Abandonware now legal

[Zeus]

They amended the DMCA to allow it...and other things

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162308.html

[Julius Seeker]

What the hell?! You mean it WASN'T legal before?!

Oh well =)

I really love downloading those old PC games from the 80's, some of them are a huge amount of fun. I remember one, that was a role playing simulation of sorts, where you rose up the ranks from low nobility by marrying off relatives to form alliances, engaging in trade and other merchant related work, banking, and even war, in order to raise your status within society. It was one of the most fun games I had ever played, and I have not been able to find it again since the 90's.

[Nev]

"Archival purposes" doesn't mean it's *actually* legal. You're not technically allowed to play them, for instance.

It'll probably create a de facto legalization situation, however.

[Zeus]

"Archival purposes" doesn't mean it's *actually* legal. You're not technically allowed to play them, for instance.

It'll probably create a de facto legalization situation, however.

Yeah, I mean, everyone will want an "archive" of their favourite abandonware :-)

[Julius Seeker]

Heh, even if it is illegal still. Some of the greatest games are considered abandonware. There really are a lot of gems which go far beyond the creativity that is seen in games today. There aren't a lot of wacky unique formulas nowadays, because everything has to have mass-market appeal, otherwise it means huge loss due to the incredibly high development costs. There are SOME games that actually got later remakes or sequels, that brought them to a wider audience, the games I can think of off hand right now are Sid Meier's Pirates and Master of Orion.

[Zeus]

Heh, even if it is illegal still. Some of the greatest games are considered abandonware. There really are a lot of gems which go far beyond the creativity that is seen in games today. There aren't a lot of wacky unique formulas nowadays, because everything has to have mass-market appeal, otherwise it means huge loss due to the incredibly high development costs. There are SOME games that actually got later remakes or sequels, that brought them to a wider audience, the games I can think of off hand right now are Sid Meier's Pirates and Master of Orion.

Pirates was just remade last year or the year before for the Xbox, so I'm not so sure it's considered abandonware just yet. If I'm not mistaken, it would have to be a property that hasn't had any activity in a certain period, like 5 years or something, but I'm not so sure on the definition.

[Julius Seeker]

http://vetusware.com/download/Pirates!/?id=142

It is considered abandonware, I don't think the remakes have any effect on whether or not the original is considered or not. The Xbox version is just a port of the PC remake.