Poll: Do you believe that games 10 years of age or older should be made free?

[Singularly Datarific]

I dunno, but this reminded me of an intellectual property rights idea:
If a certain image or design goes unused in a certain region for a set amount of years, it is free to use for other purposes.
Mostly, this just means Harmony Gold can't pull that legal crap whenever Mechwarrior tries to make anything, even though the designs from a CARTOON FROM 1985! They don't make any new property for the series! The last publication directly related came out 6 or 7 years ago!

 

[BoredDragon]

Go to steam, they are practically free. I <3 Valve

 

[Dr. wonderful]

No, but Dirty cheap, yes.

 

[Nazulu]

Definitely not, unless they've stopped making it completely then probably. A lot of old media is still very popular and yes, even old games. Classic music and movies sell all the time, the new generation will eventually discover it and they can still make a killing, why should it be different for games?

There is a lot of old games I want to buy but I'm having a bit of trouble even finding info on them unfortunately.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

No. Only abandonware should be free. For example Ultima 1 & 2. But NOT all games ten years or older.

This. If they own the IP, then you should pay up. If no one does? Happy hunting.

 

[DasDestroyer]

No, that'd make Half-Life and Diablo I and II and some other great games free.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

How about 10 year old games that people hate for free?

 

[the_green_dragon]

not sure i get what your saying. are you saying if games are free then they cant make a remake or re-release? what games are an example of a remake or re-release?

Like Monkey Island. They remade that and sold it, I bought them both but they are far far superior to the original.

 

[DarthFennec]

no not ten years. 20 years, then its free-ware.

people will still pay money for doom, quake, unreal, fallout, etc etc. not good money, but something.

Didn't spend the time researching the others but who pays money for Doom? Isn't that one GPL'd?

 

[Chewster]

Like most, I'd be alright with dirt cheap. This usually seems to be the case with computer games. Consoles, not always, especially for popular titles (in the physical) and especially those released on newer systems for download (in the virtual). I'd like to see if the Virtual Console games are doing well or not, because they sure as hell aren't dirt cheap at the moment. Five bucks for the original Super Mario? Get bent, Nintendo. My NES works just fine.

Still, playing older computer titles always seems fraught with compatibility issues, even with the stupid "compatibility" thing that Windows 7 has.

 

[The_Echo]

I think it would be better to say that games that:
- Are out of production
- Were not released in the region in question
- Were developed by a now shut-down company
- or are from a console developed before the mid-'80s
should be free.

I think that would be far more reasonable. I'm thinking the game in question should mark at least two of those points to be free, though.

 

[Who Dares Wins]

How about World of Warcraft. It came out in 2004 and should it be free in 2014? The games should be very cheap but made free only when the makers want it or go out of business.

 

[Arduras]

yes and no.

As many people have said, a game with a 10 year profit margin isn't viable as games like Diablo, Diablo 2, Baldur's Gate, etc are old games that are -still- on shelves and in production at the moment.

But games that haven't made a profit for the company for say, 10 years or are currently not in production anymore might be worth releasing for free or on something like GOG.com.. which is currently happening.

 

[Yureina]

Not really, though obviously they should be cheaper. I'd like to see some really old games for free, but others that still have the potential to sell despite their age (Fallout 1/2!) should still be priced.

 

[razelas]

It would be good marketing and PR for devs to have free downloads for games that don't operate on current-gen platforms. Older PC games would be tricky, as Who Dares Wins points out with WoW (although if the expansions are counted...). But overall, the developer isn't going lose much, if anything, from making games that are 10+ years free.

 

[likalaruku]

I believe that games 20 or 30 years old should be released into the public domain, where fans with the knowhow can port them to newer computers & consoles.

 

[Wintermoot]

yes unless the company releases it on a legal way (steam,box set etc.)

 

[Baralak]

I'd prefer to see them sell for ultra cheap. We need GOG for consoles. I mean, things like the VC are nice, but they're really system specific. It'd be difficult, though. Truth be told, the Wii's VC is great, but I'd like to see prices drop on everything by a good $2-$3. It's hard for me to justify $5 for Super Mario Bros. Honestly, aside from the prices, for consoles, Nintendo is doing this right. Microsoft and Sony are kings of new releases for the digital releases, though, wich great gems being churned out for Xbox Live Arcade and the like. Then again, 400 MSP is $5...

This would all just be very hard, but I would KILL to see more of the original XBOX's library put up for sale for the $5-$10 range, with a few specific titles, like Jade Empire for $15. Same with PSN and PS2 games.

For the PC, though, I think GOG is doing it best, with Steam in a close second. GOG offers more things with games, though, such as wallpapers, digital manuals, and soundtracks. Just wish most older PC games weren't RTS, or isometric RPGs. I can't get used to that control scheme for RPGs. It's why I dislike Baldur's Gate and PLanescape Torment

 

[xFullmetalx]

Maybe in some happy fun time land, where it rains gumdrops and unicorns ride rainbows to the moon but this is the real world.

 

[Veylon]

Only for abandonware. The only real reason not to pirate is that the people who make something deserve to profit from the pleasure they bring. And when they can no longer profit or no longer choose to? Pirate away.

Personally, I'd set the bar at fifteen or twenty years, and even then there are certain games that are still for sale. Master of Magic, for instance, or X-COM. Atari 2600 games are being sold in re-releases for newer systems.

So, essentially, I'm saying no.