As far as I know it is no longer officially available for sale anywhere... ?

So just my 2 cents' worth on this matter, but...

1. Download the GOG version from some random "abandonware" web site.

2. If you like the game and it ever pops up for sale again, buy a legitimate copy.

3. Enjoy playing!


And before someone says it: Yeah, he could also hunt for an old second-hand physical copy -- Hey, whatever helps you sleep better at night. But on a strictly practical level there's no advantage to that. The developer, publisher and/or current rights owner still won't see a cent from that purchase. I'm also not sure how much work GOG did on the game, and whether the original would even run on modern computers, without a bunch of extra tweaks and patches.

Just in case you didn't catch it, Caine's asking if any of us has an unused gift code from back when it was being sold.

I obviously cannot speak for anyone else, but I don't have one, sorry.

My reading comprehension still works reasonably well, thanks! :P

But unless he gets lucky, and someone still has a GOG code for the game, and is willing to gift or trade it, he'll probably have to look around for an alternative option if he'd really like to play the game.

Is it available on Steam, or is it gone from all official/legal games distribution platforms?

Awesome, I worried unnecessarily then.

I don't have one either, though I gifted some back when they were about to be removed. I'm sorry, it's really a great game, imo a precursor of Demon Souls (I have no proof obviously, but I feel a bit of inspiration came from there).

That said... we don't want to let games that cannot be legally bought any more die, do we? Gems like NOLF, Blade of Darkness, GRID, Chronicles of Riddick and so many more... I am the first one to support full legality on everything, but in this cases one really wants to yell a big FU to capitalism and get them anyway. It is understandable.

That's a grey area, but in this particular case (and some of those listed above), no.

The game was available on this site for at least 18 months (according to forum post dates), and customers could have purchased it then. "For whatever reasons, I didn't buy it when I had the opportunity" is not a valid reason to "yell a big FU to capitalism".

Well, it was removed without almost any warning and now is not available anymore anywhere else, *if* I am not wrong. (if it is avilabe anywhere else, then I AM wrong)
I don't check the site evry day, and I could have very easily missed it too, just because I cannot afford to buy every single game at release. For example, I have lost the last call of Chtulu and Death Gate, both wishlisted for later. How could anyone know they would have disappeared? Also, I discovered the existence of some games only after they were removed. Is it my fault because I didn't browse the entire catalogue 24/7?
Every game was available for some time, at some point. Following this reasoning, the only believable excuse would be not being born yet when the game was out and then removed from the market.
Mind me, what I'm saying applies ONLY to something you cannot legally get anywhere. If I said the same for ARMA I would be a criminal, as the rights holder are known and the game is sold elsewhere.

Besides, I insult Capitalism any time I can, you (generic you) shouldn't even listen to my broken disc any more! :P
Still, licensing hell is imo a reson enough. Everyone fighting for crumbles like in a pighshed, preferring to annihilate the existence of a product rather than let someone else profit. Call me what you will, I may sound idiotic and unreasonable, but my vision of the world is VERY different. In my opinion, all humanity would gain if we stopped to compete and started to cooperate. For now we are all greedy and very short sighted. But that is off-topic and I will not say more.

Imo, when law works against people, well, to hell with that, it should be changed and not respected until it does. And I have a law degree. My private law professors would not be proud... but I never liked them anyway.
Law should always follow common sense. When nobody has benefits from a law, that law is like a noxious parasite, and as such must be removed, with good peace of all philosophic theories, ordinate systems and the lot.

No, it's not necessarily one's fault that he or she missed the 18-month opportunity to buy the game. As you say, maybe the person didn't check the catalog, maybe money was tight. That doesn't give one carte blanche to now get it for free. Lots of things I haven't gotten in life because of those reasons. So what? I'll make do without, and hopefully get the opportunity in the future to pay for some of those things. And if not, life goes on without playing that game.

gOg: Game XYZ is being removed from the catalog 48 hours from now. Apparently this is affecting all stores.

Game player: cool - in 49 hours it's fair game. And there I was, about to pay money for it!

For games, I don't feel I'll ever understand this argument: someone made this thing and it's no longer for sale, so now I'm entitled to have it for free.

I understand the frustration, but I don't feel that a title's removal from shelves is unspoken approval to now acquire it for free by other means. Maybe if we were talking something more important than video games, but these are completely optional products and there are thousands of other games to occupy our time - many of them legally available for free.

And I don't understand why something (a work of art for someone and unfoubtedly THE hard work of many dedicated people) should be lost just because some asses cannot get their stuff toghether. Would you like to see 4 or more years of your work thrown away for technicalities?
I understand your point of view and I obviously didn't mean to incite to abuse, heck, I have never pirated a game myself... but those rules are bullshit, period. They help no one, everyone loses. There is no logic in rules or obligations that are not profitable for anyone, this is just an aberration of the system, and I will not change my idea unless someone shows me titanic proves that the contrary is true.

No system is perfect, and to make it evolve when it does not work sometimes bending rules might be only beneficial.

Let's remove the Gioconda because the owners disagree on who own the canvas and who the paint. Preposterous.

I care nothing if millions of games are available, if one is lost then it is a waste. I can't suffer this mindset where everything is disposable, it is disgustingly consumist.

oh crap, seems no way to get it :(

recently remembered about it again and i just love gog.com installers.... then i read it was removed.... :/

Check the peg-legged, Parrot-wielding ARRR sites. And run a thorough virus scan.

I'd gladly pay money for it (DRM-free), although I have it on disk. If the rights-holders don't want it - so be it...

It's not lost. Just because it's pulled from shelves does not mean that the people who have already purchased copies now lose them. Sucks for those who missed out, but the opportunity was there; in this case, 18 or more months worth of opportunity on this store alone.

Not even going to comment on using The Mona Lisa as a comparative example.

I didn't really like it. If the GOG people with power can move my copy to Caine123, I'm sure we'd both appreciate it.

But... but... I gifted it to you! :(

Well, at least you played it. Nobody else played the games I gifted, I think. I'm sorry you didn't like it.


@HereForTheBeer: I don't want to sound hostile, I have nothing against you and I know that from a legal point you are right and I am wrong, period. I admit it with no shame. Still, I will never agree with that way of resoning.

Also, The Monna (two "n"s, from madonna, "mea domina") Lisa comparison was kinda overkill, yes, but to send the message with more impact I try to come out with the most hyperbolic examples, some "what ifs" with the same logic processes that would sound preposterous to anyone.

Granted, the artistic value of Blade of Darkness can't match Leonardo's, but still the basic reasoning is the same. I stand firm on my position.