Well similar to my piece on censorship I’m sure this is going to be another interesting entry. The big news for classic gamers is that at long last gamers can buy X-Com and have it work on current systems using Steam. What this means however is that for all of us that downloaded a free copy of it we’re all technically criminals . This raises and interesting debate on the ethics of when it is considered stealing.
There is a huge difference between pc games made today and pc games made 10 or more years ago. Hell you could say that most companies stop supporting their games after 3 or 4 years now. Classic games on the pc are a lot harder to play today thanks to different hardware configurations, and of course the Operating System. There are as many great classic pc games as there are classic console games. The difference, I can just stick a cartridge or cd into the system and have it work perfectly, the pc not so much. Then there is a cost, many classic games cost several times more now then they did at retail to buy as you are buying from collectors not retailers, which makes us gamble on hopefully the game will run on our pcs after spending so much money. Now I know that this paragraph is me rationalizing what I did, and the reason is that the issue of stealing games is not so black and white.
The purpose of “abandonware” sites is to give gamers a chance to play great games they missed, that are no longer supported by the developers. To be frank, they’re the only way to play some of these older titles and have it guarantee to work in some cases. When all the legal options are gone, sometimes you need to go illegal. Since the X-Com series has been put on Steam, it has been taken down from the various sites on the grounds that it is no longer considered abandonware, I have to disagree. To me, the only way that it would be no longer abandonware is that I can just download a copy of the game, have it work on my system and not have to jump through any hoops at any of those steps. Even though I play Team Fortress 2 on Steam I still condone the service(yes I’m a hypocritical weirdo, have you just found this blog?), the only reason why I considered it fair with TF2 is that the game is multiplayer only and I would need to keep it on to play the game. Then there is the issue of owning the title, one of the major complaints with digital distribution is that you don’t really own that game you bought, your just leasing it. I stand by the fact that X-Com is still not easily attainable and should be allow on abandonware sites.( I was told by someone who downloaded X-Com via Steam that it can be played without having Steam on unlike other titles, however my point still stands as Steam is required to even download the game in the first place).
The other debate is should developers support their titles long after their shelf life? Should I be able to email a developer for a title they made 10 years ago and pay them for them to ship out a copy of it that I expect to work on my platform? I know that the developers of King of Dragon Pass still do that, and I really have to commend them on that service. Should we as consumers expect this level of service from our game companies? I say yes, if I’m willing to give you money for your game, I expect that level of service from you. Now there is the issue if the company is no longer in business, but for the sake of this entry let’s deal with developers (or publishers) that are still around. I’ve been hinting at what I want to see for downloading classic games, now I’m going to come right out and say it in these simple points:
1.At some point after a game’s shelf life(usually 3 to 5 years later), the developer or publisher must put up an easy to find downloadable version of their game, at a reduced price compared to retail. For console titles, they should provide means for gamers to buy their games once they become hard to find.
2. These titles should have zero copy protection on them. As well as not requiring any client or download services to buy them.
3. They should be guarantee to work on a modern pc, if they don’t then a money back guarantee should be issued.
4. Once bought they become legal copies for the user.
These issues and bringing them to a close is why I’m so excited for Good Old Games . Their service lets you download classic games guarantee to work on your computer and it will be a permanent copy. I think this is an amazing step forward for playing classic games and if someone from GoG is reading this… I STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN MY BETA KEY !!!!!!!!!! By having an easy and legal way of obtaining classic games, I think we can finally put this issue of whether it is ok to download abandonware games to a close. Also it would let me and other old school gamers play the games we grew up with or missed and hopefully make Corvus sleep easy at night knowing I got a chance to play the Ultima series 🙂
Josh
p.s. if you think this entry is interesting wait until tomorrow, part 2 is coming.
