Tales from ELEKTRONITE Labs: Ms Pac Man & Galaga

[bikeguychicago]

Since Carl mentioned awhile ago that he had been working on Ms. Pac-Man, is it still a possibility that he may release it (and Donkey Kong Jr) independently?

[+Gemintronic]

Since Carl mentioned awhile ago that he had been working on Ms. Pac-Man, is it still a possibility that he may release it (and Donkey Kong Jr) independently?

 

I can't answer that question obviously. But, it would be a game of "pass the liability". The rights holders know about the product and have effectively said "no".

[vprette]

so what you want to discover in the next Tale?

A., P., N. or S.F. ?

[Rev]

All if them.

[+Gemintronic]

so what you want to discover in the next Tale?

A., P., N. or S.F. ?

 

I tried looking up those abbreviations in the Urban Dictionary and found nothin'. That scares me

[Games For Your Intellivision]

Just because Atari Age infringes, and doesn't get caught, ....... good for them.

 

I don't want to be the 'speeder' who is pulled over by the police, and ticketed, and says 'But, I'm not the ONLY speeder'.....as the policemen hands you your huge ticket and says 'have a nice day'.

 

There are more than enough LEGIT licenses for us to pursue.

 

When YOU have invested THOUSANDS of dollars in YOUR business Rev, you can make the decision to develop pirate games, AND pay the lawyers if you get sued. I don't want to bother.

 

I will not publish Ms. Pac Man without the license. Carl can finish it if he wants, but I won't be buying it from him. How about you Rev?

Edited August 9, 2013 by Games For Your Intellivision

[Fushek]

Just because Atari Age infringes, and doesn't get caught, ....... good for them.

 

I don't want to be the 'speeder' who is pulled over by the police, and ticketed, and says 'But, I'm not the ONLY speeder'.....as the policemen hands you your huge ticket and says 'have a nice day'.

 

There are more than enough LEGIT licenses for us to pursue.

 

When YOU have invested THOUSANDS of dollars in YOUR business Rev, you can make the decision to develop pirate games, AND pay the lawyers if you get sued. I don't want to bother.

 

I will not publish Ms. Pac Man without the license. Carl can finish it if he wants, but I won't be buying it from him. How about you Rev?

 

I've got to agree ... being in business, I know and understand what a lawsuit (even one that has no merit) can do to a business. And, in his situation, there are many roads to go down legitimately. Why not pursue those avenues rather than jump into some that may lead to disaster? Better yet ... come up with new games, no licenses necessary. (We DO need a good zombie shooting game ... hint hint)

 

At the end of the day, it's easy for us to bang our drums and ask for things ... but OUR money isn't on the line.

[mdoerty]

Certainly, once a company has made an effort to legally acquire the rights to "something" (here an IP) and it has not been successful, it is going to be in a lot of trouble if it uses that "something."

 

However, if one feels like getting the rights are going to be a problem, a "clone" could be the way to go. Remember Space Armada?

 

The code that was used to create Ms. PacMan could be used in another original game as well.

[+Gemintronic]

Certainly, once a company has made an effort to legally acquire the rights to "something" (here an IP) and it has not been successful, it is going to be in a lot of trouble if it uses that "something."

 

However, if one feels like getting the rights are going to be a problem, a "clone" could be the way to go. Remember Space Armada?

 

The code that was used to create Ms. PacMan could be used in another original game as well.

 

M.S. Munchkin?

[Bill Loguidice]

I'll put my unsolicited opinion into the thread and say that either via "engine" or extensive sprite reworking, there's no reason these games shouldn't see the light of day. The community would surely support them.

[+intvsteve]

M.S. Munchkin?

Heheh. Cute. You know, I haven't fired up the O^2 in a long, long time.

[jaybird3rd]

I'll put my unsolicited opinion into the thread and say that either via "engine" or extensive sprite reworking, there's no reason these games shouldn't see the light of day. The community would surely support them.

I agree. Consider Alien for the 2600: I could be mistaken, but I don't believe 20th Century Fox ever got into trouble with Namco over it, even though the gameplay is obviously derived from Pac-Man; the sprites and the overall "theme" of Alien was clearly distinct enough from Pac-Man that nobody could reasonably mistake one for the other. Something similar could easily be done with Ms. Pac-Man on the Intellivision.

[Games For Your Intellivision]

On the other hand, Jawbreaker got sued, and had to change it to a lame different game.

[+LS650]

I guess someone else will have to publish them.

