So what Coleco homebrew games have the rom available?

[Murph74]

Hey Ninja-- take a look here for PMC: http://www.opcodegames.com/games.php

 

Far as I know, that was part of the hub-bub about the SD cart-- there is no authorized or official ROM to several of the OpCode games available, even if you own the cartridge. That may be true on some of the other games, too, but OpCode got most of the attention. I've not seen it personally, but apparently someone has dumped their personal ROMs for SD cart use. Which tells me it *is* possible, but I haven't pursued it for 2 reasons: 1) beyond my technical skill set/equipment to dump a ROM and 2) It'd be against the wishes of the author-- who as patronizing as it sounds, I believe to be one of the best things ColecoVision has had going for it in almost 25 years.

 

That said, thanks Daniel, retroillucid and the other authors who have shared their works in ROM format. I've long been a supporter of the pay-to-play model even for ROMs. And a $2-5 donation for a digital version of a homebrew release is something I consider to be very fair and worth while-- actually a no-brainer for most titles! Above that, it takes some consideration for me if its worth the just spending the extra money for the cartridge and packing. Problem for me is just like MP3's. I don't have a problem buying them, but for a slight amount more, I still buy the CD. Simply because I tend to lose digital copies much easier than hard media. Whether a HD crashes, an SD card fails, or a file just gets lost in the terrabyte shuffle or stuck in some random folder. Ok, I'm going in a way different direction here than intended... back to topic!

 

Ninja, I'd recommend you also take a look at http://www.mazemaniac.com. Simple game with great replay value and available as a free ROM, too.

[Charlie_]

Hey Ninja-- take a look here for PMC: http://www.opcodegames.com/games.php

 

Far as I know, that was part of the hub-bub about the SD cart-- there is no authorized or official ROM to several of the OpCode games available, even if you own the cartridge. That may be true on some of the other games, too, but OpCode got most of the attention. I've not seen it personally, but apparently someone has dumped their personal ROMs for SD cart use. Which tells me it *is* possible, but I haven't pursued it for 2 reasons: 1) beyond my technical skill set/equipment to dump a ROM and 2) It'd be against the wishes of the author-- who as patronizing as it sounds, I believe to be one of the best things ColecoVision has had going for it in almost 25 years.

 

That said, thanks Daniel, retroillucid and the other authors who have shared their works in ROM format. I've long been a supporter of the pay-to-play model even for ROMs. And a $2-5 donation for a digital version of a homebrew release is something I consider to be very fair and worth while-- actually a no-brainer for most titles! Above that, it takes some consideration for me if its worth the just spending the extra money for the cartridge and packing. Problem for me is just like MP3's. I don't have a problem buying them, but for a slight amount more, I still buy the CD. Simply because I tend to lose digital copies much easier than hard media. Whether a HD crashes, an SD card fails, or a file just gets lost in the terrabyte shuffle or stuck in some random folder. Ok, I'm going in a way different direction here than intended... back to topic!

 

Ninja, I'd recommend you also take a look at http://www.mazemaniac.com. Simple game with great replay value and available as a free ROM, too.

 

Thanks for the reply!

 

I would also like to see something like what is done with MP3. I would support the games I was interested in. Of course if the author makes a limited number of carts there will always be collectors and purists who will purchased them. I do realize the problem though. The author might see some sales at 1st for the rom file. However after some time the file will become part of some compilation of roms that can easily be downloaded by torrent or web page. Even myself, after getting my SD cart, went to the links in this thread and used PIMPFISH in Internet explorer to mass download just about ever rom and homebrew rom there is for CV.

In the end it is the authors decision to release the rom after the limited number of carts have been made and sold. I'm waiting for the demon-attack conversion for the 5200 to be released as a rom file but it seems the author has lost interest in releasing it. So, if I don't want to spend $30 for it on cart I will just have to wait and hope.

 

I will check out mazemaniac.com Thank you.

[+wongojack]

I'm raising this thread from the grave because I have the same question as the original poster and I'm in roughly the same stage of my Coleco collecting as he was. Are there still homebrews 'out there' with now way to pay for or acquire the ROM?

 

Can someone point me to some threads and links that can help me organize the homebrew scene a bit?

 

I've found:

http://www.colecovision.dk/index.htm <- actually there is quite a bit here

http://www.gooddealgames.com/inventory/Colecovision.html <- is this the main site to buy homebrews?

http://www.collectorvision.com/index.htm <-this is the friendly site of one of the main contributors to these forums

 

So what are the differences in these 3? Are there any others I should know about? Have any offered a "Pay to Play the ROM" option?

 

I am not looking for anything for free here. I just was hoping for a bit of a guided tour.

