If buying retro games feels like a rather wasteful way to spend your money, how about paying a subscription to access as many oldschool games as you want? That's what Antstream is offering with its new retro gaming platform. With more than 2,000 curated titles from the 80s and 90s, Antstream offers access to more retro games than you could ever play and it's supported by a number of devices and platforms.
As much as some classic game studios have caught on to the fact that gamers love to revisit some of the retro titles from their youth, or explore the games they could never afford, or were born too late to play, there are still many that are out of reach. Sure you can download emulators and roms, but Antstream is looking to take the intervening steps out of getting hold of those great, old school games.
SNK CEO Koichi Toyama said "The videogame industry had been suffering from the absence of a way for games to be played years after their original platform disappeared. We are working with Antstream to right this wrong and allow everyone to play and challenge their friends at some of our most iconic videogames."
We haven't been given a release date for the service as of yet, but we do know that it's managed to license 2,000 titles already. When it does debut it will have a selection of 400 to choose from, including classics like Double Dragon, Ikari Warriors, Zool, and Fatal Fury, among others. Gamers will be able to play on their consoles, Android tablets, laptops, Windows PCs, or even their Macs.
For certain retro games, Antstream will provide leaderboards and challenges, so there will be a fresh new competitive angle on some of the most beloved of old school games. Always thought you could be a Double Dragon champion but never got a chance to prove it? Soon you'll be able to.
No pricing information has yet been revealed, but we should learn more in early 2019.