One Of The Rarest Video Games Ever Has Been Preserved Online

by

Stepping into the evolving world of video games, I can’t help but feel the weight of history as we move towards a more digital future. Preserving the stories and artifacts of this medium is paramount to us gamers, and it’s exciting to see one gaming historian recently succeed in preserving one of the rarest video games ever produced.

Video game researcher Bruno de Figueiredo has made public (through Time Extension) that he has uploaded the ISO version online for TRIPITAKA, which is the follow-up to Cosmology of Kyoto. Originally launched in Japan by SoftEdge in 1993, this non-linear adventure game saw a North American release a year later and garnered a modest fanbase. Due to its rarity, only one known physical copy of TRIPITAKA is believed to exist.

After a thorough and doubtful search, I eventually found the rare CD-ROM titled “TRIPITAKA 玄奘三蔵求法の旅”, believed to be the elusive sequel to the renowned Cosmology of Kyoto. Here is an ISO for your enjoyment in emulation.

— Bruno de Figueiredo (@dieubussy) May 22, 2025

In the year 2023, a physical CD-ROM of TRIPITAKA was offered on Yahoo Japan for approximately $300. Approximately two years later, Figueiredo managed to persuade the owner to make the game accessible online as a preservation effort.

In the previous year, Xbox established a group focused on safeguarding video games, while Sony initiated such a team two years earlier. On the other hand, Nintendo seems less enthusiastic about game preservation, and concerns have arisen regarding how future Switch 2 games will be conserved for future generations. Additionally, the U.S. Copyright Office recently thwarted efforts to preserve games by denying libraries permission to share their digital collections online.

Read More

2025-05-30 23:09