The final discussion: Buy or Download?

[Sparky]

Halo for Mac is dead. It's common knowledge that it is no longer sold except through Amazon.com by online retailers for over $100. You cannot buy it from MacSoft/Destineer anymore:

Unfortunately, we no longer hold the license to sell Halo so we are unable to sell the game or CD keys. Occasionally, online retailers such as amazon.com and overstock.com will have the game for sale so I suggest checking out the various online stores in hopes of getting lucky and finding a copy.

If there is anything else we can assist you with, please let us know.

Cheers,

--
Jason Clark
Destineer Studios

At Amazon.com, on the Product Details, we see:

Product Details
Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
ASIN: B00006IQTH
Media: CD-ROM
Release Date: December 11, 2003
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,271 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#12 in Video Games > Mac Games > Action > Shooter
Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Notice the last line that says "Discontinued by manufacturer".

There are currently 4 copies (or four merchants) available at Amazon, ranging from $100 to $150.

There is no copy available at Overstock.com.

By contrast, Halo PC is alive and well. You can buy it from Microsoft, your local video game store, and Amazon.com, where it sells for as little as $8:

Price at a Glance
List Price: $19.99
Used: from $8.00
New: from $17.86
Have one to sell?

There are 45 copies (or merchants) of Halo PC available at Amazon, and an indefinite number available from Microsoft.

---

When a piece of music or other intellectual property is no longer published, it dies and becomes no longer available unless it is used by the population. It then becomes almost impossible to find; maybe if you are lucky, you can get a copy from some library or collection somewhere, with a small donation ($50) to that organization. Otherwise, you are simply out-of-luck. At least the legal way.

Now let's peruse the illegal methods of obtaining a "dead" game:

A friend gives it to you.
- This is illegal, unless your friend deletes their copy of the game from their computer and never plays the game again. They must give you the game and along with all their rights to playing it, unless they are using the exact same CD (not a copy) that the game came with. This is the premise behind CD keys. They can either give you the game or sell it to you, a gift or barter.

You download a torrent
- Torrents rely completely upon the common interest. In other words, unless several people are using their internet connections to provide you with a file, there is no possibility of getting it. Once something becomes "dead," certainly nobody would waste their bandwidth to provide you with it. This option of downloading a torrent is therefore pointless to discuss.

You download the game directly from HDM
- I have uploaded a copy of the game to HDM, in case the mac version ever falls off the face of the Earth. The mac version of the game hasn't completely disappeared yet, so I will not yet provide anyone with a copy of the file. There is the Incyclopedia - published for Halo Demo (see the demo forum and the HDM tools page) - that contains all the tags from the full maps and others. However, it does not have the BSPs (yet) or any scripts, etc., so we are unable to actually play any maps found in Halo Full using the Incyclopedia.

---

I await your thoughtful comments and insights into this dilemma. What irks me is the lack of a double-standard between Windows and Mac.

[Hostbot]

I just found a bunch of copies for the windows platform at Best Buy, but otherwise I think the game is dead. I have never seen it for mac. Please put the link up.

[Sparky]

I just found a bunch of copies for the windows platform at Best Buy, but otherwise I think the game is dead. I have never seen it for mac. Please put the link up.

Sorry, but not until there are flowers growing out of its grave. If you want to spend ~$500 on the seeds and fertilizer (buy all the remaining available copies), then I'd be more than happy to do so.

[Hostbot]

That, thats a good idea.

[Zanghfei]

Lol good idea for other's

[Dirk]

If you call MacSoft you can buy one from them.

[Fuel]

Your poll is one sided.
>_>

[Altimit01]

I should point out that there is no obligation on the part of the company to provide anyone with the game. It is after all their product to distribute or not distribute as they like. Yes it seems unfair but that is also the reality of the current property ownership system.

[Sparky]

If you call MacSoft you can buy one from them.

This is not true, Dirk. I e-mailed MacSoft (which is called Destineer Studios), and posted the reply in the topic here. You can see that MacSoft/Destineer no longer has rights to sell the game.

I should point out that there is no obligation on the part of the company to provide anyone with the game. It is after all their product to distribute or not distribute as they like. Yes it seems unfair but that is also the reality of the current property ownership system.

I wouldn't call this unfair, but rather "extremely aggravating, unruly and distasteful," for lack of a thesaurus. I can't imagine myself creating something so ground-breaking and then ceasing all publication on a single platform. This is why we all hate Microsoft. Who revoked MacSoft's rights to publish the mac version of this game, and what the heck were they thinking? Are they trying to make us buy Xbox systems instead of play games on the Mac? This is "extremely aggravating, unruly and distasteful."
</frustration>

[Noodle]

We live in a Post Apocalyptic world in Halo...

[Dirk Gently]

If you call MacSoft you can buy one from them.

This is not true, Dirk. I e-mailed MacSoft (which is called Destineer Studios), and posted the reply in the topic here. You can see that MacSoft/Destineer no longer has rights to sell the game.

Really? because I called them a few weeks ago and they said they do have a few copies floating around.

[Sparky]

That's insane, Dirk. They must have simply run out when my e-mail reached them, or something went amiss. That's just annoying

You're sure that you inquired about Halo Full (not the Universal Binary version) for Mac?

Also, what did they say about pricing?

[Kiyoshi]

I agree with Altimit, it is the reality of how things work. Like Communism as an example, if they stopped production of something, it's because they chose to. They have no desire to fulfill the needs of a low amount of players who illegally mod the game. and uploading a version of the game is illegal as well which is making us look even worse.

What you would be doing is a selfish thing, kinda like a child who can't get what they want, only for someone to give it to them against their parents consent, thus spoiling the child, thinking they can have anything they want, which would mean modders of this sitte would beg for more and more. First Halo Full, then they will expect someone to move h2 to Mac, then more. As for Macsoft, I don't know how they handle things anymore, I was able to purchase mine from them long ago....as for how it works now is unknown.

[Sparky]

This is totally problematic, though.

If we apply the same principles to other fields, it simply wouldn't stand trial. The gaming community is being slighted here.

First case in point: A drug hits the market that cures all disease. The manufacturer sells a few bottles, which hits the media with a frenzy, and then suddenly it becomes available only to those people who are related to the employees of the manufacturing company. This is not "unfair" because the manufacturer can do whatever they want with their IP. But how do you think the public will respond to this favoritism? What do you think the courts will rule?

Second case in point: A company designs a 100% foolproof firewall network system and sells the "box set" to retail stores all over the world. Those boxes fly off the shelves like Halo did. The hype is incredible. Next thing you know, all traces of the software disappears for the Mac OS X Server system, and the only way you can use the firewall system and the upgraded versions is by using a PC. Consider the implications of that situation.

I think these examples are analogous to our situation, right? Consider all the hype that surrounded Halo. Granted, Halo was originally designed for Mac until Microsoft came along...

[Modzy]

Don't ask for the Game itself, ask if you can purchase a key for the game. You can use said key and download Halo UB.