Pirating old games?

[Piemaster]

Lots of people strongly object to piracy, but what about pirating old games?
I'm talking about games that are so old that they are no longer published, or put on things like Steam or XBox originals. I personally think it's alright as no one is losing money except the guy selling a second hand copy on EBay and it allows you to get games that are normally hard to get.

 

[Dommyboy]

A lot of times its the only way you can get the old game you want so in those instances I find it to be fine. Its like taking some old speakers you find in a dumpster, no one is selling them and nobody would lose money.

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

Same, you're not taking anything away from the publisher so who cares.

 

[Fire Daemon]

I think the only games you can download legally are ROMS from the SNES era or older. This is pretty much things from 1995 to lower. The games industry seems to agree with me.

 

[shatnershaman]

Legality is sketchy though. Seems to depends what country and how old it is.

 

[Dommyboy]

What about really terrible and short games that aren't worth $10 even? I could have never understood how people put up with such amazingly short games in the early 1990's.

 

[Altorin]

we're not even really talking legality here.

morally, ethically, is it right to pirate old games that are basically impossible to buy.

my answer is, nothing's impossible. There are always ways to buy things.

That being said, I downloaded Eye of the Beholder a couple weeks ago and had a blast playing through that old timer >.>

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

Are they still making money and claim rights from the brand/game....No?

Good. You can pirate the game

 

[shatnershaman]

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided:

(1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or
(2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful. Any exact copies prepared in accordance with the provisions of this section may be leased, sold, or otherwise transferred, along with the copy from which such copies were prepared, only as part of the lease, sale, or other transfer of all rights in the program. Adaptations so prepared may be transferred only with the authorization of the copyright owner."

Sounds like you can have to own the old game you downloading.

 

[The Wooster]

I find the idea that sony/nintendo/microsoft want to make a buck off of games that were released years ago, where the majority of the development team has moved on to other teams and thus recieves none of the profit, completely abhorent. Sail true dear pirates!

 

[DannyDamage]

A lot of times its the only way you can get the old game you want so in those instances I find it to be fine. Its like taking some old speakers you find in a dumpster, no one is selling them and nobody would lose money.

I agree with you dude, but technically you'd still be stealing the speakers. It's silly I know but I didn't make the rules.

 

[Theo Samaritan]

A lot of times its the only way you can get the old game you want so in those instances I find it to be fine. Its like taking some old speakers you find in a dumpster, no one is selling them and nobody would lose money.

I agree with you dude, but technically you'd still be stealing the speakers. It's silly I know but I didn't make the rules.

As technically stealing as it is, I still built an entire sound studio using nothing but dumpster-instruments the studios in london throw out every year. Perfectly usable, just not "todays tech".

 

[DannyDamage]

As technically stealing as it is, I still built an entire sound studio using nothing but dumpster-instruments the studios in london throw out every year. Perfectly usable, just not "todays tech".

Awesome. You did the right thing. I stated the legality of it but that doesn't mean I back it 100%. No city is more wasteful than London (imo) and so much technology gets thrown away because it's a day behind. Most of the audio and TV equipment I have are things friends didn't need anymore because they'd just upgraded. One man's trash is another's treasure and all that

 

[oAmadeuso]

Sounds like you're talking about Abandonware.
The legality is sketchy.
Stuff like old snes - megadrive etc are not legal unless you own the cart I think.
These companies still use the old games for "classics" compilations anyway.

I personaly use my PSP as a portable snes / megadrive emu.

With emus people can achieve huge collections of roms and technically have hundreds of thousands
of pounds in copyright infringment though I doubt they would get sued.

 

[Dommyboy]

As technically stealing as it is, I still built an entire sound studio using nothing but dumpster-instruments the studios in london throw out every year. Perfectly usable, just not "todays tech".

Awesome. You did the right thing. I stated the legality of it but that doesn't mean I back it 100%. No city is more wasteful than London (imo) and so much technology gets thrown away because it's a day behind. Most of the audio and TV equipment I have are things friends didn't need anymore because they'd just upgraded. One man's trash is another's treasure and all that

Like if you went to the rubbish dump and found some old games and equipment you could use, nobody is going to hold that against you unless you have 'friends' who will bag you out for not buying overpriced things.
Lots of sites offer old video games to download for free, but you usually have to go through some quarrel like advertising the site which you are getting the games and so on. Also all the freeware you can get off the net sometimes isn't entirely legal and turns out to be piracy in some way, not sure where I am going with this but when somebody offers something to you for free, would you take it or not accept it?

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Yeah, slightly off topic, but its sickening to see how much full working gear just ends up in the trash because it's not 'new'.

I just saved a 7pm camera from the bin when I was over at a friend of my mothers. She was literally going to just drop a fully working camera, all the leads and the original box, everything, into the bin, because she had a new one. 'Hey, I could use that!'

I'd advise everyone to look into sites like Freecycle etc, where you can post items you no longer need, so long as they work. I got my monitors from there, and I've supplied a few PC parts myself.

Back on Topic tho, if a game has passed the time where the original or rerelease is on sale in stores, and its not on Steam or the like, I'm happy to download it, as second hand etc just isn't gonna put any money back into the industry.

 

[Virgil]

I try to find legal copies of any games I play - even if they're secondhand. At the very least, if a publisher is watching the games exchanged on the secondhand market, it might spur them to re-release them.

And with services like Steam, Gametap, and [a href='http://gog.com']GoG[/a] we're getting to the point where even most classic games worth playing are easily accessible.

I agree with you dude, but technically you'd still be stealing the speakers. It's silly I know but I didn't make the rules.

I suppose it may be different in some places, but in the U.S. once an object is thrown out (in a dumpster, on the curb with trash, etc) it's no longer owned by anyone. It's considered 'disposed of' and is fair game. This is the same reason that police can search trash outside someones home without a warrant. You can get in trouble for trespassing if the dumpster is on private property, but not for stealing.

 

[Knight Templar]

I would buy a copy if the game is no longer made and I can't find a copy, I wouldn't like it though.


Even if nobody is at a loss it just feels wrong, but I'm loyal to a fault.

 

[Cyclomega]

A lot of times its the only way you can get the old game you want so in those instances I find it to be fine. Its like taking some old speakers you find in a dumpster, no one is selling them and nobody would lose money.

Seconded, and, may I say, sometimes the pirated version includes the required patches to have it run under your modern system.

Decoy> as said in a Fanboys Online strip about the WiiStore, you're paying once again to play on a NEW console a game you often already owned... I can't believe people think it's the best EVAR since sliced bread...

 

[Azhrarn-101]

Abandonware is a legal grey area, but sofar very few publishers complain about it when you put their old no-longer in print games out for free. (Sites such as http://www.abandonia.com only exist for that reason)