System Shock Reborn!

[Calin Leafshade]

I am a huge System Shock 2 fan but found it hard to get into SS1 due to the awful (by modern standards) interface.

HOWEVER:

I just found something called System Shock Portable which includes mouselook and higher resolutions so you can actually *read* the text.

The interface is still not perfect but i highly recommend adventure fans take a look

http://www.systemshock.org/index.php/topic,211.0.html

[GarageGothic]

Heh, for a moment I though the subject was referring to the "secret project" Ken Levine/Irrational Games coincidentally were supposed to announce today. (That turned out to be another bloody BioShock title btw). Thanks for the link. I've never been able to get into SS1 either, so maybe I'll try this one.

[Igor Hardy]

I'm tempted (and I heard about this update before), but I think I prefer the original experience after all. If I ever find time to go back to it that is.

[Eggie]

Maan, I played a bit of that game a while back and loved it.

I'm very tempted by this it's just...just... what if gog.com get it at some point?
I'd feel bad...

[Calin Leafshade]

Well SS was released by Looking Glass and published by Origin.

LGS folded in 2000 and Origin folded in 2004 so there is really no one lef to sell it

SS2 however was released by Irrational Games which are still trading after being bought by 2K

As I understand it the System Shock IP was still held by LG/Origin when they folded and SS2 was made under license.

So it should be 100% fine to download it.

God i'd love to make SS3..

[GarageGothic]

Interesting, I was pretty sure EA owned the System Shock trademark, but it seems they abandoned it in 2007 (found here: http://tess2.uspto.gov/). Any takers?

Mark Image
Word Mark    SYSTEM SHOCK
Goods and Services    (ABANDONED) IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer game cartridges; computer game discs; interactive multimedia computer game programs; downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices; computer application software for mobile phones; computer game software and entertainment software for use on mobile and cellular phones, handheld computers, computers, video game consoles, both handheld and free standing, and other wireless devices

(ABANDONED) IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Providing a computer game that may be accessed network-wide by network users; providing an online computer game accessed and played via mobile and cellular phones and other wireless devices
Standard Characters Claimed    
Mark Drawing Code    (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number    78773880
Filing Date    December 15, 2005
Current Filing Basis    1B
Original Filing Basis    1B
Published for Opposition    August 15, 2006
Owner    (APPLICANT) Electronic Arts Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 209 Redwood Shores Parkway Redwood City CALIFORNIA 94065
Type of Mark    TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK
Register    PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator    DEAD
Abandonment Date    May 8, 2007

(hope the data doesn't look too crap after cutting/pasting)

[Alun]

Interesting, I was pretty sure EA owned the System Shock trademark, but it seems they abandoned it in 2007 (found here: http://tess2.uspto.gov/).

EA absorbed Origin, so it makes sense that System Shock would now be their property.

However, while EA may have let the trademark expire, that doesn't affect the copyright, so be careful.  People often confuse copyrights and trademarks, but they're two very different things.  Trademarks must be renewed and enforced to be kept current and valid, but copyrights automatically last (in this case) 95 years after publication, whether anything is done to keep them active or not -- the only way something can fall out of copyright before the 95 years are up is for the copyright owner to explicitly release it into the public domain.  So EA does still have the copyright to System Shock material.

Basically, while EA had that trademark on the title "System Shock", that means no one else could create a computer game with that name.  Since they let the trademark expire, the title is now fair game.  However, the trademark only covers the title.  All the other details about the game -- the plot, setting, characters, graphics -- those are all covered by copyright.  And, as I said, EA still owns the copyright unless they've explicitly released it to the public domain (which seems very unlikely).  So if someone tries to make their own System Shock sequel, EA would still be able to sue.

On the other hand, even if they do still own the copyright, the fact that EA has let the trademark expire does seem to suggest they don't have any further plans for the property.  (After all, if they were planning to make another System Shock game themselves, they'd certainly have a motivation to maintain the trademark.)  So it's possible that they wouldn't care if someone else made a System Shock game, since they weren't going to do anything with the property anyway.  But that may not be worth betting on -- big companies can be very protective about their intellectual properties, even intellectual properties they never intended to use again.  My guess is that they'd probably allow a fan game to go through, but if anyone tried to make a commercial System Shock sequel they'd be slapped with a cease and desist.

(Of course, IANAL, so, while I've read a lot about copyrights and trademarks and I'm pretty sure I have a good understanding of how they work, my take on all this should probably be taken with a certain grain of salt.)

[Calin Leafshade]

Ah, I wasnt aware that EA absorbed Origin.. I though Origin was liquidated.

[Alun]

Ah, I wasnt aware that EA absorbed Origin.. I though Origin was liquidated.

At the time Origin Systems was officially disbanded in 2004, it was just a subsidiary of EA, which had bought the company in 1992.   So EA would own any of Origin's intellectual property.  And, indeed, some searching at the U.S. Trademark Office site shows that while EA may have let the System Shock trademark expire, EA still maintains active trademarks on some other Origin titles, such as "Ultima Online" and "Wing Commander".