[+Gemintronic]

I'll put my unsolicited opinion into the thread and say that either via "engine" or extensive sprite reworking, there's no reason these games shouldn't see the light of day. The community would surely support them.

 

[Intymike]

I'am okay with Stonix (aka Arkanoid), 4-Tris (aka Tetris), Space Patrol (aka Moon Patrol) and DK Arcade (aka Donkey Kong).

 

And I will be okay with Madame Yellowhead (aka Ms. Pac Man) and DK Arcade Junior (aka Donkey Kong Jr.).

 

[tep392]

For someone who has a legit business of making homebrew's, I can see why they would not want to take the risk of infringing on some's copyright's. For someone like me, who's hobby is to recreate these games like I wish that had been back in the day, I don't see the point in requesting a license. It's a bigger risk for me to wake a sleeping giant.

[Ignorama]

But mike mentioned something very interessting: Is DK Arcade licensed? Or is it not neccessary to license this game, because its called different. The game copies the gameplay of the Nintendo game and even Mario is copied, so I wonder of its enough to change the title (and seriously, DK is not so far away from Donkey Kong).

 

I am no copyright lawyer, so maybe its really enough to change the name, instead of paying licenses.

[jaybird3rd]

On the other hand, Jawbreaker got sued, and had to change it to a lame different game.

True, there certainly is a risk involved, and I think it's entirely understandable if a small publisher wishes to avoid taking it, even if it means keeping a potentially promising game in the vault. As much as the rest of us might love to see a Ms. Pac-Man game on the Intellivision, we have to remember that we're not the ones who would have to take the risks to make it happen.

 

(Incidentally, this whole intellectual property minefield is one of the reasons I've decided to focus my own creative efforts on original games.)

[Intymike]

@Ignorama: psssssst

[Games For Your Intellivision]

DK Arcade is not licensed. It also doesn't use a copyrighted name. There have been many Donkey Kong clones written over the years. I've had this conversation ad naseum already.

 

An associate is trying to obtain the Intellivision rights to Donkey Kong to make it 'legit'.

 

Nevertheless, a cease and desist letter is all that would be required to knock it out of our lineup.

 

D2K Arcade screens were not made by Nintendo. The Intellivision unique screens were certainly not made by Nintendo. Enough already. Nintendo knows about D2K Jumpman Returns. They were sent a copy by the author. They allow it to exist. They haven't sued Jeff K. You certainly are no copyright lawyer Ignorama. Nor is anyone else here. So, they shouldn't be telling me what they think should and should not be allowed, or the risks that I should or should not take while running my company.

[Ignorama]

I never wanted to tell you how to lead your business, I just asked a question. I wonder about some statements from you in the past about other developers and licenses.

 

In my opinion its a bit unfair to defame other people here, if you also have games without licenses. Even if Nintendo doesnt care, I cant see the big difference as you see maybe. But its okay for me, I dont have problems with buying unlicensed games for 30 years old consoles, just remembered a older discussion and there were some unanswered questions when I realized the situation about DK, now they are answered.

 

But before this one goes round and round: I am out for the discussion about pirates and so on, I like to buy Elektronite games and I like to buy Intelligentvision games (and hopefully some LeftTurnOnly and GroovyBee releases), but I dont like if these developers are defaming each other.

[Games For Your Intellivision]

The situation is not the same. I can school you on it if you like, but I suggest you just drop it. I am not 'defaming' anyone. They can do what they like and suffer whatever consequences occur.

[+save2600]

Knowing how these things typically turn out, why is an "associate" seeking rights to make DK Arcade legit? Why risk a cease and desist? Or a price increase due to the paying of royalties? What am I missing here? What's wrong with DK Arcade and D2K Arcade as things sit? Who needs or wants to re-purchase yet another revision of this game?

[Carl Mueller Jr]

I think the reason Willie is trying to make DK Arcade "legit", is that we then could change the name and packaging to reflect that it is a licensed Nintendo title. I mean, wouldn't it be wild to see the Nintendo seal of quality on the box?

I look at "D2K Arcade" as an original title that also includes the original four arcade levels as a "homage" to the original game. The new content is in fact original, however, and not owned by Nintendo.

I'm not here to argue law, however, and certainly am no expert.

BUT, I would love to continue work on both D2K Arcade Junior and Ms. Pac-Man Arcade. They would both be extended to include original content and at least four or five new screens à la D2K.

Still, I can't justify to myself working potentially years on something that could blow up in my face. I need to know that I'll be paid for my work and I will actually get published. Right now, no one has been able to offer that. :-(

Carl