4 ms·

It's especially bad for video games, but I don't see people discuss that so much. Think about this, probably 99% of games that are over 10 years old cannot be p

by vlunkr 5y ago

It's especially bad for video games, but I don't see people discuss that so much. Think about this, probably 99% of games that are over 10 years old cannot be played legally on any modern hardware (console games at least, PC games are probably a bit better, but still might require some tinkering), that's a pretty serious loss of cultural history. I think copyright needs to be shortened if publishers don't make games available in simple and reasonably priced ways. Just sell me a ROM, I'll gladly pay for it.

GekkePrutser 5y ago
Yeah for software it's ridiculous. Copyright should just expire for that at 10 years. Not IP though so they will still own the characters and stories to make remakes and sequels. But the games themselves in the original version should become public domain. All the money that can be made on the sale of the original versions will have been made. It's especially becoming a problem now that games need online activation or in some cases are online only (eg Google stadia). Right now we can just ignore copyright and pirate the games if we're getting nostalgic but I'm the future this won't be a technical possibility anymore once streaming exclusives appear.
- d110af5ccf 5y ago
  Do you mean just a specific version of the binary? Because many games have been re-released and a few MMOs have been going for far longer than 10 years at this point. > this won't be a technical possibility anymore once streaming exclusives appear Just don't play them. I'm completely serious, why would I want to pay to support that model?
d110af5ccf 5y ago
> PC games are probably a bit better Understatement. 20 year old PC game? Those commonly run with a compatibility layer like Wine. Old titles for DOS, Amiga, whatever? Full blown emulation because the performance requirements are absolutely trivial relative to modern hardware. Lots of older consoles have impressive emulation efforts but it's definitely hit and miss. Such projects regularly pop up on HN. Copyright seems broken though, I agree.

by vlunkr 5y ago

GekkePrutser 5y ago

Yeah for software it's ridiculous. Copyright should just expire for that at 10 years. Not IP though so they will still own the characters and stories to make remakes and sequels. But the games themselves in the original version should become public domain. All the money that can be made on the sale of the original versions will have been made. It's especially becoming a problem now that games need online activation or in some cases are online only (eg Google stadia). Right now we can just ignore copyright and pirate the games if we're getting nostalgic but I'm the future this won't be a technical possibility anymore once streaming exclusives appear.

d110af5ccf 5y ago
Do you mean just a specific version of the binary? Because many games have been re-released and a few MMOs have been going for far longer than 10 years at this point. > this won't be a technical possibility anymore once streaming exclusives appear Just don't play them. I'm completely serious, why would I want to pay to support that model?

d110af5ccf 5y ago

> PC games are probably a bit better Understatement. 20 year old PC game? Those commonly run with a compatibility layer like Wine. Old titles for DOS, Amiga, whatever? Full blown emulation because the performance requirements are absolutely trivial relative to modern hardware. Lots of older consoles have impressive emulation efforts but it's definitely hit and miss. Such projects regularly pop up on HN. Copyright seems broken though, I agree.