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Anti_Face_Weapon@lemmy.world 6 months agoThe game is 30 years old. It should be in the public domain at this point. No one who worked on the original team is going to profit from this at all. It’s not immoral to download a ROM for this game and play it for free. And with save states etc.
It’s just your best option honestly. There is no moral or practical reason to pay money for this product.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Whether it’s moral is a completely separate discussion. I merely said it’s better than a lot of other games, so it’s worth the amount they’re asking, as in, if it was released today, I’d be happy to pay that price. Whether it’s moral to ask that amount is a separate thing entirely.
I personally believe copyright should return to the original length of 14 years plus an optional extension of another 14 years (Copyright Act of 1790). I’m guessing a lot of video game companies wouldn’t bother renewing after 14 years because it likely wouldn’t impact sales too much.
However, the current law of the land is 70 years after the death of its creator. So it’s illegal to pirate it, and depending on how you personally define morality, that alone could make it immoral. I certainly wouldn’t report anyone for it, but if the product is still worth its asking price, why wouldn’t I purchase it?
My personal rule is that I’ll only pirate if I can’t legally purchase it from the rights holder on a currently supported platform (I.e. a platform that’s currently being sold). Since it exists on PC, I prefer to buy it. However, many games don’t, so I’m happy to pirate them because I really don’t see the point in tracking down second hand copies, which has absolutely no way of benefitting the rights holder.
Obviously you can make your own decisions, I’m just providing the facts and my opinion. The fact is that it’s protected by copyright and it’s available for purchase from the rights holder on PC and mobile. My opinion is that it’s worth the asking price given the quality vs games today.
Anti_Face_Weapon@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Fair enough. I disagree about it being worth spending money on like that, but your opinion is very well thought out, and I respect your position. Thank you for sharing!