classic arcade games not getting the retro treatment

[Dennis V]

now i love playing the classic arcade games of the past, but in all of the "classic game" compilations, whether its the atari collection or midways greatest hits or sega,...... it's usually the same games we've all played an infinite number of times. sometimes there are some unusual or not so popular or mildly popular games thrown in, but for the most part, it's all the same. where are the "compilation" of games that include, but not limited to, Popeye, Zaxxon, Super Zaxxon, Tron, Disks of Tron, Congo Bongo, Cloak and Dagger, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Plaides, Astron Belt, Buck Rogers, Mr. Do, Ladybug, etc.,....... even a collection of pinball games like Black Knight, Xenon, etc.... would be nice. now i know that the games i listed were made by different manufacturers so maybe that's an issue right there. miss those games

[Technosis]

now i love playing the classic arcade games of the past, but in all of the "classic game" compilations, whether its the atari collection or midways greatest hits or sega,...... it's usually the same games we've all played an infinite number of times. sometimes there are some unusual or not so popular or mildly popular games thrown in, but for the most part, it's all the same. where are the "compilation" of games that include, but not limited to, Popeye, Zaxxon, Super Zaxxon, Tron, Disks of Tron, Congo Bongo, Cloak and Dagger, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Plaides, Astron Belt, Buck Rogers, Mr. Do, Ladybug, etc.,....... even a collection of pinball games like Black Knight, Xenon, etc.... would be nice. now i know that the games i listed were made by different manufacturers so maybe that's an issue right there. miss those games

 

 

Good question.

 

I'm sure licencing (i.e. Nintendo products like Popeye, Donkey Kong) prevent some games from being in a compilation. Other games are probably just too obscure from a software publisher's point of view. I have the feeling that classic gaming compilations are low on the priority list for some of the software producers. It took us forever to get Taito Legends II here........

 

I know this has been said a million times before, but just check out the incredible MAME emulator for the rare stuff

[Artlover]

Other games are probably just too obscure from a software publisher's point of view.

I bet your right. But I'de venture to guess it's not just the publisher's POV. I mean, really, if we went out polled a 1000 people on the street asking them what classic arcade games would they like to play again, what is everyone going to say... Catching them off guard with a odd question, they are going to ramble off the popular common games they remember. Like Pac-man. I wouldn't expect to see Congo Bongo or Gorf being a game mentioned by many. Might be good games and all, but just not as popular.

 

Retro is a business like any other. You want to appeal to the largest customer base you can. People remember Pac-man, not so much Zaxxon.

[Dennis V]

now i love playing the classic arcade games of the past, but in all of the "classic game" compilations, whether its the atari collection or midways greatest hits or sega,...... it's usually the same games we've all played an infinite number of times. sometimes there are some unusual or not so popular or mildly popular games thrown in, but for the most part, it's all the same. where are the "compilation" of games that include, but not limited to, Popeye, Zaxxon, Super Zaxxon, Tron, Disks of Tron, Congo Bongo, Cloak and Dagger, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Plaides, Astron Belt, Buck Rogers, Mr. Do, Ladybug, etc.,....... even a collection of pinball games like Black Knight, Xenon, etc.... would be nice. now i know that the games i listed were made by different manufacturers so maybe that's an issue right there. miss those games

 

 

Good question.

 

I'm sure licencing (i.e. Nintendo products like Popeye, Donkey Kong) prevent some games from being in a compilation. Other games are probably just too obscure from a software publisher's point of view. I have the feeling that classic gaming compilations are low on the priority list for some of the software producers. It took us forever to get Taito Legends II here........

 

I know this has been said a million times before, but just check out the incredible MAME emulator for the rare stuff

yea, i figured it would be a problem with the manufacturers and the liscencing. i guess it was just wishful thinking. what is MAME? loveTaito's front line and jungle hunt/jungle king and zookeeper. never heard of new zealand story. is there possibly any way in the 21st century(the future), that somehow, someway, we can get these games out?

[Dennis V]

Other games are probably just too obscure from a software publisher's point of view.

I bet your right. But I'de venture to guess it's not just the publisher's POV. I mean, really, if we went out polled a 1000 people on the street asking them what classic arcade games would they like to play again, what is everyone going to say... Catching them off guard with a odd question, they are going to ramble off the popular common games they remember. Like Pac-man. I wouldn't expect to see Congo Bongo or Gorf being a game mentioned by many. Might be good games and all, but just not as popular.

 

Retro is a business like any other. You want to appeal to the largest customer base you can. People remember Pac-man, not so much Zaxxon.

you're right. retro is just like any other business. i just can't believe we couldn't put it out

[8th lutz]

I know alot of games didn't get the retro treatment , but some the games you mentioned did get the retro treatment.

