> You can use a PC/console from that era, VMs or emulators, apply patches, or get the versions from storefronts like GOG. Only insofar as those PCs and console

> You can use a PC/console from that era, VMs or emulators, apply patches, or get the versions from storefronts like GOG. Only insofar as those PCs and consoles are still circulating, or the platform was big enough to have good emulators (and the distribution format was standard enough that you can still rip the ROM, and the emulators themselves can still be run on modern systems), or the game was big enough for someone to have been willing to write patches for it. If you don't have the technical knowledge and skills to work around these (or you don't have the time), then the game might as well be dead for you. And of course, it can't have died enough at any point for everyone with a copy to have lost it, which is the fate of a lot of the old text adventures.