Have any games ever been sold with limited play time?
Have any games, on any computer or console, every been sold with limited play time? What I mean is, has any game ever been sold where you could only play it a certain number of times, or for a certain period of time (either game time, or until a certain real-world date comes around)?
I ask as it occurred to me today that possibly some software houses now wish that their early games had come with a clause that "...The buyer can only play this game for up to ten years from the date of purchase", as that way they could (theoretically) sell the same game to you again, if you legally wanted to have the right to play it.
After all, when you buy the game, you don't literally buy the game - the game still belongs to the copyright holder. You are actually buying two things; (a) the physical media and anything else that physically exists (box, manual, disc inlay, whatever), and (b) a license to use the enclosed code in whatever way the software house allows you to (normally by running the code on one machine, and only one machine at a time). And I suppose they could have added something about you only owning the rights to use (play) the game if they liked.
I suppose back in the old days it never occured to anyone to add such a clause. But now it might seem more viable. Especially since now that most modern gaming machines are online it is possible to enforce such a rule.
If a machine couldn't go online then I don't think it could work, at least not fully. I suppose an offline machine that keeps track of the date could work in this regard, but you'd hardly have to be Stephen Hawking to work out how to fool the game, after all! But if the machine was online then it could be made to work, by having the game check the online server for the correct date, and refusing to run if either the date is after the cut-off date, or if the games machine just plain cannot get online to contact the server.
I have heard of this being done, or planned, with digitally downloaded games (and films, and I think I've heard it proposed for demos), but never for a game on physical media.
So have any games been sold with a time limit on how long you "own" the game for? If it's on the Speccy (or most other pre-internet machines) then I bet in most cases the users aren't aware of it. Or are there actually limitations on the rights to use computer games that aren't common knowledge?
I ask as it occurred to me today that possibly some software houses now wish that their early games had come with a clause that "...The buyer can only play this game for up to ten years from the date of purchase", as that way they could (theoretically) sell the same game to you again, if you legally wanted to have the right to play it.
After all, when you buy the game, you don't literally buy the game - the game still belongs to the copyright holder. You are actually buying two things; (a) the physical media and anything else that physically exists (box, manual, disc inlay, whatever), and (b) a license to use the enclosed code in whatever way the software house allows you to (normally by running the code on one machine, and only one machine at a time). And I suppose they could have added something about you only owning the rights to use (play) the game if they liked.
I suppose back in the old days it never occured to anyone to add such a clause. But now it might seem more viable. Especially since now that most modern gaming machines are online it is possible to enforce such a rule.
If a machine couldn't go online then I don't think it could work, at least not fully. I suppose an offline machine that keeps track of the date could work in this regard, but you'd hardly have to be Stephen Hawking to work out how to fool the game, after all! But if the machine was online then it could be made to work, by having the game check the online server for the correct date, and refusing to run if either the date is after the cut-off date, or if the games machine just plain cannot get online to contact the server.
I have heard of this being done, or planned, with digitally downloaded games (and films, and I think I've heard it proposed for demos), but never for a game on physical media.
So have any games been sold with a time limit on how long you "own" the game for? If it's on the Speccy (or most other pre-internet machines) then I bet in most cases the users aren't aware of it. Or are there actually limitations on the rights to use computer games that aren't common knowledge?
Post edited by ewgf on
Comments
I would think that then it would no longer be considered a "sale" but rather a "rent" or "lease" ... but I know noteeng!
</ facetious mode>
Well ... no need for the "facetious" thingy ... mainly as I think you've actually hit the nail on the head there ... those games fall under what ewgf asked for, or at least as I understand his question.
but when xplosiv / empire went bust they left me with a game that wouldn't work without official patch!!! .. (so I had to use an "unofficial" one)
the folk who made superwave synths, vanished.. and left folk with synths they couldn't use on their new pc's..
windows 3.1 reverts back to 1984 when it hits 2000?!?!
some games wouldn't be PC these days when they were in 82 :) e.g. bc bill
i do play an online game (battleground europe - a WW2 sim) and that had a big update that stopped me playing for a while, but the thing has been round 10 years, so you kinda expect it.
but its an interesting concept, maybe a '24' game when you had to complete it in 24 hours, or you could never play again. very daft business sense, but i bet a good sweaty palm experience. ;)
Probably already happened with a few of the obscure ones.
