Ah! Another interesting discussion. Legalities aside, I think we have to ask whose interests are ultimately being served here. If GameTap is somehow able to offer value (to both the gamers and the creators of the software), then it's worth the money. It seems clear that they've managed to get a lot of games offered for a cheap price. True, you could circumvent all that by chasing down illegal ROMs and such, but that's a pain, and I bet that some (if not most) people are willing to pay for the convenience of having a fast and reliable method of getting to these games. As far as I know, no one has been sued for downloading MAME and a Brazillion games to play on his home PC, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. I suppose the only thing that's kept it going this long is a fairly quick response on the part of the ROM sites to C&Ds from the SPA.
How this benefits the creator of these games is a bit more difficult to see. Like David points out, I doubt that most of the original programmers (or even the original companies) still hold the rights to any of these games. They're probably mostly tied up in giant mega-corporations or conglomerates (i.e., suits) who passed them around like chips on a poker table over the years. In other words, buying a "legal" copy of Defender isn't likely to benefit Jarvis or anyone working at Atari at the time he made the game, except in the fact that Defender is still around and more people are playing it.
On the other hand, it's hard to argue that the "underground" is a better means of preserving the longevity of these games than "legal emulation." It's sad to see so many games that are only available via illegal means. They tend to be difficult to find, and the unscrupulous nature of "warez" sites and the like mean exposing yourself to viruses, spyware, trojans, and all manner of offensive pron ads in your quest. While it'd of course be better if we could change the laws so that it would no longer be illegal to acquire them, that's severely unlikely given our present mode of government. In short, supporting the sort of "cybergangster" paradise of the "warez" scene doesn't seem any better to me than supporting services like GameTap.
Worst case scenario--GameTap and services like it gain power, try their damndest to stamp out the illegal competition, and eventually start jacking up prices as they secure a firmer foothold in the market. I don't see how this situation would benefit anyone but the companies providing the service.
Best case--these services provide a respectable and much-needed preservation service, keeping the legacy of these games alive for future generations. Hopefully they won't get greedy and start trumping up the IP part too much, but will simply exist to provide a sensible alternative.
To put it simply, these games were never intended to be freeware or open source. They were commercial games whose authors knew the code would be proprietary and locked up, and most of them didn't give a damn as long as they got their paycheck. I think we'll ultimately have to keep our fingers crossed that folks like John Carmack manage to exert an influence on the industry to push it towards more openness and sharing.
Ah! Another interesting discussion. Legalities aside, I think we have to ask whose interests are ultimately being served here. If GameTap is somehow able to offer value (to both the gamers and the creators of the software), then it's worth the money. It seems clear that they've managed to get a lot of games offered for a cheap price. True, you could circumvent all that by chasing down illegal ROMs and such, but that's a pain, and I bet that some (if not most) people are willing to pay for the convenience of having a fast and reliable method of getting to these games. As far as I know, no one has been sued for downloading MAME and a Brazillion games to play on his home PC, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. I suppose the only thing that's kept it going this long is a fairly quick response on the part of the ROM sites to C&Ds from the SPA.
How this benefits the creator of these games is a bit more difficult to see. Like David points out, I doubt that most of the original programmers (or even the original companies) still hold the rights to any of these games. They're probably mostly tied up in giant mega-corporations or conglomerates (i.e., suits) who passed them around like chips on a poker table over the years. In other words, buying a "legal" copy of Defender isn't likely to benefit Jarvis or anyone working at Atari at the time he made the game, except in the fact that Defender is still around and more people are playing it.
On the other hand, it's hard to argue that the "underground" is a better means of preserving the longevity of these games than "legal emulation." It's sad to see so many games that are only available via illegal means. They tend to be difficult to find, and the unscrupulous nature of "warez" sites and the like mean exposing yourself to viruses, spyware, trojans, and all manner of offensive pron ads in your quest. While it'd of course be better if we could change the laws so that it would no longer be illegal to acquire them, that's severely unlikely given our present mode of government. In short, supporting the sort of "cybergangster" paradise of the "warez" scene doesn't seem any better to me than supporting services like GameTap.
Worst case scenario--GameTap and services like it gain power, try their damndest to stamp out the illegal competition, and eventually start jacking up prices as they secure a firmer foothold in the market. I don't see how this situation would benefit anyone but the companies providing the service.
Best case--these services provide a respectable and much-needed preservation service, keeping the legacy of these games alive for future generations. Hopefully they won't get greedy and start trumping up the IP part too much, but will simply exist to provide a sensible alternative.
To put it simply, these games were never intended to be freeware or open source. They were commercial games whose authors knew the code would be proprietary and locked up, and most of them didn't give a damn as long as they got their paycheck. I think we'll ultimately have to keep our fingers crossed that folks like John Carmack manage to exert an influence on the industry to push it towards more openness and sharing.
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com