Flashpoint Archive

Flashpoint Archive (formerly BlueMaxima's Flashpoint) is a web game and animation preservation project that allows for the usage of more than 160,000 rich web applications that are no longer possible to play online after all major browsers removed native support for NPAPI-enabled plugins, most notably Adobe Flash.[3][4][5]

Flashpoint Archive
Developer(s)Community contributors
Initial releaseJanuary 15, 2018 (2018-01-15)[1]
Stable release
12 (Axolotl) / July 10, 2023 (2023-07-10)[1]
Repositorygithub.com/FlashpointProject/launcher/
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
LicenseMIT (launcher),[2] proprietary (engines, games)
Websiteflashpointarchive.org

History

The project was initiated by Australian Ben Latimore in 2018, initially as part of a separate project called Archive Team.[6][7][8] The project has developed a launcher for playing the archived games and animations, which when including all games and media takes up about 1.48 terabytes. It works by simulating the Internet, "tricking" the files into thinking that they are being played on the original site, so they can be loaded and experienced.[9][10] He stepped down as leader of the project in 2023 in order to move on to other projects.[11]

Non-Flash media

While named after and mostly focused on Flash content, media using other discontinued web plugins are also preserved, such as Shockwave,[12] Silverlight, Java, and Unity Web Player,[13] as well as deprecated software frameworks such as ActiveX. 91 distinct web technologies are currently listed as being preserved.[14]

Legality

The legality of the project has been described as "unclear" but creators who do not want their games included can ask for their removal.[3]

Versions

There are two versions of Flashpoint: Infinity and Ultimate. Infinity downloads files on-demand, while Ultimate contains all games and animations pre-downloaded. Until Flashpoint 12 there was also Core, created for preservation and thus only featuring a limited selection of content.[15]

References
  1. "News – BlueMaxima's Flashpoint". bluemaxima.org. Archived from the original on 2022-01-11. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  2. Flashpoint Launcher, FlashpointProject, 2021-12-09, archived from the original on 2021-12-11, retrieved 2021-12-11
  3. "Ontwikkelaars maken tool om 38.000 oude Flash-games te archiveren en te spelen". Tweakers (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  4. "You Can Now Play 36,000 Saved Flash Games Offline Ahead of Flash Browser Support End". HYPEBEAST. 3 February 2020. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  5. Morton, Lauren (31 January 2020). "Flashpoint launcher is saving Flash games from extinction". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  6. "Flash Games As We Know Them Will Die Forever In 2020. One Guy Is Trying To Save Them All". Kotaku Australia. 5 May 2018. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  7. Prescott, Shaun (3 February 2020). "Thousands of old Flash games have been saved from obsolescence". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 15 October 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  8. Kidwell, Emma (2 May 2018). "Flashpoint is archiving Flash games before they disappear forever". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  9. Hoon Chan, Khee (18 March 2021). "Tracing the Sprawling Roots of Flash Preservation". VICE. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  10. Grosso, Robert (24 December 2018). "Flashpoint Preserves over 10,000 Web-Based Flash Games; Playable With New Launcher". TechRaptor. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  11. "BlueMaxima on Twitter: "Flashpoint 11.1 is out, and with it, I'm announcing my retirement from the project."". Twitter. 12 January 2023. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  12. "Flash is Dead, but Its Culture Should Live on". 25 October 2020. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  13. "How to Play Old Flash Games in 2020, and Beyond". 29 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  14. "Statistics". flashpointproject.github.io. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  15. "Downloads – BlueMaxima's Flashpoint". bluemaxima.org. Archived from the original on 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
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