WEBSITES offering free versions of classic arcade games such as Space
Invaders have been ordered to remove them by an American trade organisation. The
move has angered enthusiasts, who say the games of the 1970s and 1980s would not
be available at all without the time and effort they have put into keeping them
alive.
Lawyers for the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) in Washington
DC, a copyright watchdog that represents games companies, have been cracking
down on the classic game sites. Until last week, such games were still available
from at least one major site, GamePower. But it, too, has now said that it will
withdraw its classic game collection.
Classic game enthusiasts are angry about what they see as a misguided
enforcement effort. 鈥淚t makes no sense to me,鈥� says the operator of Dave鈥檚
Classics, a site that housed one of the largest collections of old games. 鈥淚f
the copyright holders of these games had any intention of releasing them in the
future, it would be a lot easier for them to contact me directly about their
plans and ask for the games to be removed.鈥� He withdrew over a thousand games
after the IDSA complained to his Internet service provider.
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Most of the games are old slot-machine favourites such as Asteroids,
Galaxians and Frogger鈥攇ames that pioneered the market. They are primitive
compared to today鈥檚 computer games, with clunky graphics and poor sound.
Enthusiasts play them out of nostalgia, or a feeling that their excellent 鈥済ame
play鈥� makes up for the poor graphics.
The games come from enthusiasts who buy old arcade machines at junk sales and
download the games software from the machines鈥� memory chips. They then make the
games available on the Net, along with free emulator programs that modern
computers need to decipher the arcade machines鈥� code.
The vast majority of the games in question, such as Killer Comet and Monster
Bash, seemed destined for oblivion before enthusiasts retrieved them from the
scrapheap. 鈥淚t seems that the companies didn鈥檛 care about this until we made a
market for classic gaming,鈥� says Shane Monroe of Seattle, who runs the Insert
Coin games site.
Douglas Lowenstein, president of the IDSA, acknowledges that most of the
games featured on the classic websites are not commercially available. But he
says that companies have to defend their copyright as a matter of principle. And
in the future, he adds, they might want to re-release some games, perhaps as
CD-ROM collections.
鈥淚f you want to make money on these games, great,鈥� responds Monroe. 鈥淲e鈥檒l
even pay you. But you have to offer them to us.鈥� He says the companies should
allow sites like his to license old games, sell them for about a dollar apiece
and pay royalties to the copyright owners. Instead, he predicts the games will
remain available only through an underground network of serious collectors.
Other observers believe the games will now end up on websites outside IDSA鈥檚
jurisdiction.