One of the biggest lies the industry tells is the amount of money they lose. The fact is, they would never sell anywhere near the amount pirated on a casual basis. It’s almost like demoing games. Most games I demo I will never ever buy, and on that subject I do believe that demos probably reduce piracy in the same way. Though I suppose it could also increase it, in another way, such as. OMG this game will never be worth $50 or more, but this company does deserve to suffer.

Anyway when I was a young’un I received games from a friend that I would have never been able to afford to purchase. As I got older, got a job, I purchased from many of the companies that made these games if they were still around. I still miss many of those old games and wonder why the companies refuse to reissue them for a decent price. Either way being able to get near free games encouraged me to become a gamer and interested me in computing my whole life(I’m nearing 40). And the few games I received as a kid were nothing in comparison to the tens of thousands of dollars I’ve spent as an adult on gaming.

The great thing about life is you can view things so many ways… here’s one.
Anyway many of their so called lost dollars are in countries that can’t afford their product. That means they really didn’t lose much money in these countries at all but get free advertising for the future when maybe they can. In reality many of these companies have realized this to a greater degree and have pricing some what inline, but still many companies would rather choke off any of their product then having to resort to selling it less expensively.

Anyway… these companies will make excuse after excuse why their games won’t sell, when most of it comes down to, well maybe if this weren’t the 500ith FPS or GTA clone maybe they could draw some real interest in their product.

Maven

You argument fails to make a direct connection between the emulation community and failure of these companies. You are talking about emulators that reproduce products that are no longer on the market or are woefully obsolete.

This statement is misleading “Numerous billions of money of computer companies went down the drains in different countries such as Canada, Australia, and the United States. More and more had lost their jobs because of gaming piracy mostly in the Internet environment” because it implies the emulator community is responsible.

The level where I think a real economic impact is felt is when some takes an existing product that is currently for sale, such as PC or PS2 games, copies them and sells them. There is no emulator needed for this you just need to copy cd’s. This is the same issue that has always been around for cassette tapes and music cd’s.

The primary reason many of these emulators exist, in my opinion, is not to make money. They are developed by geeks who have a genuine love for the old video games. These games are classic and engrained in everyones minds. Who doesn’t remember trying to find quarters to pump into these fancy slot machines, or watching some prodigy rack up a crazy high score. For me the coin-op video games are wonderfully nostalgic works. The designers should get full credit for there creations. More than full credit, they have an army of devoted supporters.

The ability to play through to the end of the Simpsons video game or have endless replay in PacMan without pumping endless quarters into a machine is a huge temptation. This was after all what coin-op games are designed to do, to hook you for the next quarter. For the most part the intent was not to let you win but provide that illusive goal or next high score. Now with all this on your home computer you don’t have to pay 10 dollars to get to the end of Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins. Even though modern video games are in a class of their own you still might be wondering, what does the little animation bewteen levels look like for the next level of MsPacMan.

The question is how much would you pay for this ?

Some of the old video game systems suppliers like ColecoVision have allowed emulation of their roms to continue. I think they realize that in there case lawsuits and punitive actions would cost more then any potential profit they could make from selling there old games on the internet. Other game manufacturers like Nintendo, Namco may be in an entirely different situation.

ColecoVision, for example, is an obsolete dinosoaur. Many of the other game emulators are in the same boat. It is dead because stacked side by side with newer gaming systems it is inferior, has blocky graphics, lacks 3d capabilties. Any kid would rather have a PS2, PS3 or XBOX. If they were to sell there own packaged emulator it would not make money.

The modern coin-op games are dying because home video game systems offer the same quality and greater variety and replay without quarters. If a new game does not have some gimmick that you cannot allready get at home then it is doomed from the start. The price to play modern coin-op video games is now a $1 or $1.50 which is way to pricey for me. These games kill themselves, the novelty of going to an arcade has worn off.

It should be emphasized that emulators are created as homages to coin-ops, home systems that no longer exist or are hard to find. This type of exposure brand worhip can hardly be harmful to a company. It is a testament to the impact video games have had on the fabric of this society.

You should not blame emulators for the downfall of obsolete systems that could not compete in the modern marketplace. They just do not have that big of an economic impact.

It is fully within the rights of the creators of the game to demand someone pay for the use of their product. That was the original intent anyways. I fully support going after those who are trying to make a profit off of these games. What the bottom line comes down to is it is up to the game designer or whoever owns the copyright. If they feel they can make a buck off of the retro-game movement they are going to take action. They have to weight punitive costs against potential profits.

I also think Game creators have the right to also pursue punitive damages to keep games buried. The same way many great song recordings remain unreleased. It may be the intention of the copyright owner to bury there game, book, movie or song in some deep vault that will never see the light of day, erasing any lasting legacy. Maybe they are waiting for a resurgence, so they can add the song or game to a greatest hits cd. It is ultimately their choice. PacMan and Mickey Mouse are the same in this sense and as long as the parent company is alive and kicking they can do with the image as they want.

I do believe though that by the time I die Mickey Mouse will be a think of the past. The image so hacked up, misused and branded noone will recall who the mouse was or anything of his cartoons. They will just associate him with the bad taste of legalese and large corporate vultures.