[+Yurkie]

I'm raising this thread from the grave because I have the same question as the original poster and I'm in roughly the same stage of my Coleco collecting as he was. Are there still homebrews 'out there' with now way to pay for or acquire the ROM?

 

Can someone point me to some threads and links that can help me organize the homebrew scene a bit?

 

I've found:

http://www.colecovision.dk/index.htm <- actually there is quite a bit here

http://www.gooddealg...lecovision.html <- is this the main site to buy homebrews?

http://www.collector...n.com/index.htm <-this is the friendly site of one of the main contributors to these forums

 

So what are the differences in these 3? Are there any others I should know about? Have any offered a "Pay to Play the ROM" option?

 

I am not looking for anything for free here. I just was hoping for a bit of a guided tour.

 

You need to use the search function and read through the forums.

[+thegoldenband]

You need to use the search function and read through the forums.

 

Sincere question -- are you saying this because:

 

(a) somewhere in the archives, there's a summarizing post of the kind wongojack is asking for, or

(b) you think he should read through some of the (highly contentious) threads on this subject and realize that he shouldn't be asking this question?

 

As someone who recently acquired his first working CV, but who doesn't have the money or space to collect lots of stuff for the system, I'm probably going to the flashcart route sooner or later. If the answer is (a), great -- I'd love a clear summary of exactly which homebrew ROMs have been made available for legitimate digital download, and which haven't.

 

If the answer is (b), I've read some of the threads in question, and know that experiments have been tried, but it's not worth anyone's time to read through 10+ pages of foofaraw.

[harlock76]

guys if you want my opinion i'm a homebrew supporter (can't say i'm a collection been away for too long from the scene but i'm suprise that backlash like last week didn't happened before and it could have been worst by this i mean copyright notice on projects like mario bros and smurfs an ported games projetcs (or any other copyrighted trademark)

i would buy anything coleco related i'm a big fan but if you guys main goal is to make money out of someone else product then produce some cards for the ones who want them and then release the roms freely to the public that way it's safer for you as it can be interpret as ''fan work'' i think Dan Bienvenu did it right when he didn't put copyright logo on Dacman because the game itself didnt belong to him (i still got my card copy Dan ... i really enjoy it) and released the rom freely to the public

OR if you really want to port someone else work ask permission to copyright holders

you guys should understand that if tje scene is taking too seriously it could be dangerous for every coders

Edited November 15, 2011 by harlock76

[Murph74]

backlash like last week

 

What did I miss?

[harlock76]

http://www.atariage....homebrew-games/

 

well i thought it was last week since i read it was from 2010 (which doesnt change my mnd you guys play with fire)

Edited November 15, 2011 by harlock76

[Murph74]

Ah, ok. Yeah, I remember that. I was afraid Hasbro or Nintendo or someone finally tried to kabosh something(s) on the homebrew scene.

 

And yep, it can get kind of territorial around here from time to time. In general, I still love my ColecoVision and the scene-- but I could see where you might hope for more of the "hobby not a business" mindset that seems show up occasionally. After all, what good is a game that no one gets to play?

Edited November 15, 2011 by Murph74

[harlock76]

I was afraid Hasbro or Nintendo or someone finally tried to kabosh something(s) on the homebrew scene.

 

 

well the thing is it could happens anytime and coders porting games to coleco are playing with trademarks and copyrights so if anyday a coder or publisher is sued for selling a ported game i think we will see many coders leaving the scene and that's what i worry about

[NIAD]

I'm raising this thread from the grave because I have the same question as the original poster and I'm in roughly the same stage of my Coleco collecting as he was. Are there still homebrews 'out there' with now way to pay for or acquire the ROM?

Good Deal Games is a good source for older homebrews that may not be sold by their developer / distributor anymore and some Homebrews show up on www.atari2600.com from time to time. Otherwise, check out today's thread about Coleco related websites for a nice list of sites to visit that will provide a lot of answers to your questions. Then there is always eBay, but prices tend to get very high for Homebrews that can't be bought anymore.

 

Can someone point me to some threads and links that can help me organize the homebrew scene a bit?

 

I've found:

http://www.colecovision.dk/index.htm <- actually there is quite a bit here

http://www.gooddealg...lecovision.html <- is this the main site to buy homebrews?

http://www.collector...n.com/index.htm <-this is the friendly site of one of the main contributors to these forums

 

So what are the differences in these 3? Are there any others I should know about? Have any offered a "Pay to Play the ROM" option?

ColecoVision.dk is a great CV fan site and is the best site to find all the "LEGITAIMATELY" available homebrew rom files. If it's not on Olie's site, than the programmer/distributor hasn't released the rom for free distribution.

 

Good Deal Games is a wholesaler that supports the CV scene as well as many other consoles.

