Since EA have all rights on System Shock, i expect to see SS1 and 2 on Gog soon :)

Pity gog don't have contract with Eidos/ Square Enix. We would have Thief along with Deus Ex and that would a good life ending point :)

Fail :(

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/713030/the-lost-history-of-system-shock

Credit to Vestin for linking to this in another thread.

Actually, I owe the link to morecowbell24... I just reposted it ;P.

The plot thickens!

Read the article, understood problem with development rights, but didn't understand the trademark part.

One dream scenario: 2K Games buys the rights from Meadowbrook, and sets BioShock 4 in deep space, with SHODAN as the surprise antagonist.

This part i understand.

It would be System Shock minus the trademark, and it would be wonderful. You heard it here first.

And this part i don't. Why don't purchase trademark from EA?

The rights is the copyright....they could buy those from Meadowbrook, but they wouldn't get the TM to call it System Shock as that belongs to yet another group.

Which group? EA? Buy them from EA.

Or EA can buy it from Meadowbrook and make SS3.

And i still don't understand why gog can't publish old SS games.

Because of many factors...they'd have to get ALL the rights to them and work contracts out with all parties(meadowbrook/EA/etc) and get them all to agree to bring the games here and also on how to get paid in order to bring them here.

There's nothing to buy from because EA doesn't have full rights of System Shock. Nobody does, and they appear disinclined to cooperate. GOG can't publish the games because there is no single entity to make the deal with.

God, how its boring. And God thanks for torrents, the only salvation to this law worms.

Amen......not for new games I mean but for games in which the only legal option is a used 90 dollar eBay copy or turning to piracy sites.

There is hope at least since GOG could make a deal with ATARI and HASBRO about the D&D games (Baldur's Gate, etc).

Meh the concept of SS3 really doesn't make me excited. Essentially it's already been done - Dead Space and Bioshock, both of which were very mediocre games. If a SS3 were ever to be made, especially by EA, don't expect it to be anything like the originals.

I have to, albeit reluctantly, agree. When nobody gives you the chance to pay for a game and your options are between abandonware sites and skipping the title altogether, I find it morally just to go for the former.
Of course - once the possibility of purchase resurfaces, you're quite obliged to use it (hey - that's why we're here), even if you no longer have the intention of playing the title again.
And buying second-hand helps the developers in no way, so while in most cases it's better than piracy, it's still worse than buying the game yourself.