Deathmineral Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 What do you guys think of downloading so-called "Abandonware"? (Old DOS or early Windows games that have not been released as freeware but have been abandoned - i.e. no longer being sold by the developers/publishers.) I love GOG.com but they don't sell every good old game. Some of my favorite old games that I don't have the disks for anymore you can find on these abandonware sites. Abandonware is not a real legal term, and it seems different sites have different criteria for what they consider "abandoned". I have bought copies of old games off of Ebay as well, but some are too rare to find copies there and the developers get no money from those transactions. Do you consider downloading abandonware unethical? I think it's fine myself, there are some really old games that I loved as a child that will never be on Steam or anywhere else really. Some good examples that were some childhood favorites of mine, Catacombs 3D and Jazz Jackrabbit 2. Could I probably find these on ebay or other used sellers? Sure, if I wanted to pay $100 for it. I would say games that are no longer sold by the copyright holder shouldn't be subject to copyright infringement. Also, while we're exploring what is and isn't considered piracy, I have a question for you guys. What about game walkthroughs/let's play being uploaded to places like youtube? Personally when it comes to some games, I prefer to watch someone else play them than play them myself. So am I cheating the companies out of their money if I enjoy their game through someone else or something else, in this case youtube. What about sharing games? Like you bought a game for the PS3 and you beat it and your friend borrows the game. I know it's a single copy of the game being shared as opposed to piracy where it's each person having a copy but the end result is the same I think. Multiple people enjoyed the game while only purchasing a single copy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest_Jim_* Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Also, while we're exploring what is and isn't considered piracy, I have a question for you guys. What about game walkthroughs/let's play being uploaded to places like youtube? Personally when it comes to some games, I prefer to watch someone else play them than play them myself. So am I cheating the companies out of their money if I enjoy their game through someone else or something else, in this case youtube. What about sharing games? Like you bought a game for the PS3 and you beat it and your friend borrows the game. I know it's a single copy of the game being shared as opposed to piracy where it's each person having a copy but the end result is the same I think. Multiple people enjoyed the game while only purchasing a single copy. You can always watch someone play a game that's in the room with you, and they can always tell you what to do. Does YouTube make this illegal? I doubt it. It probably falls under fair use, is my guess. Plus, those walkthroughs, like demos, may encourage sales as it makes the game more available to people with lesser skills/experience. Again, there would need to be a study for a reasonable debate on that. I'm just putting forth a similar logic. Sharing a game would have to be legal if selling used games are. Same idea only more likely to be illegal, due to the exchange of money. Yes multiple people are enjoying a single copy of the game, but they are also enjoying it one at a time, which may help in a court of law. It's not like you are all playing on a single license at the same time, which would, most likely, violate the EULA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Nate Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Oops... You broke the law. They figured out how to find you. Tough... Next...? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonerboy779 Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Huh, that's strange because I was at VideoEzy yesterday and they had a whole wall of PC games avaliable. Only in SA? Weird Any new releases? or was it more older games... I haven't seen any in any of the Video Ezy stores I have been to in vic, at least not any in many years now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Oops... You broke the law. They figured out how to find you. Tough... What would you say if you owned the game but your disc broke? Or the installer was bugged on your OS? Would you still have no sympathy for someone who downloaded it? That "100% accuracy" claim is dubious at best. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivalary Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 with everything Waco has said.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJCRO Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 with everything Waco has said.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Guy Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 Well to be perfectly honest this thread comes down to morals. Law has nothing to do with it because we all break a law in any given week. Here in th US we have laws that protect us from laws and laws that don't mean a single thing because of some ammendment. Here in Colorado it's still illegal to drive a black car on Sunday.... I drive a black car, I haven't been pulled over because no one cares. Now I'm not saying that no one should care about piracy, but it's something that will never go away and its something that will be very opinionated. All of this is never going away unless we all have morality chips installed in our heads and are forced to believe in the same things and no longer have any free thought. It would be mental North Korea. Remember, laws are passed based on your morals. We vote based on morals; if a presidental canadite says that he'll make computer parts 50% cheaper, then you'll probably vote for him/her/it. Now if he says that you all have to use Macbooks, a lot of you would not vote for that person, but some people may find that okay. Morals, morals, morals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Nate Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 What would you say if you owned the game but your disc broke? Or the installer was bugged on your OS? Would you still have no sympathy for someone who downloaded it? That "100% accuracy" claim is dubious at best. No sympathy from me. If you don't get good support from the game's manufacturer, well, that sucks. I was pissed when my Fallout 3 didn't work right after the release. It happens. I do realize that you can keep playing the cheapskate card. "Oh, I was just trying it." Mmhmm. Like that really changes anything. People will do what they want. I'm cheap, too. It's called steam sales for a reason. Patience is a virtue. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imm0rt41 Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 A justification that never works, review sites are everywhere, you can get info on the game before buying even without a demo, no justification for being a thief. No need to name call. I own a more than adequate number of games to be choosy in this economy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 No sympathy from me. If you don't get good support from the game's manufacturer, well, that sucks. I was pissed when my Fallout 3 didn't work right after the release. It happens. You might not care about getting your money's worth but many people do. $60 isn't cheap...and if I pay $60 for something I expect it to work. If there's a free fix to that problem that harms nobody...what's the problem? Seriously...I just don't get the problem with it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest_Jim_* Posted December 16, 2011 Posted December 16, 2011 You might not care about getting your money's worth but many people do. $60 isn't cheap...and if I pay $60 for something I expect it to work. If there's a free fix to that problem that harms nobody...what's the problem? Seriously...I just don't get the problem with it... The problem is rights holders have, well, the rights and the users don't (at least not as much). In this business though, the holders still need to respect the users, which they don't always do, to our satisfaction at least. We want it, they have it, and they need us to survive. Unfortunately, they sometimes forget that last part there, and we sometimes forget that middle part. Everyone remembers the first part though. Also, the thing about your "harms nobody" idea is it can be dangerous. If one person pirates a copy, it's not really harming anyone. It's just one copy, and it's not like they'll notice it at $60 a pop. Before long though, one is two, then three, and you get the idea. In many things I believe there should be no exceptions because of this; once there is one exception there will be more. Sort of like how you can't eat just one potato chip. I'm not trying to say you shouldn't Waco; we're both adults and I have no responsibility or power to affect what you do in these matters, but I do believe you can understand my point here. I don't care if you agree with it, just that you understand it. I'm going to bed now. If this post seems like I'm rambling a little, it's because I probably am. Being tired does that to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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