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Unlicensed remakes on the wiki


Garrett
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The wiki has a few pages for ports/remakes that include the original data files without permission (e.g. PowerSlave EX). I am of the opinion that these cases should not be covered due to not using the assets legally.

 

Note that this is distinct from ports that rely on the original data files (e.g. ports of Doom and Duke Nukem 3D) and/or are using the assets with explicit permission.

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I personally disagree. I don't think we should judge as long as it is a viable alternative when it comes to something that is no longer available legally.
Games should have a life beyond whatever the publishers deem is worth their time. Or in the case where rights are in legal limbo,

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I personally disagree. I don't think we should judge as long as it is a viable alternative when it comes to something that is no longer available legally.

Games should have a life beyond whatever the publishers deem is worth their time. Or in the case where rights are in legal limbo,

In other words, abandonware.

 

EDIT: Got rid of unnecessary and off-topic diatribe.

Edited by Expack3
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The wiki has a few pages for ports/remakes that include the original data files without permission (e.g. PowerSlave EX). I am of the opinion that these cases should not be covered due to not using the assets legally.

 

Note that this is distinct from ports that rely on the original data files (e.g. ports of Doom and Duke Nukem 3D) and/or are using the assets with explicit permission.

I agree. This is not a historical website (despite the fact we cover MS-DOS and Mac OS games) or Wikipedia, so why should we be listing games which are illegal by their nature? I feel I should also add that if a game has been forced to be legally taken down by a cease-and-desist order (or practical equivalent such as a DCMA request), we shouldn't cover those games, either. In those cases, the rights owners have decided to exercise their exclusive rights to the work, since, technically and generally speaking, while fanworks are illegal, it's up to the rights holders as to whether they'll tolerate such works and what kind they'll tolerate.

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I personally disagree. I don't think we should judge as long as it is a viable alternative when it comes to something that is no longer available legally.

Games should have a life beyond whatever the publishers deem is worth their time. Or in the case where rights are in legal limbo,

Pretty much. You can't even buy the PS1 version legally anymore. Buying it from ebay from some random guy is even worse than pirating it.

Also yeah there is plenty of abandonware on PCGW ie. anything with Retail row only.

 

In this case it was probably some publisher stealing IPs again to get easy bucks from Kaiser's work since I doubt they'd actually do it themselves with no source.

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I'm unsure how to feel about this. The copyright of abandonware titles isn't technically owned by anyone, as the company who made the game has been dissolved, shut down, etc. So we can't be sued by anyone, technically.

 

That said, it's still not legal to cover, and is something we should be wary of condoning for caution's sake.

 

Also, I am not a lawyer.

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It's funny cause Doom64 EX falls into that too. I mean c'mon let's be real. How many people own N64 and D64 cartridge and know how to dump it? Probably not many.

I realize this is to cover PCGW's ass in case of law stuff, but it's still kinda obvious :P

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I realize this is to cover PCGW's ass in case of law stuff, but it's still kinda obvious :P

It's obvious to us, but to the rest of the Internet, it isn't. :(

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