Abandonware and old lace
 

{start rant}

Abandonware. Often thought of, rarely discussed in AG. A no longer profitable game is discontinued by a manufacturer, instantly making a limited edition of each already produced game. Whenever i think of abandonware i think of family guy. Fox stopped showing family guy, and adult swim and DVD sales drove the creators to make new episodes. I cant help but feel that if abandonware were more socially acceptable (in these forums especially) then the geniuses who made the games we love so dearly (and the evil companies who stopped making them!) might see there is in fact interest in future editions or re-releases or sequels of the games they thought people stopped caring about. I think people should consider abandonware as an ultra low budget ad campaign for defunct software companies. Personally speaking, if i poured my heart and soul into a game in the 90s and gradually saw the checks decline, and ultimately disapear, i would take solace in the fact that gamers are still enjoying my brainchild, despite the fact that they may not have paid for it. Is it better to never play a game you've been dying to play but could never find in stores by downloading it, or to fruitlessly search forever? I'm not advocating piracy, there's a big difference between abandonware and this, i just think that hard core gamers think game writers of old games care more about the distribution of their products than they really do. I'd be thrilled if a game i made 14 years ago is still creating joy for the people i created it for in the first place.

{end rant}

Actually, we've been discussing it for weeks here. ;)

[QUOTE=Kyrandian]{start rant}

Abandonware.

I'm with you. I miss all the old Sierra favs, now there was a company who could make a game and leave you wanting more. I don't know if you notice or not but to me the games being made today seem short. It's like you just install it and boom it's over. I've seen some freeware games that could blow away some of the so-called big game companies. I didn't buy Still Life but borrowed it from my brother-in-law, had I bought it myself I'd be asking for my money back. I hated that ending. Then they take down the site that they tell you from the game to go online to continue. What's up with that. I miss old KQ, SQ LSL etc. And another old fav was the offshoot companies like Dynamix and Coktel. Now I'm depressed. I'm going for a good cry. :\

StarLite

If by "rarely", you meant "weekly", then I couldn't agree more.

How about weakly?

1) Those "geniuses" have no say in whether or not their games can be re-released. For example, Al Lowe has tried to ask Sierra if they'd let him make the Larry games available through his own website, but Sierra has said no.
2) If this site accepted abandonware, for example by allowing links to abandonware websites, it would be sued.

Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.

I had just used the forum search page and done a search for "abandonware". I recommend you try that.