I had no idea how important shareware was, and arguably still is, to the gaming industry until today. To me, shareware represented the few games I managed to play for free throughout the ’90s. In particular, Duke Nukem 3D at lunchtime at Rupert Loman’s house. (Rupert is the founder of Eurogamer/Gamer Network.) And there, in the corner of our screens, would be the little shareware reminder that we were playing an unregistered version of the game. But that wasn’t a problem, it was legit, it wasn’t pirated. We could keep playing for as long as we wanted. It’s just that if we wanted more levels than the opening one, around the cinema – with the toilets you could wee into and the mirrors that actually reflected you (wow!) – then we’d have to pay for it. And I don’t think any of us ever did.
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