Nosebleed Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/videogame-publishers-no-preserving-abandoned-games-even-museums-and-archives If you're still playing an old game that you bought and that the publisher doesn't support anymore, you are doing something illegal and ruining the gaming industry, according to ESA. A bunch of people at eff wanted to create an exception in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to allow people to legally circumvent server shut downs or DRM for older games that are no longer supported by the company, making the games playable after publishers no longer support them. This is not meant to be a form of piracy, it's simply a way to preserve games that publishers no longer care about which are made unplayable once servers are taken down or because that specific type of DRM is no longer supported. Needless to say ESA along with other associates vehemently opposed this practice and say it is hacking, related to piracy, and ruining the gaming industry. Because, you know, when you no longer sell a game, you're clearly being hurt by that game still being played by fans who bought the original. It's always nice to see avid fans of games being called out for destroying the gaming industry when trying to make older games playable for everyone. What are your thoughts on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaguya Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 What is this, I cannot even. I was sure this was a parody when I first saw it. Are you're sure this isn't just one big troll? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosebleed Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 What is this, I cannot even. I was sure this was a parody when I first saw it. Are you're sure this isn't just one big troll? Doesn't look like it. IGN reported on it too http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04/09/esa-says-preserving-old-games-is-illegal-because-its-hacking It seems that gaming companies reached the next level of douchery where they won't even let you legally play their games after they no longer support them. But you can always buy the remastered edition HD whatever instead (at least that's what I imagine their goal is by doing something stupid like this, why make new games or support older games when you can just remaster everything and resell it. Profit yo.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuki Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Seriously, this is the most retarded thing I ever heard. Tenkuru, melo4496, Kenshin_sama and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFantasm Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 The stupidity in that article hurts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zalor Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 The stupidity in that article hurts. Most copyright laws are based on stupidity. After all, that was the belief this site was originally founded under. Lexyvil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shikomizue Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Lexyvil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Most copyright laws are based on stupidity. That was the belief this site was originally founded under. Most copyright laws are outdated because they weren't done to take into account that one thing that's been kinda important for the last two decades, the internet. Copyright was much more sane when it was made, this kind of situation arises because things are going much faster and are now very different, which creates huge incompatibility gaps. Zakamutt and Zalor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosebleed Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 This is just pure douchery though. There is absolutely no reason for a company to do this, they have nothing to gain from it aside from upset fans, which might actually be even worse for them. If a game is no longer commercially available anywhere, the company is losing 0 profit regardless of what you do with the game. As they showed in the IGN article, a bunch of MS DOS games were hosted online for people to play, because you can't legally obtain MS DOS anywhere, because it is no longer supported by Microsoft, so Microsoft has nothing to do with the games anymore. But ESA just won't allow people to play MS DOS games anymore. Why? Because f*ck you that's why. There is just no logical reason for this, it's just companies being idiotic. And this is even worse with games that require servers to be played on or an active form of DRM which are rendered completely unplayable after publishers no longer support them. Imagine you paid for a game and then some years later they take the servers down, but you still like the game and want to play it. Well, tough luck mate. This is basically a giant middle finger for people who never managed to play older games or just fans of older games who want to honor the games they love and that publishers no longer support. It pains me to see shit like this actually becoming a thing, when companies completely reject their older fans just because they feel like it one day. Lexyvil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulless Watcher Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Are companies really that desperate to hide the fact that current gen games are garbage compared to older games? arakura and Lexyvil 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexyvil Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 If a law like that becomes more common and certified, I shall download every retro game in advance into one large flash-drive so I could play them without worry. In all seriousness though, it doesn't sound right if a company decides to market a game that they never owned or that has already became a freeware. To stay on topic though, I don't think it's "harming the game industry" at all, as a lot of those games are now uncommercialized and the only reason game companies want to make them illegal are so they could take responsibility of already developed games for reasons like monetary gain. Is the article even official? Who speaks for the gaming industry on it anyway? (Unless a petition of some sort is involved, for sure). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenophilious Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 "They say that modifying games to connect to a new server (or to avoid contacting a server at all) after publisher support ends—letting people continue to play the games they paid for—will destroy the video game industry." "...and all hacking is 'associated with piracy'." I don't think they have any idea what they're talking about. They seem to think that's it's possible to actually keep people from doing it, too, which I find pretty hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flutterz Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 10/10 would get butthurt again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regenerate Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 I bet you half of these suckers have never played a game in their life. Trying to tell us what we can or can't do... Are they our mothers? Did we all come out of their tsundere pussycats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokken Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 I mean there wasn't a guy that said to them " Wait, I think that we're doing shit right here " ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Blue Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Technically and legally they are right(I'm not saying I agree or that this is not bs or that it shouldn't be changed), on the other hand...everyone aboard the ship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipsed Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 hi i bought kitchen knife from this company but they no longer support can i still use knife or will i jail time Does this apply to games where the company shuts down the server or do they mean all games so like this claim applies to my Mario 64 on my Nintendo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flutterz Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 hi i bought kitchen knife from this company but they no longer support can i still use knife or will i jail time Does this apply to games where the company shuts down the server or do they mean all games so like this claim applies to my Mario 64 on my Nintendo I think this only applies to modifying games to make them work, so playing Mario on your N64 is fine but finding a Windows 2000 game and making it work on Windows 7 (assuming it doesn't work on its own) isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Blue Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 It means altering the game in any form, the same way you are not allowed to do it with any software you own now, even if it is drm-free like gog games for example, the only exception to this is when the sofware is GNU, this is why Richard Stallman invented it because he knew the copyright was bs and he did it in 1990, a fucking pro! It's not about using it, it's about altering it or messing with the code of the software itself to bypass the protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havoc Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 .............. somethimes i really think we need to put everyone between 40 and 70 years of age on a boot and sink it. What a load of bullcrap. This is basically stealing. It basicaaly comes down to this then. You buy a product for money, few years later support ends for the product and then you have to give the product back but dont get your money back. Is that not also illigal? If you shut down support for a game that is one thing, but this is like saying well we shut down support so you need to give your game back to us as we dont want you playing it. Okay fine i will give my game back to you seeing as you dont want me playing it anymore but give me my money back first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pizza55 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Are companies really that desperate to hide the fact that current gen games are garbage compared to older games? Totally. Pong is way funner than Skyrim will ever be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Blue Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Well it's bs but when you buy a game you end up agreeing with the TOS and EULA want it or not, well if you don't agree you can't install the software in your pc in the first place and you can ask for a refund even if you buy something on the internet is your right to have a refund (steam shits on this and when you sign up they take you away this right from you or they make you resign to it)...the thing is nobody actually read it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklord Rooke Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Dearest ESA Fuck off Kindest regards, Rooke. Shikomizue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulless Watcher Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Totally. Pong is way funner than Skyrim will ever be. Hahaha very funny, you soo clever me soo dumb. You happy? Although.... now that a think about it, skyrim is no longer a current gen game. Kurisu-Chan and Silvz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklord Rooke Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 Skyrim's better than that shit called "Oblivion." But neither are as good as Morrowind. Kenshin_sama and SanadaShadow 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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