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![]() Has Anyone Asked the Game Makers? A handful of veteran game designers were asked to share their opinions on abandonware, including Richard "Lord British" Garriott, Tim Schafer, Al Lowe, Will Wright, and Chris Taylor.
"Electronic Arts, for example, does care about early Ultimas, as they don't want to lose protection on current Ultimas," says Garriott. "Truly 'abandoned' properties are less worrisome. That being said, personally, I think that sites that support these old games are a good thing for both consumers and copyright owners." He explains: "If the options are (a) having a game be lost forever and (b) having it available on one of these sites, I'd want it to be available. That being said, I believe a game is 'abandoned' only long after it is out of print. And just because a book is out of print does not give me rights to print some for my friends." But Garriott understands why trading classic games has become a popular pastime: "Even though technology in games has clearly advanced radically, cleverness in game design has made both advancements and regressions. Many of the early games still have gameplay that is as compelling today as it was at the time they were created. Plus, it's fun to see where all this [the game industry] got its start." On whether or not he cares if gamers are downloading his early works for free, Garriott says--excluding the legal issues--that he likes the fact that people care enough about his games when they are no longer economically viable. "It is a form of immortalization," he says. "I am very flattered by the interest, and I think most other creators are too. Understandably, publishers continue to worry about their legal rights being invaded; thus, this will be a difficult issue for some time, I expect."
Schafer says that gamers seek out these classics for a few reasons but that it's primarily fun to go back and play the old games and see how much they've changed since the whole thing started. "And a lot of those games are just plain fun. I mean, if they weren't [fun], none of us would be here now, right? We'd all have real jobs," kids Schafer. "I think it's important, also, to go back and remember why you started liking games in the first place. There's a lot to learn from the old games because the emphasis was more on gameplay. Am I sounding like an old-timer now or what?" He adds: "Is it piracy? Yeah, sure. But so what?"
Schafer says he enjoys knowing people are downloading the old games. "They may look rinky-dink by today's standards, but that doesn't mean they didn't take a hell of a lot of work to make, so it's nice to think that somebody may still be enjoying them. [Old games are] like old, beat-up teddy bears with one eye missing and the stuffing coming out. I can't speak for the rest of the industry, but personally, I'd rather my old games were stolen and played for free than forgotten about."
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