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| Check out the list of preserved Flash games available to play on BlueMaxima's Flashpoint. (Image Source: BlueMaxima.org) |
During the early days of the Internet, the Adobe Flash Player made multimedia content more alive and interactive by allowing websites to go beyond the limitations of displaying only text and images by providing animations above everything else which enables users to stream audio and video, access rich web applications, and play video games. It also enables web and game developers to publish their projects for the online world to see, more particularly Flash-powered free games housed in the likes of Y8 and Friv. However, those days were slowly numbered due to the exploitation of the plug-in's advantages by malware creators which eventually led to the Flash Player's shutdown on December 31, 2020 after 24 years.
Fortunately, all is not lost. As Adobe Flash Player catches its last breath, web and game developers through the years have been creating efforts to preserve the legacy that it left behind. One of them is BlueMaxima's Flashpoint, an international webgame preservation project that aims to outrun the disappearance of content prior to Flash's unexpected and untimely departure from the digital space. The project is run by over 100 community developers, and some of them happen to be veteran Flash game developers from the Philippines who have felt saddened by what is considered to be the end of an era. For them according to one of the veteran Filipino Flash game developers Khail Santia, Flash is more than just a piece of technology. It is a medium of independent self-expression, a laboratory of innovation, a passion, a livelihood and a community.
Prior to their place as preserved artifacts of web history and culture, several veteran Flash game developers in the Philippines have incorporated their skills, passion, hardwork and heart into their projects being showcased across the digital space and the online world. Their efforts have paid off eventually as some of their best works have gained prominence and acclaim from the likes of Newgrounds and Kongregate. Such positive reception have even pushed several games to spawn sequels such as Pretentious Game, Epic Boss Fighter and Sniper Assassin. It is intriguing to learn that Adobe Flash Player has laid an important foundation for the Filipino independent game movement and with the likes of Flashpoint preserving the passion of the Filipino Flash game developers, the Flash legacy will live on amidst the challenges the online world is facing.
Aside from Flashpoint, the New York Museum - home to the International Center For History Of Electronic Games - looks to preserve the legacy of Flash games around the world through its partnership with Kongregate. According to Santia who is currently working on DOST-funded decision support systems for infectious diseases in coordination with University of the Philippines - Mindanao, “To us who dedicated a good portion of our youth to Flash game development, this is the ultimate recognition: not only of how Flash democratized game development or how Flash introduced themes and mechanics that now constitute the beating heart of many current games, but above all, of how Flash games are art—of how they filled the little cracks of our lives with laughter, sometimes with tears, and always with challenge."
For more details on the Flashpoint conservation project, visit www.bluemaxima.org/flashpoint.
