Video Game History Foundation Says Piracy Remains the Only Viable Preservation Method (techspot.com)
- Reference: 0184293666
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/07/03/1652234/video-game-history-foundation-says-piracy-remains-the-only-viable-preservation-method
- Source link: https://www.techspot.com/news/112985-video-game-history-foundation-founder-piracy-remains-only.html
> Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi recently supported claims that [1]piracy is the only effective way to preserve video games . The comments lay the blame squarely on game companies' refusal to keep legacy content available or allow archivists to build legal repositories. Sony's [2]announcement that all PlayStation games will be digital-only from 2028 onward has sparked concern that titles will become harder to preserve and more easily vanish, since the company's servers will become the sole point of distribution. In an official statement, Cifaldi noted that the end of physical PlayStation games has surprisingly little impact on the Foundation's efforts because the majority of games from the last two decades are already digital-only.
>
> According to the Foundation, most games nowadays are not released for consoles, let alone on physical discs. Furthermore, many discs for major titles require downloading updates before they are playable, although the DoesItPlay database reveals that, even today, most are playable offline out of the box. Cifaldi claimed that the true reason piracy remains the best option for preservation is that the Entertainment Software Association, which lobbies for game publishers, has closed off other routes. For example, in 2018, the Association opposed efforts to grant copyright exemptions for museums, libraries, and archives to retain copies of abandoned online games for research.
>
> This is the same organization that recently helped defeat a proposed California bill to preserve premium-priced online-only games by falsely claiming that community servers are illegal. The Foundation accused the ESA of repeatedly blocking attempts by cultural heritage institutions to reform DRM legislation. Cifaldi also described the Library of Congress' outdated software preservation process, which currently only requires tiny snippets of source code. For example, Capcom once asked the Foundation to provide the LoC with "the first and last ten pages of code" for a Mega Man game. Unable to discern where digital records began and ended, the group simply chose random segments. Platform holders' habit of closing online storefronts and removing media from users' accounts is also unhelpful.
"What continues to baffle us is what the industry expects institutions like ours to do about it," the Video Game History Foundation [3]said . "If platform owners are deciding to eliminate physical media and older digital storefronts, then we'd also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research.
[1] https://www.techspot.com/news/112985-video-game-history-foundation-founder-piracy-remains-only.html
[2] https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/07/01/1734219/sony-playstation-will-stop-releasing-games-on-discs-in-2028
[3] https://bsky.app/profile/gamehistoryorg.bsky.social/post/3mpm6jzps6k2i
Piracy only solution to outrageous copyright terms (Score:3, Interesting)
While copyright terms are an outrageous 95 years, Piracy is a moral choice.
NOLF (Score:2)
Without piracy, a person's right to go with an older game for half price will be gone. I'm happy now with half price, but if the only choice is a new game for $120 (because who are we kidding, new games will go up too) or nothing or piracy, then a lot of people are going to go for piracy. One of the best first person shooters I have ever played, no one lives forever, is not available on the market today because of decisions like this if I wanted to play it again for nostalgia I would play it again, so I
Damnatio memoriae (Score:3)
There's a certain elegance that the modern AAA games industry would willingly do this to themselves in the name of absolute profits, and will be wiped from the memory of this era.
History is written by the victors, and publishers have already lost and are too dumb to realize it.
Re: (Score:2)
Greed makes blind and dumb. Nothing new. In addition, most people are not sophisticated enough to understand that history is worth preserving.
Duh (Score:2)
That said, in sane legal systems, this is allowed.
nothing baffling at all (Score:2)
> What continues to baffle us is what the industry expects institutions like ours to do about it,
They don't expect you to do anything about it. While I respect what you guys are trying to do, the industry has absolutely no obligation to assist you or make this easy for you.
why? (Score:1)
"...then we'd also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research."
Why? What's the value of this "research"? And how does this research justify violating the property rights of creators?
Re:why? (Score:4)
All other art forms have archival formats literally geared towards research. How incredibly shorts sighted are you?
Re: (Score:2)
[1]Quake III's contribution to Humanity [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_inverse_square_root
Re: (Score:2)
> "...then we'd also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research."
> Why? What's the value of this "research"? And how does this research justify violating the property rights of creators?
I’m assuming that “research” centers around measuring shades of Cheeto finger while debating who had to wait Forever for a certain Duke to return.
Or perhaps it’s a study how Billy Mitchell became known as the Prick of Pac-Man. Heard that dudes a real Kong of a Donkey..
Re: (Score:2)
The only concept of "property" which is worthwhile is your right to keep hold of the things you use as part of your daily life, which serve as an extension of yourself. "Property" to control or limit what others can do, as demanded by kings, dictators and capitalists as part of their rule, is a concept we should collectively reject.