TechReaction

Publishers hate the word abandonware. To them, it means intellectual property that people have decided to steal. But here is the problem, there are sometimes no good ways to purchase the games and give the appropriate money to the publishers and developers.

The problem was much worse a few years ago. GameTap was a phenomenal idea. It was so clear that if people were willing to pay $40+ for used copies of an old title, they would certainly pay a subscription fee for access to the same titles. GameTap provides an array of mostly catalog titles available for around $60 per year. Even if there are just a couple of old titles that you want to play, the subscription is worth it. Valve’s Steam digital distribution system addresses some of the same market space, but is much more heavily focused on new content. The catalog titles on Steam can often be purchased elsewhere for less.

Digital distribution of catalog titles is not without its costs, however. The main cost is in tech support and making sure that the game runs well on current systems. The original coding team wasn’t planning for Dual or Quad-Core CPUs and certainly wasn’t planning for Windows Vista. Making sure that the game still runs costs money. A company can’t say, “Hey, download our game for $10 but we aren’t sure whether it will work on your machine or not.” This leaves some titles out in the cold. One of which is System Shock 2.

Ever since playing Bioshock, I’ve been trying to tap into Ken Levine’s mind. I read the articles and try to tap into his sources and previous material. System Shock 2 is cited as the key precursor to Bioshock. The problem is that the title is definitively out of print. It isn’t available on GameTap, Steam, or any other legal download service I could find. Current listings for the game on Amazon.com’s Markeplace show it at almost $80. From the auction’s that I’ve seen on eBay, the game goes for north of $50. I want to play the game and pay both Ken and EA, who owns the IP rights to the title, their due. The problem is that I won’t buy the game for the going rate on a used copy. Even if I did buy a used copy, the IP holders wouldn’t get any money from my purchase.

The decision that the consumer is left with for a game like System Shock 2 is download a copy on Bittorrent and play the game for free or pay an outrageous amount to someone for a used copy of the game. The first option is illegal but inexpensive. The second option is overly expensive and legal, but provides no value to the IP holder. Most IP holders lament the profits that companies like Gamestop are making off the “first sale” doctrine. The game player is left in a conundrum of breaking the law to play a game or not playing the game at all. It is too bad that no one has come up with a way to give game players new choices. I have to think that if people are willing to pay more than $50 per copy for System Shock 2, it is probably worth the money to invest in making the title available from a service like Steam. With limited resources at the game companies, I understand that making new games is likely a far more lucrative option. It is too bad that some the classics have to die such a horrible death.