... Another Anthology

[CPUWIZ]

Probably because you asked him to send you the binaries for the un-released prototypes.

[Scott Stilphen]

Ah, no ....if you've read this whole thread, then you'd know that I questioned a comment Ken made, which so far has gone unanswered.

[Flojomojo]

I somehow doubt that you'll see the title on the GBA though. Sales on GBA title right now, are just absolutely horrible.

Is this another case of Nintendo cleaning up, but 3rd parties not selling at all, like on the Cube? What's the reason for this? $30+ simplistic games? GBA players only buying one or two games? Personally, even though I've had the GBA since the Japanese launch, I only have 2 games for it. Perhaps I'm not alone.

 

I am looking forward to GBA SP and Wing Commander Prophecy, but that's about it. But if the games were cheaper, everything would be different...

[CPUWIZ]

Ah, no ....if you've read this whole thread, then you'd know that I questioned a comment Ken made, which so far has gone unanswered.

 

I have read the entire thread, I've been reading it since it started. Isn't your question essentially the same thing ?

[joeybastard]

I'd like to see cheaper GBA games too but I doubt it will happen. Cartidges are more expensive to produce, and there's still a lot of production that goes into the games even if they are simpler then console games. I think my wife said it best: Gameboy games seem like they should be cheaper because they are physically so small but they are still videogames so the price sticks.

 

I have about 6 GBA games but I just got it for Xmas and 2 of them are used.

[jjessop]

One has to ask....why would the Xbox version look better?

 

In the future Ken let me suggest you get the SCEA developer support guys involved right up front on any "classic" projects. The Director of test, Director of Developer Support, and Director of hardware engineering are all long time ex-atarians there. At SCEA classic compilations are not frowned upon, just the opposite I think, especially on the technical side of the company.

 

Keep up the great work.

 

Jerry

[GrizzLee]

On another note... "Does anyone out there have any un-answered questions about Anthology?" Why we did this or that or Why we didn't do this or that?  

 

                      - Ken

 

Hi Ken,

 

I have a few, but the most nagging question I have is why didn't you folks incorporate the Atari 2600 interface into the Anthology? I absolutely HATE the way the game select/A-B Skill/Reset/B-W buttons were implemented. I thought it would have been really cool to use the playstation "Select" button to bring up a six switch woody console pannel at the bottom of the screen displaying the appropriate settings. It could be toggled on/off (user preference). But in this way, gamers can actually see the game settings.

 

Other than that, I think folks here have offered up some great suggestions. I think if you could swing it, it would be nice to include as many of the recent homebrews as possible. I'm not sure what the homwbrewer's think about this and with their permission. there should be little to no legal hassles except one -- Thomas's Thrust may have some licensing problems, but, hell, just change the name for the Anthology. Okie Dokie, Skeleton, et. al.. would be terrific.

 

Just my 2 cents....

 

-Lee

[raindog]

I got the GBA last July or so and have gotten about a dozen games for it, half used and half not. Only two were Nintendo games (SMA and MKSC.) But all of them were ports or updates of older games (Pac-Man Collection, Sonic Advance, Namco Museum, Doom, Wolf3d, Bomberman Tournament, etc.)

 

I have a feeling I'm not exactly a normal GBA user though. Anyway, when I go to videogame stores everyone seems to love the GBA, but that could just be because I love the GBA and they want to sell me more games.

 

Rob

[Flojomojo]

I have a few, but the most nagging question I have is why didn't you folks incorporate the Atari 2600 interface into the Anthology? I absolutely HATE the way the game select/A-B Skill/Reset/B-W buttons were implemented. I thought it would have been really cool to use the playstation "Select" button to bring up a six switch woody console pannel at the bottom of the screen displaying the appropriate settings. It could be toggled on/off (user preference). But in this way, gamers can actually see the game settings.

I prefer the way it was done in AA, since you should be able to flip those switches on the fly, rather than pausing and entering a menu. Besides, it's Activision Anthology, not Atari Anthology. I think placing the focus on the software, not the hardware, was the appropriate choice. Of course, having a choice among both options would be OK, too.

[Scott Stilphen]

I have read the entire thread, I've been reading it since it started. Isn't your question essentially the same thing ?

 

No. Guess you need a recap....

 

I'm not asking him to personally send me anything. All I wanted to know is what happened with the original plan of releasing whatever prototypes he acquired (and there's certainly more than the few he listed recently here- http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15409). They didn't appear on the Anthology package, and they haven't appeared on the website (and now maybe they'll appear on the next anthology installment). His reason? Because DP won't release theirs (!? WTF kind of answer is that?). So I asked Joe Santulli about this; he has no idea what Ken is talking about since they don't have any unreleased Activision protos (or Imagic, or Atari...or anything else). In fact, Joe emailed Ken directly and asked him about this, and guess what- he ignored him as well.

