We also consulted Al Lowe, the designer of one of the most well-known adventure games of yesteryear. Lowe was the creator of the Leisure Suit Larry franchise at Sierra before he left to start his own humor site.

Maybe older games appeal to different people. Or not.

Lowe collects himself and addresses the issue: "These older games appeal to PC players because they don't rely on 'twitch' responses. Not everyone has the reflexes to enjoy first-person shooters," he says. "Adventure games appeal more to those who enjoy Games magazine, crosswords, mystery novels, and so forth. And of course, 'free' probably has something to do with it too--I wonder how many people would download if they had to pay $3 or some other small fee?"

Lowe reveals that he himself does like abandonware but agrees with Richard Garriott that it's permissible only "as long as it has truly been abandoned." He continues, "Unfortunately, in my case, the Leisure Suit Larry games are still being sold by Sierra and, thus, are not truly abandoned. Yeah, it may be hard to find them at a retail software store, but they're still my primary source of income. So if you see Larry on any site, it's illegal." He adds, "I would much rather see people download and play my games for free than to let them disappear into nothingness!"

	"If I owned the copyright on Total Annihilation, I would probably allow it to be shared for free by now. However, if I owned the rights, I would have made a sequel by now." -Chris Taylor, Gas Powered Games

"This is a rather complicated issue, but let's say I create a game about [a fictitious character named] 'Zars from Mars,'" begins Wright. "Now even though the game may be off the market, by allowing everyone to freely download or even sell collections of old games, I might lose whatever copyright claims I have on the original character. So if many years later I want to start a comic book about Zars, I might have a hard time legally protecting the intellectual property."

Could letting games become abandonware make good business sense?

Taylor says sharing the older version for free in many cases just makes good business sense. "In our business, our customers are very important, and recognizing that is always a good idea, in my opinion. I think for the most part it's fun to walk down memory lane and relive the days when we were kids and when these games were state-of-the-art wonders. Some of them are genuinely fun to play, however, so nostalgia aside, they are great games and may be a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon." But Taylor warns, "It is important that the owner of the game make the decision whether or not to provide it free of charge."