StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I was wondering now if it's possible to program your own versions of old games, that can be done a lot easier now than back then, like I thought about making a new version of the marble madness arcade game.

You mean legally under the same name? Or simply whether or not its feasible?

You still have to program, of course now you have things that didn't exist back then, like C++, graphic & sound libraries (DirectX, Allegro, SDL). In some cases you can use a complete programming "engine" like Blitz Basic, though they are much less flexible.

For Marble Madness I'd go full 3D.

Within reason, you can.

Try to make and distribute a game that resembles the old classic Boulder Dash, for example. DOZENS of 'online game' remakes of that game have recieved court warnings to remove the software or face penalties, despite the fact that the game itself has been outdated for a very long time.

Additionally, I know that there are immense penalties for copying the Pac-Man games, despite the fact that, again, the game itself is no longer sold anywhere that I know of.

Depends on the game, as usual. If you, say, make a Pac-Man game for the TI-89 calculator and distribute it for free, no-on will care. If you try hawking it in the arcades as a turnkey coin-op machine, there will be problems.

Doing a remake of an old game can also be done in Flash, with some work.