That issue of accessibility is the only good moral argument there is. I can certainly sympathise with it and even come down on the moral side of developers who cross that copyrighted sounds line in those instances. I would just really hate to see one of our developers taken to task and personally ruined over that and can unfortunately see the danger of this happening. On the other hand, has anybody else followed the King's Quest IX, A Silver Lining saga? A bunch of fans of Sierra's King's Quest games wanted to create a large free adventure game based on the characters and world. The folks at Sierra and Vivendi Universal were all set to shut them down despite all their hard work. However, their support base in the community was such that Vivendi reversed its decision and let them proceed under some conditions with a "fan" license. They're now dividing the game up into a trilogy of adventures continuing the King's Quest story and bringing it into the twenty-first century. The team working on this have been at it for years and won't make a cent for their efforts. However, it'll make for excellent advertising when they later decide to publish their own original adventure games. They're looking at it long-term like that. Free games done well can make for excellent advertising. I think Tom will find that out when Asteroids comes out. I think the blind gaming community would have to grow a whole lot before we'd have the numbers to achieve something similar to the Silver Lining team. Michael Feir Creator and former Editor of Audyssey Magazine 1996-2004 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Gamers Discussion list" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2007 10:02 PM Subject: [Audyssey] Copyright issues was star wars sounds > Hi Michael, > For the record I do agree with you and Liam that great care and thought > should be taken before using copyrighted material. However, we in the > blind comunity are at a sad crossroads when we talk about accessible > games. > When I was sighted I played Star Wars Empire Strikes Back, Dark Forces > and Dark Forces II, Rebel Assault I and II, Jedi Knight, and so on. > Suddenly, I am blind and there are absolutely nowaccessible Star Wars > games. What is the solution here? > I can't simply go to Wal-mart and pick up the latest Star Wars titles > even though I might want to with all my heart and desire. Sure there are > other games out there, but I'd really like to play Star Wars. > Well, I have the skills to write a game, but there is this thing called > copyright issues like can't use the sounds, characters, or logos. Oops, > friends all of us in the blind comunity are screwed again by the sighted > comunity. > I would love to be fair, and not use copyrighted material if I can avoid > it. I doubt I will do much with copyrighted material, but the fact > remains what do I do when I can not legally use Star Wars games and can > not legally create one. Short answer is nothing, and frankly that > downright sucks lemons. > With games like Montezuma's Revenge Packman you are probably right no > one really cares. There are hundreds of clones out there, and the > copyright holders aren't saying much. > Why do developers break copyright laws. I think short answer is they > can't get an accessible game any other way but to use copyrighted sounds > and logos. > If you put any old laser sound in a Star Wars game it will sound > terrible. The Star Wars effects are very unique and no matter how much a > dev tries to emulate it it won't be the same without the authentic sounds. > I'll get down from the soap box. > > > > michael feir wrote: >> I've never understood why some developers are so keen to needlessly break >> copyright laws and risk prosecution. When you're dealing with classic >> arcade >> games which have been cloned a million times over, I can certainly >> understand. It would surprise me tremendously if Pacman Talks or Dynaman >> incurred anybody's letigious wrath. I think there's a good argument to be >> made that making an accessible version of a classic game is certainly not >> robbing anybody of potential derived profits. When you're dealing with >> such >> specific licenses like Star Wars and such, it's a whole different story. >> People have been sued by Paramount for making Star Trek based games. I >> have >> no doubt that Lucas Arts is equally defensive of the Star Wars franchise. >> Also, taking sounds that are not only directly tied to a game as well as >> a >> major entertainment franchise substantially increases the risks of being >> taken to court. Certainly, there's the "can't squeeze blood from a stone" >> argument. Nobody producing accessible games has exactly struck gold. >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Gamers mailing list .. [email protected] > To unsubscribe send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can > visit > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org to make > any subscription changes via the web. > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.16.10/625 - Release Date: > 13/01/2007 5:40 PM > > _______________________________________________ Gamers mailing list .. [email protected] To unsubscribe send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can visit http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org to make any subscription changes via the web.