 

Zaxxon was one the hidden games in the ps 2 version Sega Genesis Collection. You had to unlock it in order to player the arcade classic.

 

Super Zaxxon and Congo Bongo are on the psp Sega Genesis collection. They are the arcade versions of the game.

[thomasholzer]

Gorf was indeed released in 2005 on Jaguar CD. First home version to feature all levels.

[Artlover]

Gorf was indeed released in 2005 on Jaguar CD. First home version to feature all levels.

Maybe, except it's not exactly in theme with the thread.

 

1) It's not a "compilations" package.

 

2) It's on the Jag, on CD no less. The fact that 3, maybe 4 people can play it holds little meaning to the rest of the world. Ok, so it's a little more then 3 or 4 people, but lets be honest, not by much. What, 200-300 maybe? Doesn't do the other 5,999,999,700 people on the planet any good.

[8bitgamer]

now i love playing the classic arcade games of the past, but in all of the "classic game" compilations, whether its the atari collection or midways greatest hits or sega,...... it's usually the same games we've all played an infinite number of times. sometimes there are some unusual or not so popular or mildly popular games thrown in, but for the most part, it's all the same. where are the "compilation" of games that include, but not limited to, Popeye, Zaxxon, Super Zaxxon, Tron, Disks of Tron, Congo Bongo, Cloak and Dagger, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Plaides, Astron Belt, Buck Rogers, Mr. Do, Ladybug, etc.,....... even a collection of pinball games like Black Knight, Xenon, etc.... would be nice. now i know that the games i listed were made by different manufacturers so maybe that's an issue right there. miss those games

 

Man, that's a great question. I've wondered the exact same thing myself.

 

Classic Home Video Games 1972-1984

[JamesD]

I have TAITO LEGENDS and NAMCO MUSEUM for the PS2. Just bought them.

I have a Williams Classics or something or other for the PC.

I know there is an Atari Greatest Hits but I don't have it.

 

The most noticeable things missing are NINTENDO exclusive or vector graphics based.

I haven't seen Kangaroo, Crazy Climber, Satan's Hollow... ?

[NE146]

Crazy Climber

 

Crazy Climber's been in a couple of retro releases including the NES/Famicom (where you used 2 nes controllers held vertically), the SNES Nichibutsu Arcade Classics collection, and of course all the PSX remakes such as Nichibutsu Arcade Classics, Crazy Climber 2000, & Hyper Crazy Climber.

 

Oh and check this out....

 

http://www.the-magicbox.com/0710/game071020a.shtml

[Atariboy]

Zaxxon, is on Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2. Congo Bongo and Super Zaxxon are on Sega Genesis Collection for the PSP. Plaides or however the heck you spell it is on Tecmo Classic Arcade for the Xbox. Discs of Tron and Tron are coming to Xbox Live Arcade. Satan's Hollow is on Midway Arcade Treasures.

[+DamonicFury]

A big reason certain games don't get released is because of licensing conflicts.

 

For example:

Jr. Pac-man - created by Midway, but without Namco's permission, who holds the rights to all Pac-man related games.

Gorf - Created by Midway, but has a Space Invaders stage (Taito) and a Galaxian stage (Namco.)

Games based on a movie, such as Tron, Star Wars, Krull, etc. These do see occasional release as bonus features of games based on the same movie, but almost never are included in compilations.

 

And of course, there's numerous games made by smaller companies (Exidy, Cinematronics, Universal, Stern) that probably just feel that they wouldn't make much profit by releasing their games in a compilation. Unfortunately, they may well be right. I really hoped the StarRoms model of selling individual games for use in emulators would have been successful, and these smaller companies would have signed on, but sadly that didn't happen.

[MFoolsRun]

I've always thought the 6-player X-Men game should be ported to XBLA or some such service. Turtles in Time (a similar game) got the console treatment; I've always wanted to play X-Men at home.

[Nukey Shay]

what is MAME?

It's an acronym of the "Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator"...a program that you can use to execute the actual rom programs on a modern computer. The program itself is easily downloadable...you can even build your own custom version of it. The homesite can explain more.

 

However, just because that is easily found doesn't mean the game roms are (being illegal and all due to copyright violation). The heyday of internet libraries are long since gone...including the sorely-missed www.mame.dk So the best way to populate your hard drive is via iffy p2p file-sharing networks and newsgroup message attachments.

