Free Atari 800 Computer Games and Software

Atari 800 Games and Software

In addition to the free games offered by the Dog Daze Home Page, hundreds of other 1980s-era Atari computer games are available for free at the following web sites.

Atari Program Exchange Archives: Select from a variety of games and utilities for 8-bit Atari computers. You can download and run the programs just like Dog Daze, as explained on my emulator page.

Is it legal to download and play classic Atari computer games for free?

The Atari800win Plus emulator is given away for free by the program authors. However, in order to use the emulator, you must also download Atari ROM images, which are copies of the software embedded in Atari computer ROM chips. The current ROM copyright owner (which I believe is Hasbro, through a series of acquisitions) does not appear to care about people using their long-abandoned ROM software. However, if you are concerned about the legal status of using the ROM images, you can go to Ebay and buy and old Atari 400 computer for about $15. Then you will own the ROMs and have the right to use the embedded ROM code.

How about the game software itself? All of the downloadable games at the Atari Program Exchange Archives (including my games Dog Daze and Bumpomov's Dogs) are made available with permission from the authors and copyright holders, so you are free to use them for your own enjoyment.

As for the other Atari computer games you find on the Internet, it is usually the case that the copyright holder does not not mind that you are using their software, or at least doesn't care enough to do anything about it. It's not like the music industry, where the copyright holders are going after illegal users for decades on end.

If you are not comfortable about using a game without paying for it, you can go to Ebay and buy the software on an old tape, disk, or ROM cartridge. As the owner of the software, you will have the right to use it on an emulator.

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