Run Local Flash Games in Linux

I recently upgraded to Linux Mint 17.  So far, the only issue I've run into is that my Flash (*.swf) files no longer run when I try to open them in a browser. Instead of playing my game, it tries to download the file from my local drive to my local drive.

I've checked all the forums. It look other distro's have the same issue. And the support bozo's all say you can't do that. This tells me that they are just reading from a script, because it has always worked before.

So what's the answer? Simple - the mime type association has been changed, probably at freedesktop.org, which is upstream from the distros. Here is how you can change it back:

$ gksudo gedit /usr/share/mime/packages/freedesktop.org.xml

Replace "vnd.adobe.flash.movie" with "x-shockwave-flash" and save.
Now update your mime types:

$ sudo update-mime-database /usr/share/mime

Now navigate to your *.swf file. You should see the old flash icon back. You can now right click on the file and open it directly in your browser.

Happy Gaming!