In the case of Myrient, one of the biggest video game preservation projects around, announcing its shutdown, effective March 31st, hordes of gamers are flocking to the site to try and archive their extensive collection of ROMs, Betas and BIOS files before the site goes dark. The files cover essentially every console known, from the obscure Bandai Pippin to the PlayStation 2's iconic library.
Most are for personal use. However, a large contingent of gamers are trying to save every file possible so they can continue to re-share long after the site is shut down.
Their efforts have spawned a new sub on Reddit, r/SaveMyrient, where an entire spreadsheet is organized in which individual users have signed up to back up specific parts of Myrient's library. Those backups are then shared on the Internet Archive.
A separate website, the Minerva Archive, has also been set up. The ultimate goal is to archive the entirety of Myrient, and per site, hundreds of volunteers are actively at work.
“Myrient is shutting down. Minerva is a volunteer-driven effort to archive its entire collection before it goes offline. Run a script, share your bandwidth, help preserve the archive,” reads the site's header.
As it stands, 109,000 files have been archived, representing 216.82GB of data. However, this only makes up 3.8 percent of what Myrient offers because there are millions of files to ultimately save.
PlayStation is preserving its history by using real-life mineshafts, for some reason
Once the files are in, it's hard to get them back.
Naturally, as thousands try and grab every file they can, download speeds on Myrient have been hit pretty hard. Elsewhere, users are trying to contact the site owner to try and come up with a financial plan to keep the site up temporarily, even if it's temporary.
“I'd be willing to donate more than $1 a month if it could keep the site alive. I'd love to hear the owner's thoughts on this,” one user wrote in response to a thread about trying to financially support the site.
Why is Myrient closing in the first place?
In a major blow to long-term game conservation efforts, the owner of Myrient announced that the site will close on March 31. It was a surprising announcement, but it wasn't easy, according to a message shared on Discord.
In a comprehensive letter, its owner revealed the extreme financial costs required to keep an effort like Myrient alive on a monthly basis, with about $6,000 being paid out of pocket due to a lack of donations. That, along with the advent of download managers and software that bypassed donation pages, download limits put owners at their mental and financial breaking point.
Finally, in another example of the AI boom affecting things, the owner explained how the necessary upgrades to storage and caching infrastructure are impossible. Not only are they reportedly paying $6,000 a month out of pocket, but the price of the necessary hardware has jumped to an unexpected point.
“In short, I can no longer afford to run the site,” they wrote.
As the countdown clock ticks on, people are scrambling to pick up the pieces, hoping their efforts can preserve something historic.
Resident Evil Requiem has convinced me that a Resident Evil 1 remake will work, as long as it's first-person.
Requiem is the closest Capcom has come to capturing the insanity of the original Resident Evil games.
