Civilisation, the original one. Got it in the 90s, and none of my computers was without it. Even now I sometimes launch it for a guick, half-day game.
I’m sure other Microprose games from that era, in particular UFO: Enemy Unknown, are on my top 10 most played games.
From modern games, I probably spent the most time playing Civ4 and Heroes of Might and Magic 3.
Damn right that old video games would be used for entertainment. I have old books, which predate me by decades, that I still read. I watch old movies on DVD’s. I see no reason why games should be any different.
I’m lucky that ever since I’ve been a gamer, I had a PC. Hardware is thus not a problem, and in my case, so is emulation, via VirtualBox. I kept the install disks and license keys (if applicable) for all operating systems I’ve used, so now I have several virtual images I spin up when I want to play a certain game. And I’m finding that I’m still spending most of my time with the older titles…
This will not help anyone who’d like to play their old favorite from the NES or Dreamcast era. And it’s too late to advise only buying games that are platform independent. So kerp up the good fight. In the past you purchased games to own, not a “limited license”. You are entitled to kerp using your entertainment product as you see fit.