News:

Printed Amstrad Addict magazine announced, check it out here!

Main Menu
avatar_Gryzor

How time flies...

Started by Gryzor, 10:01, 23 December 10

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Gryzor


So, the other day I was getting the groceries and I was returning to my home from the super market, car filled with shopping bags, and the car stereo was playing this
fantastic Green Berret remix. And I happened to pass by the place where I used to buy my Amstrad games, twenty to twenty five years ago... would usually walk there (no money for the bus) and get one (pirate) tape every Saturday morning... so many memories in that small shop!


And I realized, boy, has time passed... in one moment I felt the entire span of those 20 or 25 years on my shoulders. Funny feeling.


I'm wondering if I won't be driving a son or a daughter back home in a few years, with the stereo playing Auf Wiedersehen Monty =)


Merry Xmas, y'all!
T



redbox

I remember buying budget games on a Saturday with my pocket money.

We would usually try and transfer it to disk (reversing cheat modes which broke the copy protection was my introduction to assembler) and then take it back to the shop and say "it didn't work" and then swap it for another one  :D

Gryzor

So... you pirated the pirate games? You cheap...

redbox

Quote from: Gryzor on 15:06, 23 December 10
So... you pirated the pirate games? You cheap...

No, they were original budget games (Codemasters, Mastertronic etc).

But yes, we then attempted to transfer them to disk and take them back  ;)

MacDeath

Nostalgia... this country we all long for...

The sadness yet Happy memory...

As Helloween said, caus' times marches on...and on... and on...


Why Am I always sad and depressed in the new year"s eve...

Cholo

Quote from: Gryzor on 15:06, 23 December 10
So... you pirated the pirate games? You cheap...
Quote from: redbox on 19:39, 23 December 10
No, they were original budget games (Codemasters, Mastertronic etc) ....

Interesting (well, to me at least) how widespread piracy was in different regions back in ye old days. I live in a quite open country where you can buy modchips and even modded consoles .. but ive never actually seen a "backup" for sale .. ever. Well, perhaps the local "trade & used stuff" pages had some slighty below reason priced game but still .. ive never seen a "backup" for sale.

Always wondered about the F.A.S.T commercials in Amstrad Action (and similar mags) as they always show some fella selling bootleg movies/game from a foldout-booth somewhere. Never seen one myself, but ive seen some in english movies tho, so im guessing it isnt completely false.

So you could actually buy backups in Greece in stores? Sorry to ask but was it "official" or just "under the table" kinda sales? Also does the UK really have "dodgy" people with the odd backup-booths or is that just FAST having a lot of imagination? Not trying to offend anyone, im just curious really (I "borrowed" a lot of tapes myself so im no angel) :)

MacDeath

QuoteDon't Copy that floppy...
It's a Tape, not a Floppy you moron! :laugh:

So it was true some poeple sold bootlegs or pirated stuff ?

For me, in "collège" (school from 11 to 15 year old...) we usually never got money for this, it was a share...

*I give you a disk, please put me this and this on this and I'll put this on this on the disk you gave me...

But for me those years were the late CPC era...
as in 1989-1993...(I was born in 1978)
This was certainly different for a 16 year old boy in 1987 perhaps...Also certainly different in other countries or even other Towns.

We had different circles : CPC of course, Atari ST (not a lot I knew... but my friend with an ST had a lot of pirated games thogh...
Amiga connection (I knew it betterly because 2 of my best friends in my classes got Amigas...

And the CPC circle, which I knew well thx to my EGA AT286 12mhz PC in 1991.
Even funny as for almost 2 year I was having one of the best PC at school.

Other got stuff like Amstrad PC1512 or CGA or even a Tandy...
Then from 1992...VGA started to spread...and Amiga 500/2000 started to suck. :D

steve

#7
I never believed piracy was as widespread as "the industry" claimed, if a company releases a title which doesn't sell as many copies as they hoped, the reason is that the title was crap and few people bought it, it wasn't even worth stealing, but this was and is unthinkable to producers so they hyped up the piracy angle and it paid off for them as they persuaded some governments to introduce a levy on recordable media, this money then went to producers as "compensation" for sales lost through piracy, nothing but a scam, and it is still going on, the industry has been extending copyright periods and tightening penalties, now you can be accused of copyright theft without proof and if you cannot prove otherwise, you will have to pay many thousands of pounds/dollars in "damages", it's a real money spinner for them.

This, of course relates to film and music companies as well as software companies, how on earth did microsoft get so big if piracy was the problem they claimed it was.

MacDeath

Or even worse...
You copied dat Flappy...
Wel...l a few years later...
But Hey..? the game is shitty !..
I mean just one of the many games on the compilation a friend borrowed you...

Seems you didn't got into jail...for this... :laugh:

But beware, in Europa this is quit changing... :P

Cholo

Quote from: MacDeath on 04:08, 01 January 11
But beware, in Europa this is quit changing... :P
Well, yes and no  :) Im quite happy with the latest trial in Spain ended with the JailBreak (ps3 modchip) is declared legal by the courts:
http://www.ps3news.com/forums/ps3-hacks/ps-jailbreak-ps3-modchip-legal-spain-sony-pay-damages-116066.html

Quite a win for the ps3 homebrew scene. Of cause the JB can be used to play backups too, just like a crowbar can be used by thieves to break into houses. But it good to know that you arent automaticly considered a thief if you buy a crowbar. Of cause im sure Sony will win in the USA as "justice" there always seem to be in favor of the one with the most money. Dont get me wrong tho i totally understand why Sony want to protect their console and their game .. then again i really also would like to play an ps3 amstrad emulator and its nice to know that if you actually care about your game collection and paid £40-50 for a game then having the ability to play it as backup from hdd (with faster loading times too) will save the original from wear and tear.

About "internet" movie piracy today: About 5-10 years ago the was only 3 ways to get a movie .. buy it, rent it or pirate it (internet or copy). During the last couple of years a new quite popular option has emerged (in my end of the world). Selling of "old" rental movies. Seriously, at least the last 15 movies ive bought has been these "old" rental copies. Why pirate when you can buy Avatar on Bluray for a £5 from you local Blockbuster? No wonder there is less original £50 Avatar special collectors editions being sold when its right there on the same shelf with the £5 version. Sure the £50 version does look much nicer and awakens the "collector" gene in me .. then again back when i bought vhs movies it really ment something getting good versions, then having to buy all the same movies again on dvd kinda sucked .. and now having to buy some movies again for the 3th time .. just isnt as exciting. Im sure internet piracy has probably become larger with the faster connections people are getting, but if it actually has a impact on original movies sold i somehow doubt.

/end rant

Powered by SMFPacks Menu Editor Mod