Find favorite old games via 'abandonware'

Find favorite old games via 'abandonware'

Vishnu K. Mahmud, Contributor, The Jakarta Post

In this era of super quality graphics, high frame rates and
fast processors for online first-person shooters, a few of us are
bound to forget the joys of playing simple games, such as
Infocom's text based Zork adventure series or Sierra Online's
King's Quest.

Games that were popular in the mid 80's (back when Bill Gates
himself said that 640 kilobytes was enough memory for everybody!)
now seem ancient in computer years, since most of them can fit on
a single floppy disk. Compare that to today's behemoths that
sometimes require multiple CD's!

But unlike Shakespeare's plays, you cannot purchase "old"
software. Unlike movie classics such as Casablanca, which will
always be available for sale using the latest medium (VHS,
LaserDisc or DVD), computer software has a shelf life of mere
months until the latest version or upgraded hardware comes out.

Some software publishers believe that releasing old games will
end up costing them money, because they have to consider
technical support and marketing costs. Even worse, some
publishers have gone bankrupt, thus eliminating the only possible
avenue for people wishing to buy their games.

Filling the void is 'abandonware.' Lycos' Tech Glossary
(http://webopedia.lycos.com) defines abandonware as "software
that is no longer being sold or supported by its publisher".
There are countless websites dedicated to abandonware; some
simply list their favorite games while others provide links or
the actual software for downloading.

You can find classic games that you played with years ago. I
found that you can download The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
the text adventure game based on the late Douglas Adams' popular
book. It was that game that got me hooked on computers and gave
me the incredible typing skills I now possess. (Look in cabinet,
go north, Don't Panic!).

But is it legal? Well -- no.

Most abandonware is considered illegal unless the publisher
re-releases their software as freeware.

Which has happened. The aforementioned Zork series, the grand
daddy of text adventure series, are freely available to download
at the Infocom Homepage (http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/), a fan
created website. Infocom has released the first three Zork
series to the public domain and as such, does not provide support
or technical assistance, as most game publishers do for their
latest releases.

Why should the software publisher give them away?

There are a few hard-core gamers who miss the "glory days",
when all you needed was 640k and an EGA video card. These were
probably the games they played growing up instead of the current
gore-fest Quake games that require the latest processor, ultra-
powerful graphic accelerator and caffeine induced twitching
skills.

Also, these "old" games can be introduced to the next
generation of gamers, to show them how far computer games have
come. Software publishers can create brand loyalty by providing
the old games for free, ensuring that the gamers will come back
to them to purchase the latest games.

But most importantly, the Internet has provided an immense
library for old games, documents and software. So even if the
game company has gone out of business, the games they made are
not gone forever. Some developers have actually thanked
abandonware sites (such as the Underdogs
http://www.theunderdogs.org) for archiving their software.

However, it is imperative to remember that the copyright to
the games still remains with the developer/publisher. Even if
those games are surrendered to the public domain, it does not
give anyone the right to steal the idea, source code or pass the
game off as their own.

Some companies choose to keep their software out of
abandonware's clutches and it is their right to do so. They may
end up locking the game away in their personal archives never to
be played by gamers again, which would be a loss for all
concerned.

Most abandonware sites do not want to harm or take away money
from the author or company who has legal ownership of the games.
They will remove any questionable game when requested. The sites
are still of questionable legality but otherwise the games would
never see the light of day again.

Collectors can still obtain old games via the publisher's
websites (sometimes linked from abandonware portals) or auction
sites such as E-Bay where even software for the old Amiga is
still available. You can also search for them via software swap
sites.

But one thing that all of us should consider is the
copyright/trademark/patent issue. Today's laws make no allowances
for the preservation of works that will be lost due to the
original authors' abandonment of them, either due to bankruptcy
or dropping support for the product.

A considerable chunk of history is legally bound to be lost
because the only people who care to preserve it are threatened
with cease-and-desist letters from attorneys. Books, music and
films from the past may be lost forever if no one cares to
maintain them.

If such laws had been rigidly enforced in the Middle Ages, all
writers today would have to pay a fee to Shakespeare and his
descendants, who himself "borrowed" his ideas from various
historical tales. Shakespeare's dramas, tragedies and comedies
have been used as a "template" for practically all of today's
movies and plays. And thanks to Shakespeare, society today can
learn from humanity's trials and tribulations in the past.