So what exactly is the ESA? :blink:

Why is it a game will be up for a little while, and then it is ESA protected and cannot be downloaded anymore? Is there a way around this? Any helpful comments to facilitate my education in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


:ok:

ESA is organisation made by game developers/distributers to protect their intelectual rights on the games.

All games protected by ESA are NOT abandoned, and more likely will be not available on our web site again.

As for way around it: You can use eBay to purchase those games, or you can check local game shops... LOL

Okay thanks for the info, much obliged.

If you saw those games awailabe to download here it was before we were reminded by ESA not to host those games (or even weren't aware those games were protected). We removed them as soon as we found out!
If there is a way around it - it's illegal, so don't look for it here.

The way around it is to get permission to host them.

I thought it was funny how some wackos kept posting about how much they hated the ESA for not letting them get their games for free. I guess there are some parts of the world where people still don't grasp the concept of private property

its jsut the non purchasable games being protected when they have no intention of distributing them.

It's still someone else's game. Maybe they don't want people getting it for free. Whatever their reason is, you have to respect it.

i dont want to reopen this debate because we will get in trouble, but im gonna say this because i feel quite strongly about it. a lot of the makers of esa protected games are chuffed when they come across abandonware sites hosting there stuff. often it is not the authors of the games themselfs who put the games on the esa list, its the companys. in the music world final say comes down to the songwriter unless he/she sighned an ultra restrictive publishing deal, wheras it seems all game authors are put into a postition where they have absalutly no say about it. the guys who wrote moonstone are chuffed it gets distributed as abandonware. but its the publishing company who have prevented it going out.

Not all of them are like that...

Thalion released their games to public, and friend of theirs is hosting a web site with all of their games. (Amiga and ST games mostly)

Creator of ANOTHER WORLD, game that is ESA protected here, helped in creating of freeware of this game for GBA.