Quote:
Originally Posted by GarbageGamer
i hate to be the buzz killington here but most to all SIM related games are now owned by EA, and they still hold the Copyright to them  ....sucks because it seems the only place to get SimAnt is off eBay or amazon for like 18$ new
Abandonware isn't an actual legal term. In fact, SimAnt is still owned by EA and it is not legal to download it. I've seen sites get taken down for hosting SimAnt and other EA games... not that it stops much of anyone from doing it, but it's worth noting that it is not a legally free downloadable game yet.
Quote from the Lazy Game Reviewer (aka largest Maxis fan ive ever seen) |
First, there is no "universal rule" on whats abandonware and whats not. Abandonia has its own quite strict rules and SimAnt and some other Sim-games check through it. Download was removed around 06 after the site staff was contacted by ESA (Not EA, who is a member though. And yes, we do know who owns copyrights and these kind of things) on behalf of their members, but it was applied again 3 years later, and this time ESA protection was part of the rules as well as couple of others that are related to online sites selling copies. Bottom line: Mr Lazy Game Reviewer doesn't decide whats Abandonware, at least not here.
Second, its actually about 2-3€ on Amazon. Bit more on Ebay, but that was a complete boxed copy. I got mine for 5€ and that was at a local supermarket.
Third, we know what were doing here, on both rules and abandonware in general. No reason to point out obvious things like its illegal, or what others say or think about it. Yes its illegal (more like it falls in "no one cares" gray area), but there is honor among thieves and we have better policy on these things than any given warez site.