Free Abandonware Games

Some classics to be found here including Civilization II, Caesar II.

http://www.i_forgot_the_link_lol.com

 

I don't think this is a strictly speaking legal site, since generally abandonware is not public and sharing it still falls under copyright infringement. Civ 2 has even had a rerelease in the past 5 or 6 years.

 

I'm not sure I even think civ III has been freeware available for some time now. I occasionally run across promos with other games as well. Picked up full version of fallout download last week on logicbuy.

 

I don't think it's freeware, and I remember there was a fallout promotion recently, but that doesn't mean anyone can download the game at any point in time from anywhere.

 

Masterchef is right. The legality is definitely questionable.

Mod team is looking into it but in the interim, we'll let the thread stand for a bit until we can sort it out. Thread may be deleted without notice if we come to the conclusion that this isn't appropriate. But no worries Rodster, no infractions will be levied or anything like that.

 

OK, cool guys if "it ain't legit then this thread must quit".

- Johnny Cochran

 

Here's the preliminary assessment: (which echoes what Masterchef has stated).

It is technically illegal to download Abandonware as it is copyrighted material that belongs to somebody else and as far as legality is concerned, downloading it is as serious an offense as downloading any other copyrighted software. But it is often overlooked by publishers and developers because if a game is not being sold, they are not losing any money by any website making it available for download.

If a publisher were to request the removal of the link to that site we would be obligated to do so immediately.

By allowing this thread to remain it is not to be construed as NBR's tacit approval of piracy. NBR maintains its stance against piracy that has the potential to harm publishers and software developers/engineers. And NBR will respond to any DMCA takedown notice it may receive as a result of a poster linking to a site that fosters or facilitates piracy.

 

If things need to be put into perspective, I've downloaded abandonware before in a desperate attempt to get copies of games no longer widely available. More than half of the abandonware games I've downloaded in the past are currently available as digital downloads.

It may be "abandoned" now by your standards, but that doesn't mean it actually is. What you do is up to you, but unless a property is legally declared public domain or freeware, or in some cases offered free for a period of time (ala Fallout on GOG.com a couple weeks ago) it's piracy to download a free copy.

 

Yeah, hopefully some of the abandoned games might find a new home on GOG.
That way both the publisher gains money and we consumers can have our games.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

Well, I am still waiting for the abandonware classics X-Wing and Tie fighter to get back and compatible with contemporary hardware (and hopefully mouse support ).

 

One game which should be classified as abandoned is Nascar Racing 2003. The developer is no longer in business and the Publisher has been absorbed by another and no longer supports the game.

I once bought that game at Circuit City for $9, lost the disc in a move and had to rebuy it on Ebay for $79.

 

All of the old Sierra adventure games were "abandoned" by that definition as recently as a few years ago, but most of them are now readily available at GOG.com and possibly other sources as well. The Ultima series through the seventh game is the same way. You can even get the entire Commander Keen series on Steam for a five-spot.

Again, I've done it, and I understand the motivation behind it, just be aware that abandonware is just a way of justifying piracy that's committed on the hope that nobody's going to notice or care, or on the assumption that it's the only way to obtain something. Whether that's a worthwhile act of piracy is up to the individual, but I'd urge people who use abandonware at least to buy a legitimate copy if the game is re-released down the road.