1981 · Microsoft · US · computer
IBM PC and MS-DOS
The open architecture standard that conquered personal computing.
Essential Trivial to run Needs a keyboard ▶ Watch on YouTube ↗
The open architecture standard that conquered personal computing. From 4.77 MHz IBM 5150 text adventures to 3D VGA textured monster shooters like Doom and Quake, DOS was the crucible of modern PC gaming.
Unlike proprietary architectures (Apple, Commodore), IBM allowed clones. This spawned a hyper-competitive hardware market with accelerating 386/486 speeds, VGA graphics, and CD-ROM drives.
Under the hood
- CPU
- Intel 8088 / 286 / 386 / 486 / Pentium (4.77 MHz to 133+ MHz)
- Sound chip
- PC Speaker → AdLib → Sound Blaster 16 → Roland MT-32 / General MIDI
- Graphics
- CGA (4 colors) → EGA (16 colors) → VGA 320×200 (256 colors) → SVGA
- Media
- Floppy Disks (5.25" / 3.5") & CD-ROM
What it cost
a little over a month of an average wage in 1981 · about $5,401 today
| IBM PC 5150 base configuration ($1,565, $3,000+ with color & floppy) | $1,565 (1981) |
|---|---|
| Typical street price | — No verified mass-market street price recorded yet. |
| Units sold | ≈100,000,000 estimate Hundreds of millions of compatible machines sold worldwide. |
Why it mattered
Unlike proprietary architectures (Apple, Commodore), IBM allowed clones. This spawned a hyper-competitive hardware market with accelerating 386/486 speeds, VGA graphics, and CD-ROM drives.
Emulating it today
| Emulators | DOSBox-Staging, DOSBox-Pure (libretro), DOSBox-X, eXoDOS |
|---|---|
| Setup effort | Trivial to run (1 on this site's scale) |
| Controls | Many games use a mouse, while setup screens and computer software still expect a keyboard. |
| Runs on a handheld | Yes |
DOSBox-Pure makes launching zipped DOS games trivial with auto controller mapping. Standalone DOSBox-Staging provides cycle-exact Roland MT-32 and Sound Blaster emulation. The emulator names above are starting points, not a promise that every title or accessory behaves identically. Computer platforms usually add model selection, disk handling and keyboard setup even when CPU emulation itself is mature.
Firmware
This system needs no firmware file. Install an emulator, open a game, and it runs.
How many files you need: none to go and find. No separate firmware file is needed for an ordinary setup.
Firmware details checked 2026-08. Emulator requirements change — see Libretro documentation for the current list.
Where the software is
TOSEC catalogues computer disks and tapes broadly, including many revisions. It is useful for preservation, while a smaller curated selection is usually easier to play.
Copyright: Commercial software remains copyrighted unless its owner explicitly released or relicensed it. Homebrew, public-domain programs and current reissues should be treated separately from abandoned commercial titles.
This site names preservation projects and explains what they are. It does not link to ROM downloads.
Where to start
- Doom / Doom II First-Person Shooter
id Software’s genre-defining fast-paced 3D shooter.
- The Secret of Monkey Island Point & Click Adventure
LucasArts comedy adventure pinnacle with SCUMM engine.
- Duke Nukem 3D First-Person Shooter
Build engine interactivity, quips, and level design.
- Civilization Turn-based 4X Strategy
Sid Meier’s addictive "Just one more turn" world conquest.
- X-COM: UFO Defense Tactical Strategy / Sci-Fi
Atmospheric squad tactics and global alien containment.
- Command & Conquer Real-Time Strategy
Westwood Studios’ FMV-infused GDI vs Nod warfare.
- Day of the Tentacle Point & Click Adventure
Time-travel cartoon comedy with 3 interconnected protagonists.
- Prince of Persia Cinematic Platformer
Rotoscoped precision dungeon acrobatics with a 60-minute timer.
- Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness Real-Time Strategy
Blizzard’s fantasy RTS triumph with naval and air combat.
- SimCity 2000 City Management Simulation
Isometric city planning perfection with arcologies and water pipes.
The verdict
One of the greatest PC gaming libraries ever created. Seminal FPS titles (Doom, Duke Nukem 3D), point-and-click masterpieces (Monkey Island), strategy titans (Civilization, C&C, X-COM), and CRPGs.
The strongest software can be rewarding, but original controls and setup assumptions may matter more than screenshots suggest.
- Worth it if
- Players curious about apple and the ibm pc and willing to learn how the original machine worked.
- Not for
- Anyone who wants a large, instantly accessible library and no model, firmware or control decisions.
Scored 5/5 for fun today and 5/5 for historical importance. Those two scores decide the label at the top — a machine can matter enormously and still be no fun.
Read more & watch
This page is 50% complete against the facts we try to record for every system. Gaps are shown as gaps.