Granted the fact that games age so fast (or at least the machine each game is on becomes obsolete as time marches and the next generation of machines arrive) means that most software houses probably don't believe they could get more money from old games, but they are businesses after all, and if they thought that they might then surely they'd be tempted to try it. And PCs don't become obsolete - you can still run 1980s PC games on a fully modern PC, albeit with some messing about (which is little more than trivial to a fairly knowledgeable PC user). Plus PC user have undoubtedly largely accepted digital downloads, which could support limited-use software. Perhaps when Half-Life 3 comes out you won't buy it for good, so to speak, but only for five years. After that you have to buy another five year lease of the game if you want to play it some more.
I think it's possible that such a way of paying for software might emerge, at least for games that are downloadable. Most businesses, if they can see a way of legally squeezing more money out of their customers, will do so, and why should software houses be any different?
You are not a train driver are you?
also I remember a game for saturn (enemy zero) where you only could make 4 saves the entire game, so you really had to chose when you wanted to stop playing it...
other than that, when Capcom decided to shut down the servers for Resident Evil Outbreak, they pretty much killed the game...
The sole reason I never bought it, or file#2
I hear the single player is fun for a while due to the different characters.
Also potentially there's possibly infinite scenario's you can muster. But I think you actually needed it to be online to be able to do that?
the problem with the game is the real poor artificial inteligence of your co-helpers in the game (and it's pretty impossible to finish the missions with out their help), wich makes everythin really frustrating...
but then again it was also frustrating to play with some 12 year old gung-ho kid that would spend the entire ammo on one zombie and then log off in the midle of a mission...
but in those rare moments when you got a nice online partner (or 4 of them), the game was the best and most atmosferic experience in terms of survival horror that I've ever played!
For single player (or not massively multiplayer) games I can imagine this happening due to DRM.
Many games DRM require you to go online even to play the single player game, or just play with friends without using the company's servers. However, the companies probably don't want to be on the hook to run the DRM servers forever.
Of course by the time the DRM servers get shut off, usually the DRM would have been hacked off the game by pirates anyway.
Exactly. I used to play Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst (PC), this and the console versions had online servers, all of which have shut down. At least with the console versions you could still play them offline, but Blue Burst was online only. However, as for a lot of "obsolete" games where the official servers are gone, there are private servers to keep the games alive.
Kind of like what the people out here in the west-country call letter boxing but with a computer game element to solve the location puzzle. I think they were a spin off of adventure books that were similar and came before.
I only mention that 'cos presumably once someone has dug up the buried treasure the game itself (although it can still be played) is no longer completable. You only have so long playing the game as originally intended until someone wins making the game itself redundant.
People still might play it I suppose - some quite high profile speccy games were not completable for various reasons.
what's letter boxing?
- IONIAN-GAMES.com -
I suppose it's a map reading challenge.
Your given a map - a load of cryptic instructions and sent off out into the wilderness to find whats basically a tin box hidden out on the moors in the middle of nowhere.
I believe said tin box contains a stamp or sticker or something you can put in your record book to say that you found it. Someone told me there were loads of these letter boxes out there on the moors just waiting to be found.
I'm willing to take their word for it.
oh, it sounded a bit sexual. :razz:
The ones i've met walking on the moor have been enthusiastic like trainspotters but obviously there are no trains on Dartmoor for them so they make do with spotting tin boxes. Still they're harmless enough and each to their own.
Back on topic - I can't find any reference to games that actually lead you to buried treasure so I may have made that up.
I'm on a treasure hunt of my own to find out if one exists or not.
EDIT: Found it, it's called Hareraiser!
Supposed to lead you to a golden Hare. It won't though 'cos it's not there any more!
Pimania, by Automata gave a away a golden sundial, worth ?600,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimania
I had to laugh when I read that iphone and android had apps for it though. I wouldn't head off on to the moors with just one of those as my navigation system.
The battery life on both my girlfriends htc legend and all the iphones I've ever seen is awful even in standby mode and with a decent signal.