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.