Should abandonware games be free ?.

[Grimaldus]

I vote yes.

Currently there is a ton of games from the age of 640*480 or otherwise that has been left to rot on the stores and very very few games are updated to fit todays 1080p which is a very common resolution.

And no, i'm actually not asking games to be free as a goal, would i really want is
all these days updated to be enjoyable with todays screens.
But i do however have the opinion that once a game stops reveiving updates
and becomes an "abandonware" it shouldn't be in the store with a price,
anything abandoned should imo be free.

I'm not asking for a complete graphical overhault. But if you as devs won't put
in time to at the very least update your games to fit todays resolutions,
your games, imo, qualifies as abandonware and should be free.

[MikeBob2013]

SMIFFY の投稿を引用：

No

🏆

[Psycho]

yes
just because i want free games

[Dracoco OwO]

I mean some abandonwares games are free and available to download on the Devs Websites such as Elder scrolls 1 & 2.

[Mad Scientist]

TwisterCat の投稿を引用：

Mr. Gentlebot の投稿を引用：

Users are responsible for uploaded content, it is up to the person/company hosting said content to remove any infringing material upon request in a timely manner, regardless of being "Archived". "Preservation" also doesn't matter if someone actively has rights to the material.

That is assuming they lose the case, however. Looking at it objectively, if Archive loses the legal battle, it will harm the entire internet, alongside the gaming industry. Where something is lost, something else will take it's place, it always does, and with the video gaming industry, that fragment of the archive will simply move on to illegal methods, which isn't good for any of us, and it's abhorrent to the indie developers.

Which is why I expect Archive, even if they lose the legal battle, to do an utterly terrible job of moderating, if they lose, and that is a big IF.

If they are hosting knowingly copyright material or otherwise protected material, they will lose especially if failing to adhere to legal rights of others. So if they are guilty, they will lose, period.

If they do lost, it will not "harm the entire internet" ir the gaming industry; it will uphold the rights of rights owners for the materials of which they pay money to have registered as theirs.

It's also good that indie developers still hold rights to their property so they have a chance to earn income by selling older games of theirs, a subscription service, or otherwise the ability to choose to have their older games be free; little difference between the options of bigger studios. It's about choice & rights holding, you seem to emphasize piracy regardless, if it isn't done your way.

Not to mention some studios keep an entire series going, or otherwise create games in the same universe the other games exist in and in some scenarios; remake or remaster older games for their fans, so overall a horrible idea.

If you want older games to be free, especially to run on more modern OS's with a higher resolution; message the rights holder/developer.

[leep galaguh]

Xautos の投稿を引用：

Supermarkets in the UK and Europe have been known to either heavily discount foods near or at the sell by date, but supermarkets have also been known to give away food stuffs to charities that they can't sell any more simply because it just won't sell no matter what, it's better it's offered to those who will eat it than throwing it away as just excessive food waste.

Same also holds true of old games that have sold theirs and won't sell any more plus that they aren't noticed any more, they won't get any more sales no matter what, so what good would it do keeping it like that? It's better for the game in question to diversify itself than leaving it to rot in obscurity.

Many supermarkets in US are throwing away good food since donating it won't make any profit to them (sorry this is getting kinda off-topic). Sure making the game free might be a good thing for the game itself and its community but it won't help the company in question. As long as the games still make money (even if it's a small amount), game companies have no reason to give them away for free. Some companies will even make a package of old games and sell them for a cheap price. The fact that people are interested in this topic proves that there's still a demand for old video games. Whoever owns the rights to the video game ultimately gets to decide what they will do with it. Can't complain about Bezos not giving away his abandoned cars and mansions can I?

[Yzal]

Dracoco OwO の投稿を引用：

I mean some abandonwares games are free and available to download on the Devs Websites such as Elder scrolls 1 & 2.

That's not abandonware. Bethesda themselves released them for free for the series 15th anniversary.
"Abandonware is a product, typically software, ignored by its owner and manufacturer"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware

[Dracoco OwO]

Lazy Dog の投稿を引用：

Dracoco OwO の投稿を引用：

I mean some abandonwares games are free and available to download on the Devs Websites such as Elder scrolls 1 & 2.

That's not abandonware. Bethesda themselves released them for free for the series 15th anniversary.
"Abandonware is a product, typically software, ignored by its owner and manufacturer"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware

I thought it was falling under that category, anyways?

[Yzal]

Dracoco OwO の投稿を引用：

Lazy Dog の投稿を引用：

That's not abandonware. Bethesda themselves released them for free for the series 15th anniversary.
"Abandonware is a product, typically software, ignored by its owner and manufacturer"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware

I thought it was falling under that category, anyways?

Legally abandonware doesn't exist. Even if they hadn't released them for free downloading them somewhere would have been piracy.

[Dracoco OwO]

Lazy Dog の投稿を引用：

Dracoco OwO の投稿を引用：

I thought it was falling under that category, anyways?

Legally abandonware doesn't exist. Even if they hadn't released them for free downloading them somewhere would have been piracy.

Ok that make sense then.

[Captain Morgan]

Yes! But technically, they ARE free!

[Xautos]

/all ? の投稿を引用：

Xautos の投稿を引用：

Supermarkets in the UK and Europe have been known to either heavily discount foods near or at the sell by date, but supermarkets have also been known to give away food stuffs to charities that they can't sell any more simply because it just won't sell no matter what, it's better it's offered to those who will eat it than throwing it away as just excessive food waste.

Same also holds true of old games that have sold theirs and won't sell any more plus that they aren't noticed any more, they won't get any more sales no matter what, so what good would it do keeping it like that? It's better for the game in question to diversify itself than leaving it to rot in obscurity.

Many supermarkets in US are throwing away good food since donating it won't make any profit to them (sorry this is getting kinda off-topic). Sure making the game free might be a good thing for the game itself and its community but it won't help the company in question. As long as the games still make money (even if it's a small amount), game companies have no reason to give them away for free. Some companies will even make a package of old games and sell them for a cheap price. The fact that people are interested in this topic proves that there's still a demand for old video games. Whoever owns the rights to the video game ultimately gets to decide what they will do with it. Can't complain about Bezos not giving away his abandoned cars and mansions can I?

A demand for old computer games is fine, but there is room for all those being sold in the form of a remaster and those that follow on a copyleft where modders take over. Old dos games won't just work right out the box on any modern system and needs upgrading so it can run on modern systems and it can be sold again so long as the developer or publisher wishes it, but you get some many of these old games that will never see the light of day because they slipped through the cracks.

I'm not advocating that every game should be like that, but some will never get that attention no matter what, they fell in a grey area where developer and publisher no longer exist or the developer at the time has moved on and has no intention of coming back and is willing to hand over that source code so someone can do something with it, in those instances filing for a copyleft on the issue is right move to make. it brings a game back that will never get any sales and it restores something long lost.

I'm not sure we are at the point we can't agree on the matter or not though.If it is the case then i'll happily end it and leave both our points to stand as they are.

[Devsman]

Nah, most (or at least a lot) of the games ever released have never gotten a single update. How, then, do you count a game as abandoned?

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

anything is free after a couple of years once the pattens or copyrights run out.

It's about a 50 year to 100 year waiting period with very few exceptions. They do this so people don't monopolize on ♥♥♥♥

[Aachen]

Fumo Friend の投稿を引用：

.... It's about a 50 year to 100 year waiting period with very few exceptions. They do this so people don't monopolize on ♥♥♥♥

IP protections amount to legalized monopolies.