse by genre and come upon any retro games.