Why are people wishing for games that never had a PC port to begin with? Are GOG supposed to port the games themselves, create their own emulator or just distribute the ROMs/ISOs?

^ ^ I don't know why. I can only assume, it's a list of ALL games that exist. Perhaps they might look into emulation on non-PC ports, but I highly doubt that Sony and the likes would go along with it.

I have no answer for you. I kind of wondered that myself. Just think of it as an "all inclusive" list of games. *shrug*

The Dreamlist is a very well made publicity stunt. Had it been in mind to actually enforce titles according to plausibility, several suggestions would have been shunted off.

If you want to point out specific examples, you're free to do so here, where I assume someone (but not me), has brought the erroneous games and errata to staff attention: https://www.gog.com/forum/general/mo_dreamlist_mo_problems_reporting_thread/

Who says that GoG would do such work for games on the list? GoG doesn't own the games.
It is more to show the IP owners, that there would be some marked, that could make them some money. And if the demand would be big enough, there would be money a small devteam throwing a emu on the game and calling it a day.

And in the past there where a few old console games ported to the PC and then sold, if I remember correctly.

Yes, games in the program can be "patched" by GoG to make them run on a new windows or whatever.
And sometimes GoG made a game run again and got it exclusively for some time or maybe they get a small margin till today, who knows.

But the List is not "GoG, do it" but a showoff of the possible marked in the first place.

It's the Dreamlist and they have a Dream(s). Also they probably don't know GOG doesn't port games.

Alright, questions:
https://www.gog.com/dreamlist/game/draughts-1952
1) Who owns this?
2) How do you convert this game for sale on GOG without completely rewriting it?
3) Who's providing the proprietary rom files required for many latter day systems and computers? Or is GOG expected to cleanroom reverse engineer System 7's system files and operations?

There is a wonderful American saying that describes the substantive merit of the dreamlist. "Wish/dream in one hand and crap in the other. Which hand fills up more quickly?" lol

Well, looks like despite your questions, 22 people (21 beside you?) are not opposed to the idea of having it released here.

XD

Does this contradict anything I said?

I mean, the Dreamlist most likely pulls some stuff from a 3rd party database and it does not set any boundaries.
Or do you think GoG staff build up a database of more or less all games including screenshoots?

It is still a tool do show demand.
I mean, show 80k upvotes to the IP holders of Black and White.
"Possible sales in the 10s of thousand - just on GoG"
The dreamlist is a sales pitch to IP holders.

I doubt GOG has the resources—the manpower and the capital—to risk investing in PC ports and hoping for success. One of my theories is that they're gauging popularity from a broader catalog for long term strategic decisions.

My other theory is easier, the games in the dreamlist catalog lack adequate filtering controls. I've seen posts about users finding board games and similar titles, like the Nintendo Labo, within their catalog

There's a bunch of reasons.

1. GOG want customers to get invested in them.
2. They also want game providers to get invested in them.
3. Putting something on a wishlist, is not necessarily about reality, it is often about a desire for something, and maybe hoping the right folk will see it and make the dream come true.
4. GOG work with many others, so it is not just about what GOG themselves may do.
5. It is not just about regular customers at GOG. Some could likely make an account at GOG, just to register a vote for some game they care about.
6. GOG can appear to some, perhaps many, as the last bastion of hope.

Take the N64 game Goldeneye. Many of us gamers would love to get a PC port of that, especially DRM-Free. So maybe enough interest shown here at GOG would encourage those who can make it happen, to do something about it. It is a long shot I know, but dreams often are. All it would take, is a change of heart at Nintendo.

Actually, it wouldn't even take Nintendo.

You'd have to convince Microsoft, who took hold of Rare. (It was released 2 years ago on X Series and Switch.)

All a cartridge was, and happens to be is a literal wrapper for program code.

First of all: is it possible, that you confuse the "GOG preservation program" (your thread's title) with the "community wishlist", aka: the "GOG dream list" (your question)?

However - to answer your question:

People are wishing for all sorts of games, because it's a WISHlist.
And on such a list, people can wish for whatever they want (as long as there are no restrictions put in place).

That's why you find "console exclusives", "mobile games" and/or "never completed games" on that list.
Because people DREAM about getting these titles here on GOG.

Of course, that doesn't mean, that their wishes stand any chance, to ever get fulfilled.

And in the event that any of these games does get an official port or emulated release, they'll be in an opportune position.

Yes, gathering intel is always good, and using it gives an advantage. I like it if they are really doing it. It could help to make things happen with their existing partners.

The problem is they are not being clear with their fans now. People have wanted PC ports for a long time, not just now. GOG needs to manage people's expectations because waiting a long time for DRM-free releases is already hard. If they keep waiting for something that might not happen, it becomes cruel. GOG should answer the opening poster's question for everyone's benefit.