Atari's (Infogrames) cease and desist
This is the first time I have ever posted a new topic. I don't even know if this is a topic of interest, or if everyone will respond negatively, but after receiving the recent DP email I feel as though I, and all gamers, have been offended on a deeply personal level. Atari, rather Infogrames, has issued a cease and desist letter to anyone creating new games based on 20+ year old Atari games and technology. Again, as DP said in its email, homebrewers are not in it for the money. Truly, if they were, they would be programming for a monster such as EA, or SCEA.
Infogrames had nothing to do with the beginning of videogaming. They deserve no credit whatsoever. They were not there, sautering wires to circuitboards in the 70s. They were not there assembling uprights in warehouses. They were not there to bury cartridges in the desert. They were not there to fight the NES (mentioned with no disrespect whatsoever) with 7800 specs designed in the mid 80s. They were not there to support the beloved Jaguar. They were there only in time to purchase the ailing giant that created the sport we know, love, and obsess about.
What homebrewers are doing is prolonging the heritage that consumes us. The heritage that makes us what we are. The bits and bytes that define our DNA. Isn't there something that we can do to coerce this conglomoration to BACK THE FUCK OFF? I understand the legality of what they're doing. I do not argue with that. I argue with their principle. We, as a gaming community, do not create a collection of their games in an effort to profit. We share experiences, share memories, share games as a way of developing and sharing interpersonal relationships. This is not about intellectual properties. This is about humanity.
I realize the importance of this is not on the level of genocide, starvation or world pollution. I just feel Infogrames' position on this is abusive to the gaming community and am curious to hear everyone's opinion.
