Video Games: Games that cost you nothing

At times, you just need something to play, and, for whatever reason, you cannot afford or are unwilling to buy something new. Don't worry, you've got plenty of options. The Internet is literally teeming with various resources of free gaming. From free Korean developed massively multi-player online role playing games (MMORPGs) to emulation, there's something out there for everyone.MMORPGs are massively popular, and many of the big name ones come with a periodic subscription fee to keep playing. However, there are many that can be downloaded and played for free. The most prominent of these is the Korean made "MapleStory," which is a 2D side scrolling hack and slash role playing game (RPG). It has a fairly large fanbase and tends to be a bit heavy on the grinding. However, it's only one amongst many, and you can find a much more complete list of free MMORPGs on Wikipedia.

Another option is the playing of various Flash based games, which usually rely heavily on the mouse for gameplay and can range from something as simple as solving puzzles to something as violent as fighting off zombies. A good source for these is "Newgrounds," a site that also hosts a large number of Flash videos.

Finally, there are emulators and ROMs, which involve downloading old console video games(called ROM Images) and playing them on your computer via a program that simulates the old video game system (called an emulator). As long as you have an emulator, you can pretty much play any game you have a ROM for, though later systems will require better hardware to run them.

However, you should be warned that this occupies something of a legal gray area, and it's generally best to download games that haven't been re-released into compilation volumes or released on things like the Wii's Virtual Console, so do a bit of research before you download.

On the up side, you can often get things like translated copies of Japanese games that never made it over to the US, and hey, it's free. A good start for finding an emulator and ROMs would be a site called Zophar's Domain www.zophar.net.