M.U.G.E.N

[MortifiedocAlot]

So it's still against the law due to copyright issues? What a bitch.

[Bobbias]

Yep. I honestly think there needs to be a clause in there specifically about stuff like this.

It's just like any other abandonware on the internet, the only reason those sites don't get shut down is because those companies either no longer exist, or don't give a shit about that stuff being spread on the internet, so nobody bothers to take any legal action against them. However,m those companies would be completely within their legal rights to get the site to take their stuff off (or even try to take the entire site down).

[Spectere]

Don't forget that a lot of companies like to revive their old properties when new ones come out.  Look at the Diablo family -- most people who buy the ever-popular Diablo II now get the original thrown in (with the battle chest edition), despite the fact that it's quite old and primitive.

Of course, one could argue that as being a point of not letting something die rather than reviving something that's basically inanimate, but you know what I mean.

[Bobbias]

True, but Diablo hardly counts as abandonware. I'm thinking more like Blood and Magic. It's damn near impossible to find that game anywhere. Plus, interplay is barely alive. (check wikipedia if you don't know whats been going on with them.)

[Spectere]

It's different when the company completely folds.  Nobody would really be able to go after you unless, say, another company owned the franchise.  And even then, unless they planned to do something with it they probably wouldn't give a toss.

I'm referring more to cases like Nintendo and the Wii Virtual Console, or even a lot of the Xbox Live! Arcade titles available (and probably PlayStation Network as well).  There are a lot of titles that are difficult or impossible to find (you're not likely to find a new copy of the original Super Mario Brothers).  Now, all of a sudden, companies are selling them and making money off of them.  Why not?  People in today's age would likely get the same enjoyment out of them as we would have when we were kids.

MUGEN would fall into the former category, of course.  The original Diablo would fall into the latter category.

[Bobbias]

Yeah, that's true, there are a number of games that are basically impossible to find, but are still owned by companies that aren't in danger of folding. That's the stuff that really bother me, because there's no chance of it leaving copyright for a LONG time, and yet, they've basically outlived their usefulness unless presented as part of a package, or sold in a new form, like the Wii Virtual Console.

I'm pro-emulation, and I can't stand to see companies who obviously aren't making any more copies of a game, and who aren't making any profit off sales from pawn shops and such shutting down emulation sites out of spite. I mean, the emulation sites aren't making money either, they're simply enabling people to play games that are otherwise unavailable to them. I mean, how much money would I have to spend to get a hold of say, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, FF3, Gundam Wing: Endless Duel, and Star Ocean? Probably a fair bit, considering that SNES games have gotten to the point of being collectors items, and are generally quite a bit more expensive than they should be. Not to mention the japanese only releases that have been translated, or are being translated (the MKR game, Slayers, Sekien Densetsu 3, and numerous other SNES games), which I'll likely never have a chance to own.

We need to have a system that would better facilitate these situations.