What do you think of abandonware?

[Dan Theman]

I'm not going to advocate for or against it, nor will I provide any links where people can get it.

I'm just curious as to what everybody's opinions are.

[Matt799]

What is it?

[streetballer67]

I think it is probably morally wrong but it doesn't really concern me because I have never seen an abandonware game that interests me.

[Dan Theman]

What is it?It's a game which was formally for sale but is no longer being formally published, sold, or supported, and is then made available by a third party without consent of the company/individual (in case the company dissolved) that holds the rights to the game.

[Danny]

It is also illegal. Even if someone abandons a piece of software, they still own the copyright and the rights to the game.

[Dan Theman]

Danny's right - a very important aspect.

A coworker of mine who is usually a very by-the-books type was bragging about his collection of such games, and it started me wondering how the internet community at large viewed such things.

[Pacersfan46]

Never even heard of it.

[Ja7482]

I support the use of abandonware. Even though it is illegal, I don't think it is morally wrong cause it has no effect on developers or producers. The only thing abandonware causes is new gamers or "the playstation age" as I like to call it to have a broader view of games and gameplay. It is also important to make the distinction between "old game" and "abandonware". I would consider pac-man to be a old game although I would not consider it "abandonware" since namco still releases their museum series which contains the game pac man. Although in all honesty there are thousands upon thousands of abandoned games that will probably never see the light of day again and out of those thousands their are probably at least a dozen or so must-play titles out there depending on your gaming interests.