Video Game History Foundation Says Piracy Remains the Only Viable Preservation Method (techspot.com) 22
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechSpot: Video Game History Foundation founder Frank Cifaldi recently supported claims that piracy is the only effective way to preserve video games. The comments lay the blame squarely on game companies' refusal to keep legacy content available or allow archivists to build legal repositories. Sony's announcement that all PlayStation games will be digital-only from 2028 onward has sparked concern that titles will become harder to preserve and more easily vanish, since the company's servers will become the sole point of distribution. In an official statement, Cifaldi noted that the end of physical PlayStation games has surprisingly little impact on the Foundation's efforts because the majority of games from the last two decades are already digital-only.
According to the Foundation, most games nowadays are not released for consoles, let alone on physical discs. Furthermore, many discs for major titles require downloading updates before they are playable, although the DoesItPlay database reveals that, even today, most are playable offline out of the box. Cifaldi claimed that the true reason piracy remains the best option for preservation is that the Entertainment Software Association, which lobbies for game publishers, has closed off other routes. For example, in 2018, the Association opposed efforts to grant copyright exemptions for museums, libraries, and archives to retain copies of abandoned online games for research.
This is the same organization that recently helped defeat a proposed California bill to preserve premium-priced online-only games by falsely claiming that community servers are illegal. The Foundation accused the ESA of repeatedly blocking attempts by cultural heritage institutions to reform DRM legislation. Cifaldi also described the Library of Congress' outdated software preservation process, which currently only requires tiny snippets of source code. For example, Capcom once asked the Foundation to provide the LoC with "the first and last ten pages of code" for a Mega Man game. Unable to discern where digital records began and ended, the group simply chose random segments. Platform holders' habit of closing online storefronts and removing media from users' accounts is also unhelpful. "What continues to baffle us is what the industry expects institutions like ours to do about it," the Video Game History Foundation said. "If platform owners are deciding to eliminate physical media and older digital storefronts, then we'd also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research.
According to the Foundation, most games nowadays are not released for consoles, let alone on physical discs. Furthermore, many discs for major titles require downloading updates before they are playable, although the DoesItPlay database reveals that, even today, most are playable offline out of the box. Cifaldi claimed that the true reason piracy remains the best option for preservation is that the Entertainment Software Association, which lobbies for game publishers, has closed off other routes. For example, in 2018, the Association opposed efforts to grant copyright exemptions for museums, libraries, and archives to retain copies of abandoned online games for research.
This is the same organization that recently helped defeat a proposed California bill to preserve premium-priced online-only games by falsely claiming that community servers are illegal. The Foundation accused the ESA of repeatedly blocking attempts by cultural heritage institutions to reform DRM legislation. Cifaldi also described the Library of Congress' outdated software preservation process, which currently only requires tiny snippets of source code. For example, Capcom once asked the Foundation to provide the LoC with "the first and last ten pages of code" for a Mega Man game. Unable to discern where digital records began and ended, the group simply chose random segments. Platform holders' habit of closing online storefronts and removing media from users' accounts is also unhelpful. "What continues to baffle us is what the industry expects institutions like ours to do about it," the Video Game History Foundation said. "If platform owners are deciding to eliminate physical media and older digital storefronts, then we'd also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research.
Re:why? (Score:4)
All other art forms have archival formats literally geared towards research. How incredibly shorts sighted are you?
Re: (Score:1)
Your strawman argument does nothing to change the fact that the original comment was short-sighted.
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"...then we'd also like to see trade groups like the Entertainment Software Association offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research."
Why? What's the value of this "research"? And how does this research justify violating the property rights of creators?
I’m assuming that “research” centers around measuring shades of Cheeto finger while debating who had to wait Forever for a certain Duke to return.
Or perhaps it’s a study how Billy Mitchell became known as the Prick of Pac-Man. Heard that dudes a real Kong of a Donkey..
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Re: why? (Score:2)
Using copyright to prevent the people accessing creations breaks that deal and means the privilege, copyright, should be withdrawn.
Piracy only solution to outrageous copyright terms (Score:3, Interesting)
NOLF (Score:3)
Damnatio memoriae (Score:4, Interesting)
There's a certain elegance that the modern AAA games industry would willingly do this to themselves in the name of absolute profits, and will be wiped from the memory of this era.
History is written by the victors, and publishers have already lost and are too dumb to realize it.
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Greed makes blind and dumb. Nothing new. In addition, most people are not sophisticated enough to understand that history is worth preserving.
Duh (Score:1)
That said, in sane legal systems, this is allowed.
nothing baffling at all (Score:2, Troll)
What continues to baffle us is what the industry expects institutions like ours to do about it,
They don't expect you to do anything about it. While I respect what you guys are trying to do, the industry has absolutely no obligation to assist you or make this easy for you.
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The original historical documents on the âoec (Score:1)
The fundamental "copyright bargain"â"granting temporary monopolies to creators in exchange for works eventually entering the public domain to benefit societyâ"is deeply rooted in two foundational historical texts:
The Statute of Anne (1710): Enacted by the Parliament of Great Britain, this was the worldâ(TM)s first copyright law. Its explicit goal was "the Encouragement of Learning" by vesting rights in authors for a set period (14 years, with a possible 14-year renewal). It established the pr
Re: The original historical documents â" the (Score:1)
Donaldson v. Beckett (1774) [UK] or Wheaton v. Peters (1834) [USA]