 

It's a simple question, and all I want is a straight answer.

[NE146]

I prefer the way it was done in AA, since you should be able to flip those switches on the fly, rather than pausing and entering a menu.

 

EXACTLY.. And that's what has been sucking for me! It's happened so many times that I'm knee deep in the more advanced difficult stages of a game and then my finger accidentally nudges L1 (or is it L2?).. thus hitting "Select" and thus resetting my game!! ARRRGGHHHHHHH

 

I'm sure I often hit it into a different difficulty setting (A/B) often as well.

[GrizzLee]

I prefer the way it was done in AA, since you should be able to flip those switches on the fly, rather than pausing and entering a menu. Besides, it's Activision Anthology, not Atari Anthology. I think placing the focus on the software, not the hardware, was the appropriate choice. Of course, having a choice among both options would be OK, too.

 

I strongly disagree... Of course it's Activison's Anthology.. But these games were played on an Atari. Having a faux console would be cool (there are no Atari logos and such on the switchboard so I don't think it would be a copywrite issue). And besides, why not? ...after all, they did use the Atari cart (not Activision's) design on the cover art to make it look like an Atari cart, hoping to capitalize on peoples recognition of Atari game cart styles more so than Activision's cart styles (this was mentioned in an earlier thread).

 

All other things being the same, it would still be nice if one could flip the switches on the fly, however, at least the user could see what switches are set. If you prefer not to see this, then the option would be to turn it off.

 

Again these are my personal suggestions. There are many more things that I dislike about this compilation, but overall, I think it is well worth the price and would recommend it as is. It makes up for the earlier PSX version which I "gave away" in disgust.

 

-Lee

[Flojomojo]

I prefer the way it was done in AA, since you should be able to flip those switches on the fly, rather than pausing and entering a menu.

 

EXAC TLY.. And that's what has been sucking for me! It's happened so many times that I'm knee deep in the more advanced difficult stages of a game and then my finger accidentally nudges L1 (or is it L2?).. thus hitting "Select" and thus resetting my game!! ARRRGGHHHHHHH

 

I'm sure I often hit it into a different difficulty setting (A/B) often as well.

:_( :_( :_( You sound like my father, who couldn't play a video game to save his life. "It ... doesn't ... repsond!" You gotta keep your fingers way from those buttons, fat-hands!

 

Seriously though, I know what you mean and it's happened to me, too -- especially at first when I jumped right in without reading the manual. Implementing Lee's idea and giving the user the option to map that stuff to the hand controller would be the best solution.

[EricBall]

[quote name="Lee KruegerOther than that' date=' I think folks here have offered up some great suggestions. I think if you could swing it, it would be nice to include as many of the recent homebrews as possible. I'm not sure what the homwbrewer's think about this and with their permission. there should be little to no legal hassles except one -- Thomas's Thrust may have some licensing problems, but, hell, just change the name for the Anthology. Okie Dokie, Skeleton, et. al.. would be terrific.

[/quote]

 

Whee! imagine the royalties! Although the standard $5/cart royalty may need to be adjusted to keep the price of the 2600 Homebrew Anthology from being astronomical.

[Snider-man]

I think if you could swing it, it would be nice to include as many of the recent homebrews as possible. I'm not sure what the homwbrewer's think about this and with their permission. there should be little to no legal hassles except one -- Thomas's Thrust may have some licensing problems, but, hell, just change the name for the Anthology. Okie Dokie, Skeleton, et. al.. would be terrific.

 

Sure, good for the homebrewers. But - just as with the Activision ROMs being removed from AA - the homebrew ROMs would need to disappear and AA may not be allowed to sell carts anymore. Food for thought - a Homebrew Anthology may well drive a nail into the coffin of the hobby. Not kill it, but I don't think the Anthology releasing-company is gonna allow that kind of competition. Just as they put the kibosh on the Activision stuff when this first Anthology was released.

 

In fact, for every new Anthology released, you can kiss those free-floating ROMs goodbye.

[Albert]

Sure, good for the homebrewers. But - just as with the Activision ROMs being removed from AA - the homebrew ROMs would need to disappear and AA may not be allowed to sell carts anymore. Food for thought - a Homebrew Anthology may well drive a nail into the coffin of the hobby. Not kill it, but I don't think the Anthology releasing-company is gonna allow that kind of competition. Just as they put the kibosh on the Activision stuff when this first Anthology was released.

 

I seriously doubt that most homebrew authors would allow any sort of commercial project using their game(s) to have exclusive rights to distribute them. I know I sure as hell wouldn't agree to that. It's not like Activision (in this case) is actually making 2600 cartridges for use on a real console, and we're not doing that in anything even remotely approaching the volume that they sell PS2 titles at (we're talking many magnitudes of difference here!)

