I am having some issues with people finding a game for sale at cdaccess then instantly thinking the game is not abandonedware. I just wanted to let people know that cdaccess can sell abandoed games and make a better proftit by not haveing to pay out a royalty to software companys. If the game is not sold on Amazon or a software companys website then the game probably is not sold on a commercial market therfore making it abandonedware.

To my knowledge CDAccess have to pay the correct amounts to the publishers when selling new products (ie. not used) because it would be illegal for them not to. As to my knowledge they only deal in new products they are paying the publishers and as a result the game is still available commercially, therefore not abandoned.

I would like to see some facts on your allegations. As far as I know, it's all your own pondering based on your feelings instead of any hard evidence (this is what you say at this thread).

CDAccess is a company with a good reputation, and the games they sell are all new, original copies. They still sell old games, for which they should be given credit for. Also, for me it doesn't matter if the original developers of the games exist or not - the retailers are also important elements in distributing the titles and those offering the community well-out-of-print titles deserve their profits.

I am not dissing on the rep. of the company. I am only saying they sell some abandoned games that could probably be uploaded on the site. I think its great they sell old games. People see a game on cdaccess and think it might not be abandoned when they are the only ones that have the game. The company might have stoped the production and selling of the game, which is the final say if it is abandoned or not; rather than thinking the game is not abandoned people should check with the software manufacturer to find out the status of the game rather than looking for it on cdaccess

And by the way i have no allegations. I dont want people to think I have anything against this company. The same could imply to any store, online or otherwise.

Those two sentences don't really go together, do they? You think it is great that they sell old games, but would still rather see them available for free on an abandonware website? How come?

There are many definitions of abanonware. HOTU and Abandonia for example support the retailers by not offering titles that are still available from online stores, and I believe this is the right way to go.

Yup.

You said it, Timpsi :)

I agree with Timpsi, but would like to add that games at CDAccess seem to be overpriced IMHO.

Also is game widely available if there is a one single copy available at one online shop?

I guess common sense can be applied there - one copy isn't very wide availablity. Then again, where to draw the line? How about those companies that don't tell how many copies they've got?

:angry:
I have nothing personal against cdaccess or any of the other comapnies offering older titles. Credit to them (although the prices do seem extortionate!!! :blink: )

But like people have already commented, does one retailer selling the software mean that it is not abandonware?
For information, having worked at a UK games store i can tell you that we had to purchase the games from the publishers to sell in our stores. The publisher has had their percentage, regardless of whether we sold the games on, or not. When the prices of the games dropped it was usually the store that took the punishment.

If that same store was still running, and selling any game on this site, would it mean that it wasn't abandonware?

Or how about if i buy every copy from cdaccess, and offer them for sale as "new" on ebay?

Or perhaps a specialist games shop (expensive types of places that sell snes consoles for ?100 and that type of thing) is selling used copies for ?40? We'd be putting them out of business.

There seems to be a lot of grey areas in the abandonware world, and it's understandable when it comes down to who still owns the rights to a game etc... but something more definitive needs to be done when it just comes down to games that are still for sale.

Rant finished. And if you've read this far......................... thankyou. :cheers:

some good points have been raised here.

i think the only way to do it is each game seperately, no golden rules.