1: Your local gaming store

Let's start with the simple answer. Some titles at the more recent side of our coverage might still be available in your local gaming shop. Here in the UK head to GAME for example and you'll see shelves of titles re-released on budget labels; plenty from five or six years ago and some a bit older, with a few enduring classics going back to the late 90s even. Games tend to be grouped into £5 (3 for £10) or £10 (2 for £15) sets, with the former generally being older. We can't speak for other countries, but there must be some equivalents. In this day and age, most such stores should also let you shop online. A good example is Sold Out - one of the most enduring and wide-ranging of the budget labels.

2: Online Distribution

If you don't mind the lack of a physical copy, there are now several online distribution services. Just hand over your credit card details, and click "download". There's even a service now that's specifically dedicated to the classics: Good Old Games has a growing selection going back to the Windows 95 days, and even some DOS oldies. A selling point they push is that it's all free of the digital rights management that often plagues games these days – there are no restrictions on how many times you can install, no need to contact their servers to activate the game, etc. You might also want to check out the big name in the market, Valve's Steam, which sells new games but has quite a few oldies too. That one requires you to use their own launcher software though, which dials home every time you load up. Which might annoy some people. A plus point for both services though is that you can be sure the oldies will be configured, one way or another, to run happily on modern windows PCs.

3: eBay

If you can't find a new copy, take a look on the famous auction site. There's always a chance someone found a dusty forgotten CD at the bottom of a drawer and is now flogging it for £1. Some titles can be pricier though, especially if there hasn't been a budget release lately. Still it's worth a shot for games of any vintage.

4: Abandonware

Abandonware is a term created by fans for games that is no longer supported by its developers or publishers, and cannot be bought first-hand. A small scene of enthusiasts on the internet have created websites offering these games as free downloads. Bear in mind this is officially illegal. However, games companies tend to regard abandonware as a low priority issue. Electronic Arts are obviously more concerned with piracy of their latest football game than something from 1992 that they’re not making money from anymore. So if you can't obtain the game in a way that re-imburses those responsible for bringing it to us, you might say you may as well grab that free copy. In fact you could argue the abandonware scene has helped keep alive interest in games that might now be all but forgotten. Generally best for DOS oldies - more recent games can be bigger downloads, straining the resources of webmasters, and are less likely to be "abandoned" in the first place.