PIRACY¢¢Did it really end the Atari scene?¢Or did it keep it alive?¢¢Most anti-pirates claim that piracy¢killed the Atari scene with many¢companies deciding against releasing¢Atari material because once the pirates¢got hold of it, it would just become¢another 'crack'. Piracy, must then,¢take a fair bit of the blame for the¢current lack-lustre Atari scene, Ocean¢Software are still releasing superb¢titles for the C64, Spectrum and¢Amstrad but they never officially¢released an Atari 8-bit game claiming¢that piracy was rife and it was a no-go¢area (although 'Head over Heels' did¢appear on their budget label, about six years after it was written).¢Of course what most of the anti-pirates¢fail to mention is that without piracy¢there would be NO Atari scene at all!¢I mean take a look at your software,¢just how much is original, if you are¢like me then I'd say about 95% of your¢stuff is illegal. So remove all¢pirated material, what is left? Not¢much is it? Are the anti-pirates saying¢that Atari 8-bitters would stay with¢their machine with such a dismal amount¢of software? Of course they wouldn't!¢If it wasn't for piracy my Atari would¢probably be gathering dust somewhere,¢either that or it'll be gathering dust¢in somebody elses house! There is just¢no way I would continue being an Atari¢8-bitter if I had a choice of playing¢only a few games!¢So am I saying that piracy gave the¢Atari life? No, not exactly. I think¢piracy started much to early on the¢8-bit and most software producers were¢killed before they even started. Of¢course I am no expert of early Atari¢life, having only got my system in '87. ¢So what do you think? Am I right, am I¢wrong or am I just dreaming? (Last¢sentence with thanx to Erasure!).¢In my mind there is absolutely no doubt¢that piracy has allowed the Atari to¢enter 1992 still going semi-strongly.¢We will never have the same ownership¢as the C64, Spectrum and Amstrad but¢we are a dedicated lot and we must¢stick together.¢The pirates of today think a lot more¢about the Atari scene than the Atari¢8-bitters of the early eighties, in¢those days much software was released¢but it was expensive, no budget tapes¢for the Atarians of that time! If a new¢Atari 8-bit cassette is released then¢do your bit and buy it! Even if you¢know a 'cracked' version will come out¢soon! If we all did our bit and bought¢any new releases then it would make a¢big difference to the sales! It could¢be the best couple of pounds you ever¢spend! Do your duty, support Zeppelin,¢Byte Back, Atlantis and the rest, they¢do need it!¢¢John E. (TEBSF)¢
