Video game compilation
multiple computer and video games sold as a single product
A video game compilation is a type of product bundling in which different video games are available for purchase as a special collection. They are often stored on the same physical media or digital package, making use of menu interfaces that allow players to select the game they want to play. They are a form of video game preservation.
History
The Nintendo Entertainment System received official multicart compilations that re-released earlier games, such as Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt / World Class Track Meet. In the early 1990s, Codemasters, an unlicensed publisher, used multicarts to release new games in their Quattro compilations. Action 52, released by Active Enterprises, is infamous for its low quality. Pirate Nintendo compilations often included ROM hacks that replaced character sprites.
Following a new interest in retro gaming in the 1990s, companies began re-releasing their back catalog in video game compilations commercially, such as Microsoft Arcade (1993) for Windows, and the 1995 releases of the first games in the Atari 2600 Action Pack series for home computers and the Namco Museum series for the PlayStation. Video game consoles saw compilations of older arcade games, such as Arcade's Greatest Hits and Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits, while Windows computers received compilations of console games, such as the Sonic & Knuckles Collection.
The public source identifies “Video game compilation” as multiple computer and video games sold as a single product. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Video, game and compilation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Video game compilation” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.