 

CollectorVision is a distributor (and a whole lot more) of CV Homebrews.

 

I am not looking for anything for free here. I just was hoping for a bit of a guided tour.

I wouldn't mind some free stuff as this little hobby is getting quite expensive!

[NIAD]

Here's the thread with a bunch of links to CV sites that should prove very informative.

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/190285-imagic-for-colecovision/

[Greg2600]

The short answer is that there are very few full game roms for homebrew or custom ported CV games available for download. Some do have demo roms, most do not. CV Homebrew scene is very lively, and if you're willing to buy, the offerings are professionally done, cartridge, label, manual, and boxes usually. As opposed to the Atari 5200 port/homebrew scene, which doesn't get complete packaged releases, but almost every game I've ever heard of is available for free download.

 

The CV itself has a pretty large and sometimes unique library to begin with, and if you have the AtariMax SD cart, you can play well over 100 games. I have no problem with the homebrew guys keeping their roms private, it's their work. Also, many of their games are converted from systems like MSX and SG-1000, and often those games were officially ported to systems like SMS and NES, so there are versions you can play. What annoys me are that some of the CV prototype game owners have and not likely will never release certain prototype games.

[NIAD]

What annoys me are that some of the CV prototype game owners have and not likely will never release certain prototype games.

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT! It annoys me and many others as well, but that's life as they say.

 

Back in the mid to late 80's, I came across a number of unreleased games thanks to my involvement with the largest CV/ADAM User's Group and freely shared them with all takers and just a couple months ago I was lucky to come across the ColecoVision version of A.E. Suffice it to say, CollectorVision will be making a CIB release in a month or two and when the run is sold out, the rom file will be made available for all to enjoy... freely.

 

The CV Scene has, and seems like it will always be, a lot more "closed" and "secretive" when it comes to things like this unfortunately. The one good side effect of this is that it means I have more time to play and enjoy all the great Homebrews that have been developed since 1996. Maybe one day some of these other unreleased titles will see the light of day so that all the CV fans can finally enjoy them

[harlock76]

my whole point is the selling of ported games which is stealing of copyrighted materials i would not like a company filing a case against a coder for doing such because he scene will suffer from it

[65Gamerguy]

First off I really admire the CV homebrew community and like others I purchase games from you all when they are available. But lately it seems that finding the games that are available is getting harder to do. All of the homebrew CV websites, that I know of, that have games available don't seem to offer an easy way to buy the games. Most of them make you look around and if you look hard enough some sites have a "contact us" in order to purchase a game. The most recent purchases I have made were through Gooddeal games and lately they seem to have made a change so that it is harder to order games from them. What is the reason for this?

 

On the topic of ROMS. I respect the fact that you don't want them out in the public. Are there any plans to possibly re-release some of the games that were made in the past in cartridge form, ever, by anyone? I would like to purchase some of the games that I missed out on.

 

Just my two cents worth.

[+Yurkie]

I think where you run into problems with giving out roms is that you create a "grab and go" mentality. I can see it go something like this.

 

A thread is made for a new homebrew, the rom is posted and downloaded a couple hundred times with 9 thank yous, and all people would really care to talk about on the forum is When is the next free bee I can download?

 

I secretiveness and lack of distribution of homebrew roms, is what makes ColecoVision community strong and allows for high quality games and packaging. People say they would buy, but I highly doubt there would be more the 50% of the sales if the roms where given away.

[NIAD]

my whole point is the selling of ported games which is stealing of copyrighted materials i would not like a company filing a case against a coder for doing such because he scene will suffer from it

That's why I always cringe when I see some of these games go up on eBay... especially in the case of Mario Bros. and Pac-Man Collection. Thanksfully nothing has ever come of it and more than likely nothing ever will due to a number of reasons which have been discussed in older threads over the years.

[+thegoldenband]

One thing that gets me down -- or at least, has dampened my enthusiasm -- is that so many of the CV homebrew releases go in and out of print so fast, and reissues don't seem to happen. When 2-3 homebrewers release 2-3 games each all at once, there's simply no way I can afford to buy them all, and there's no way I'm paying Ebay prices.

 

This doesn't only apply to the CV scene, of course, but I can't immediately think of another console where the games are so limited AND there's no chance of getting a reissue or a ROM. The Atari 2600, Intellivision, and Vectrex scenes sometimes have very limited releases (especially the Intellivision), but the ROMs are usually available. The Genesis folks like SFT and Watermelon haven't released ROMs, but have reissued popular games. Maybe the Jaguar scene is the closest analog?