 

The most convenient way to get a full set of all the currently-emulated roms is to contact somebody to burn 'em for you.

http://www.lazarus.org.uk/index.php?burners

[Atariboy]

I imagine Namco fully owns Jr. Pac-Man now, just like how they have the full rights to things like Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man Plus.

[MCHufnagel]

The heyday of internet libraries are long since gone...including the sorely-missed www.mame.dk So the best way to populate your hard drive is via iffy p2p file-sharing networks and newsgroup message attachments.

That's not true. There are still plenty of sites that have ROMs available. I never use torrents or P2P for ROMs. Google is your friend.

[jboypacman]

There is a Williams Pinball Collection coming out for the Wii and PSP which should be featuring some great classic pinball games.......

 

http://wii.ign.com/articles/804/804338p1.html

[S1500]

Boot up a full romset with MAME, and it's astonishing how many arcade games were released. Sure, a great deal of them are knockoffs of Space Invaders, but past that, LOTS of fun, original arcade games.

 

Some of these would be great for ports to modern consoles, or remakes of the original.

 

To me, it's like 80s music all over again. You ask anyone on the street about 80s music, and they will list the same top 40 garbage all over again. What about the oodles of music that didn't hit the top 40? That's all my ipod contains. Great post-punk & new wave.

 

The same thing can be applied to video games(arcade, console, or CPU)

[Gabriel]

now i love playing the classic arcade games of the past, but in all of the "classic game" compilations, whether its the atari collection or midways greatest hits or sega,...... it's usually the same games we've all played an infinite number of times. sometimes there are some unusual or not so popular or mildly popular games thrown in, but for the most part, it's all the same. where are the "compilation" of games that include, but not limited to, Popeye, Zaxxon, Super Zaxxon, Tron, Disks of Tron, Congo Bongo, Cloak and Dagger, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Plaides, Astron Belt, Buck Rogers, Mr. Do, Ladybug, etc.,....... even a collection of pinball games like Black Knight, Xenon, etc.... would be nice. now i know that the games i listed were made by different manufacturers so maybe that's an issue right there. miss those games

 

Tron and Disks of Tron are heading to Live Arcade, I think.

 

Isn't Pleades (however you spell it. the people making the game did it two different ways themselves) on the Techmo Collecion disc for the XBox?

 

I don't think Nintendo will ever put the original arcade Donkey Kong on a disc or offer it as a download. They really seem to have a policy that videogames began with the introduction of the NES, not before. Since the arcade Donkey Kong would fly in the face of that policy, the only thing we'll ever see are the NES versions and remakes.

 

The one I'd really like to see would be Mad Planets. I think you could replicate the spinner with dual analog controls by adapting the game to control like Robotron.

[Gabriel]

I've always thought the 6-player X-Men game should be ported to XBLA or some such service. Turtles in Time (a similar game) got the console treatment; I've always wanted to play X-Men at home.

 

When TMNT was released for Live Arcade, there was the hope that Konami would do the same thing for the X-Men game. (As well as rumors the Simpsons Arcade game was coming soon)

 

There may be some rights issues. Konami's X-Men game is based off the failed first pilot for a X-Men animated show. New World was responsible for that one, and they're defunct. It may be complicated to straighten out just who owns what.

[MCHufnagel]

I've always thought the 6-player X-Men game should be ported to XBLA or some such service. Turtles in Time (a similar game) got the console treatment; I've always wanted to play X-Men at home.

 

When TMNT was released for Live Arcade, there was the hope that Konami would do the same thing for the X-Men game. (As well as rumors the Simpsons Arcade game was coming soon)

 

There may be some rights issues. Konami's X-Men game is based off the failed first pilot for a X-Men animated show. New World was responsible for that one, and they're defunct. It may be complicated to straighten out just who owns what.

I would guess that it's been so long that Marvel probably retained the rights. After all the show did fail.

[Gabriel]

I would guess that it's been so long that Marvel probably retained the rights. After all the show did fail.

 

Marvel undoubtably retains the rights for the characters and their likeness. There might be confusion of the ownership of the particular expression of the characters in the New World animation. That becomes important for Konami, since the game isn't directly based on the comics, but rather on the characters and designs in the failed pilot. Strange things happen when properties are sublicensed like that.

 

On the other hand, it may not happen for any number of other reasons. Marvel Comics properties are hot right now, so the license may be too expensive. Other game studios may have exclusive rights which preclude Konami rereleasing the old game. There may be technical hurdles which Konami just doesn't want to waste time on for a Live Arcade release.

 

Still, there's a greater chance of seeing X-Men reappear than a lot of other games.

[Gentlegamer]

I wonder how well Tapper would work using the Wiimote to sling beer (not root beer) . . .