 

Most homebrew authors want people to play their games, especially in the community here, and would probably balk at signing some exclusive deal meaning only people who buy this commercial package can now enjoy them. I don't know what Activision would offer authors, but if any money changes hands it would likley not be very much and I seriously doubt they would be royalty-based (it would mostly likely be a one-time payment up front). So the financial incentives in doing so aren't as lucrative as one might think.

 

I would relax and not worry about the end of the homebrew market.

 

..Al

[Snider-man]

<Sniderman breathes a sigh of relief>

 

And that "exclusivity" is what concerned me. I know in the print world, it's a bit more concrete. "We print it? We own it."

 

However, on a related note, an Imagic Anthology would rock. But I picture those ROMs disappearring then.

[EricBall]

Most homebrew authors want people to play their games, especially in the community here, and would probably balk at signing some exclusive deal meaning only people who buy this commercial package can now enjoy them.  I don't know what Activision would offer authors, but if any money changes hands it would likley not be very much and I seriously doubt they would be royalty-based (it would mostly likely be a one-time payment up front).  So the financial incentives in doing so aren't as lucrative as one might think.

 

Exactly. I released Skeleton as a rom image first, and as a cartridge second. If another publisher wants to release Skeleton, that's fine with me, but it will not be an exclusive (maybe exclusive to the platform though). And whether the royalty is per-piece or a one-time charge (which could be per-piece on an estimated sales volume) would have to be negotiated.

 

Unfortuntately, I doubt that Skeleton has enough attraction to be a significant part of a homebrew anthology. Also, part of the attraction of the Activision Anthology is the nostalgia people have of playing these games when they first came out. Homebrews don't have that same mystique. (Ahh, a Mystique Anthology )

[Snider-man]

(Ahh, a Mystique Anthology  )

 

With stripper unlockables like in BMXXX? Where do I sign up?

[Christopher Tumber]

Homebrews don't have that same mystique.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure how much a selling point hombrews would be. I mean, if someone wants to play new PS2 games they're presumably going to want ones which take advantage of the PS2's hardware, not the 2600's hardware.

 

Though maybe as unlockable bonus games, some kind of "look at these freaks still programming for the 2600, so don't feel so bad when your buddies tease you for playing 2600 games on your PS2..."

 

But at the same time, if Activision wants to talk licensing I know I'd be happy to listen!

 

 

Chris...

[Linoleum]

Chances of a GameCube version of AA? Pretty please?

[mos6507]

I think having homebrews on a disc like this is a highly symbolic. It's like Activision giving a Quality Control seal of approval to the homebrew community.

 

One game that I think definitely deserves to be on something like that would be Oystron. It really "feels" like an Activision game.

 

I think games like that which have been in circulation for a long time could easily be included since there is no way Activision can expect any sort of exclusivity years after the game has been circulating openly.

 

I also see no reason why a homebrewer might not want to write ONE game exclusively for a disc like this, at least if Activision's contract allowed the game to be distributed online and/or on cart after some fixed time after the disc was released.

 

The coolest thing they could do, however, would be to make a limited run of real cartridges as a promotional/contest item. I think that would get _enormous_ press coverage. I wanted to get Hasbro to do this with Save Mary or NTSC Klax as a promotional gimmick and Activision has the same opportunity available to it with its protos.

 

Even better if they officially COMMISSIONED a game to be written from scratch.

 

I'd like to see what Thomas (or heck, David Crane) could do, for instance, writing a new game for the DPC chip. Since only one game was written for the DPC chip, any AA redux would be in need of a new game to use this feature of the emulator again.

 

And they could certainly revive the patch program and start issuing real patches again.

 

Or if they got the online component working they could sponsor programming contests and have David Crane and Al Miller be judges. So many cool things you could do that go beyond the disc itself that go more into branding/community.

 

None of this kind of stuff would be tremendously expensive in relation to the millions of dollars that new titles require, and could bring in a lot more good PR and really tie together the new Activision with the old. But it's so nontraditional that they just have a hard time doing it. If they can't even see fit to put interview footage on AA, it doesn't bode well for other out-of-the-box ideas.

[Flojomojo]

Bumping an old, interesting thread. Check out the conversation about GBA ...

 

Is there any chance of another release like this? Or would that "other" anthology be the just-released Atari Anthology?

[mos6507]

Hey All.

 

Alright.. "What would you like to see in Another Anthology?" That is.. "If we were to do one."

 

Hang Tight and Ten!

 

- Ken

 

Ken, I personally vote for an Anthology of every Activision game for Atari 5200; released and prototypes alike. If you need more games to make it worth the while, contract a few developers for their ROMS. And this time, include some interview footage with the developers. I expect if it does hit the market, whatever it is, it will be another EXCELLENT product!!!

 

 

Of course, the offer to use the Stella at 20 footage is always there should it become a priority this time.

 

There is 13.5 hours of raw footage to pick from.