 

Don't get me wrong, I realize that the economics of the situation dictate certain necessities, but still...I'm tapped out by my Genesis, Intellivision, and Vectrex homebrew purchases, and would like to make room for CV, but I can't drop $200 in a month on homebrews. But I'd still like to play the games, and I'd still like a way to do so while giving money to the programmer.

[Greg2600]

The game porting has been done, as I've said, with full CIB releases. They are very well crafted, though I can't imagine they result in a great amount of income for those who produce them. They require programming effort of course. While I would love to play many of them, like I mentioned, most are available on other platforms, including far superior systems. Straight homebrews like the games Daniel B. does are his from scratch, and he should be free to do what he'd like with them.

 

In the case of prototypes though, those are different in my book. Those are truly part of the official history of a video game system, and should be shared as all released games have been. That of course doesn't jive with what are often 4 figures paid for a prototype cart. Releasing a rom they "say" devalues the prototype. I suppose that is true to an extent, but it sure doesn't make the owner much of a community member.

[retroillucid]

One thing that gets me down -- or at least, has dampened my enthusiasm -- is that so many of the CV homebrew releases go in and out of print so fast, and reissues don't seem to happen. When 2-3 homebrewers release 2-3 games each all at once, there's simply no way I can afford to buy them all, and there's no way I'm paying Ebay prices.

 

The problem in making reissues is there's normally only few interests

 

I'm one who limited quantities of all of our games simply because the CV homebrew Scene is NOT strong and healthy... ask any other homebrewers/publishers

We have dificulties to sell 100 games, in the case of Pooyan I scrapped about 50 copies simply because they were not selling at all (rom file was leaked somewhere by someone)

 

Truth is, if all cv homebrewers/publishers start distributing their roms files, the CIB releases will start to decline in sales and this will lead to people like me (and some others) to simply quit... simple as that

When publishing games, you also have to deal (not all the time) with the fact that you're only the publisher of game(s) for a programmer, so it's up to him if he is willing to share his rom files

[+thegoldenband]

I appreciate that, retroillucid, and definitely don't want any of you to lose your shirts. My own preference would be for pre-order (to ensure all costs are paid for) + ROM release after the pre-orders are fulfilled, but I realize there are problems with that idea, not least that some programmers just don't want their ROMs released under any circumstances.

[retroillucid]

my whole point is the selling of ported games which is stealing of copyrighted materials i would not like a company filing a case against a coder for doing such because he scene will suffer from it

That's why I always cringe when I see some of these games go up on eBay... especially in the case of Mario Bros. and Pac-Man Collection. Thanksfully nothing has ever come of it and more than likely nothing ever will due to a number of reasons which have been discussed in older threads over the years.

 

With all the roms websites out there, I don't feel I hurt sales of Nintendo.... or any others companies

 

I feel more like, I'll play some music in a bar and make a cover or two of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd ... yeah I'll be paid for the show but as an indie band we will almost pay our fees for doing that show ..... all for the enjoment of the public

 

Anyway, that's my two cents....

[retroillucid]

..... + ROM release after the pre-orders are fulfilled, but I realize there are problems with that idea, not least that some programmers just don't want their ROMs released under any circumstances.

 

You got it! .... I'm NOT against rom distribution ... I released Mr Chin & Mario Bros off the AtariMax SD Cart simply because I wanted ALL fans being able to enjoy those games

 

But I can't decide for the programmers who used our services, that would obviously not be fair, so that's up to them to release their rom or not (as long as the games are sold-out)

[+wongojack]

I don't really have a dog in this fight, but I am opinionated. Please feel free to accuse me of disgracing my ancestors with the comments that follow . . . . .

 

There is a lot that has been tested by BIG SOFTWARE in the area of piracy. However, the reigns usually loosen on older software in pretty much every area of software distribution, and when you treat your customers like criminals, even the "good ones" tend to trend towards the dark side.

 

We have difficulties to sell 100 games

 

I'm not going to claim to be any kind of expert in homebrew classic gaming software. If you say releasing the ROM will devalue your product then I have no real reason to disagree, but it sounds like you know your market and how many sales that market can support. What is the point of holding back the ROM after the sales are completed? retroillucid, I guess you are saying that you do release them so that question is for someone else.

 

Do developers and publishers hold back copies and offer them for auction later to make a bigger profit? That would make sense - why not release the ROM after that? I'm seriously asking because I can't really think of other reasons to hold onto the ROM.

 

SIDEBAR

Video game franchises tend to get around the problem of competing with their own discounted older games by releasing story driven sequels. It might be cool to see a planned series of games that would compel the player to purchase the next release. Then you could release your ROM for the previous game knowing that it would potentially drive more sales of the next. If you wanted, you could simply not release the final ROM. I'm just thinking and typing here, but that is basic product marketing stuff - make them want more.

Edited November 17, 2011 by wongojack