The iPod once reigned supreme in the realm of portable music. Hackers are now working on preserving one of its less lauded functions — gaming. [via Ars Technica]

The run of 54 titles from 2006-2009 may not have made the iPod a handheld gaming success, but many still have fond memories of playing games on the devices. Unfortunately, Apple’s Fairplay DRM has made it nearly impossible to get those games back unless you happened to backup your library since those games can’t be downloaded again and are tied to both the account and iTunes installation that originally purchased the game.

Fortunately, intrepid hackers found syncing their iPods (or iTunes libraries) with working copies of the games could reauthorize the games via Apple’s servers to a secondary iTunes installation. Any supported iPod could then be linked to this installation and get the games as well. Through the wonders of virtualization, the iPod Clickwheel Games Preservation Project by [Olsro] allows you to install many of these games on your own iPod with an iTunes install inside a Windows 10 VM which saves the expense of shipping iPods all over the place.

Looking for some more ways to get into iPod hacking? How about some upgrades or a look back at how the first iPod hacks started?