A closer look
Preserving retro games isn't just about blowing the dust off a cartridge; sometimes it’s literally defusing a bomb. To combat rampant piracy in the 1990s, companies like Capcom hard-wired their arcade cabinets with encrypted chips powered by a watch battery. If that battery dies, the security system assumes it’s being tampered with and instantly commits digital seppuku, wiping the game's code forever. Now, underground hardware nerds act like technological bomb squads, soldering new power sources onto live boards just to keep Street Fighter playable.
