[Games] The Fight to Preserve Dead Video Games

It's a weird and complicated issue. You can understand game developers wanting to protect their IPs, but there has to be a line somewhere. For instance, very few games more than 30 years old still have any legs; I don't see the harm to anyone in people emulating them. Also, take the case mentioned in the video of EA shutting down the NBA2K14 servers: the intent is obviously to force people to pay for a new game, but really, what gives them the right to keep people from hosting their own servers with their own money?

Then of course there is the simple fact that these "pirates" simply aren't actually legally harassed very often, although it's not always clear whether that's because the developers don't mind, or because there's just too much of this going on for them to stop. Even in the case of Streets of Rage Remake--the developers of which received a cease and desist for copyright violation shortly after release in April 2011--is now back online for anyone to download, and has been for years. Surely Sega is aware of this. Why isn't Sega still going after them? I have no idea.

In any case, we can hold out hope that the law will eventually swing around to the rights of the consumer on this issue, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Pro-industry lawyers would likely argue that the very fact that someone cared enough to preserve any given game proves its potential commercial value, and that's not an easy argument to refute in legal terms, however specious you think it may be. But perhaps even more to the point, Congress has already proven time and again that they're more interested in protecting the revenue of large corporations than in creating sensible boundaries for intellectual property rights.

 

I remember when games first started coming out annually, and thinking, nobody is going to buy it each year, not me, no way, and there I was, buying those EA games every year for what often amounted to just seeing the new names.

 

Depends if you consider video games art or just a commercial product?

Obviously publishers think the latter, and the developers sold their rights to treat them like the former.

Personally, I don't have time to go back and play older games. However, when buying, I rather have control over that decision which is why I refuse to use steam, and buy on GoG.

Also, I'm pretty anti DLC, although I understand the business side of it.
I still think the complete experience should be in the original game.

The existence of the Silmarillion doesn't make LoTR less of a complete work.

 

We generally leak the source code after a time if there are still people playing it.

DD

 

I'm just thankful places like abandonware sites and GOG exist.

GOG is especially nice as it allows old games to be preserved while the publishers can still make a buck here and there.

While the bells and whistles aren't as shiny, great game design is still great game design.

 

Smaller devs might do this but I doubt devs backed by large publishers will ever do something like this.