Lock 'n Chase - Licensing Explained?

[Denicio]

I went here to learn more about Tutankham.

 

 

Seems like an Egyptian bend on Night Stalker, roughly.

[+intellivotion]

OT: I love how quickly threads in this forum derail

[Denicio]

OT: I love how quickly threads in this forum derail

 

OT to your OT: I LOVE how there are active threads with an active community based around a game system from the early 80's!

[m-crew]

OT: I love how quickly threads in this forum derail

If it didn't derail !! That would be a concern around here. Lol

[+intellivotion]

Seems like an Egyptian bend on Night Stalker, roughly.

but Tutankham has 4 different mazes that are much larger than the screen and they show as you walk toward the right side

 

Nigh Stalker has ONE maze... what a poor man he is (his girlfriend had better luck with 9 mazes, IIRC)

Edited February 7, 2017 by intellivotion

[Denicio]

but Tutankham has 4 different mazes that are much larger than the screen and they show as you walk toward the right side of the screen

 

Nigh Stalker has ONE maze... what a poor man he was (his girlfriend had better luck with 9 mazes, IIRC)

 

For my money there is no better maze game than D&D Cloudy Mountain! I love the hiddenness of it and the way the maze and monsters reveal themselves to you.

Having said that, i have never once played Tutankham.

 

I was never any good at Tarmin but does it hold the honor of being the first POV shooter type of game? (proper gaming lingo?).

[carlsson]

For comparison, you could check the list of games on the ColecoVision Flashback which was contemporary with the Intellivision Flashback. One company is said to once have put down big money for licenses to the major arcade games, the other not so much. Fast forward 30++ years and the ColecoVision no longer appears like the home arcade system it once may have been conceived to be, due to AtGames or whoever were not able or could afford to secure the rights to said arcade games, just like why Lock 'n' Chase and BurgerTime are missing on the Intellivision one. I'm not saying that the selection of games on the ColecoVision Flashback is lacking, but this exact same reason to not have many licensed arcade games may have made a bigger impact over there than with the Intellivision unit.

[Denicio]

For comparison, you could check the list of games on the ColecoVision Flashback which was contemporary with the Intellivision Flashback. One company is said to once have put down big money for licenses to the major arcade games, the other not so much. Fast forward 30++ years and the ColecoVision no longer appears like the home arcade system it once may have been conceived to be, due to AtGames or whoever were not able or could afford to secure the rights to said arcade games, just like why Lock 'n' Chase and BurgerTime are missing on the Intellivision one. I'm not saying that the selection of games on the ColecoVision Flashback is lacking, but this exact same reason to not have many licensed arcade games may have made a bigger impact over there than with the Intellivision unit.

 

Good point.

It never made since to me why the Flashback company could never get Data East to come to an agreement on a game that's 30 years old and largely forgotten. Seems like a little of something is MORE than a whole lot of nothing. Unless there is a Lock N' Chase revival happening in asia that i am unaware of.....

[+intellivotion]

 

For my money there is no better maze game than D&D Cloudy Mountain! I love the hiddenness of it and the way the maze and monsters reveal themselves to you.

Having said that, i have never once played Tutankham.

 

I was never any good at Tarmin but does it hold the honor of being the first POV shooter type of game? (proper gaming lingo?).

no need to say that the two D&D are the best Intellivision games and have the coolest, the scariest and the most amazing mazes among the games of that era (just my opinion, of course)

only "Escape from the Mindmaster" could compete somehow

[Denicio]

no need to say that the two D&D are the best Intellivision games and have the coolest, the scariest and the most amazing mazes among the games of that era (just my opinion, of course)

only "Escape from the Mindmaster" could compete somehow

 

Yep! Nothing like the dead silence of Cloudy Mountain only to come up on an area and hear the purr of a monster....

Even worse to have an annoying bat make a ton of noise distracting you from the hidden beast that lurks around the corner. I have wasted many an arrow shooting into darkness while i was so sure there was a monster there!

Great freaking game! So simple yet so brilliant.

And then to be rewarded at the end with that AWESOME synth sound when you defeat all the mountains!

Edited February 7, 2017 by Denicio

[carlsson]

Well, Lock 'n' Chase has in modern times been re-implemented for systems like the Wii, 3DS, PS3. I wouldn't be surprised if Data East has official mobile phone versions of their game(s) too, just that I didn't look.

 

At least they have made some kind of name of themselves. Some of the far less known software houses believe in a Kickstarter every now and then in order to bring their 30+ year old IP back to the market in form of obscure games on the cut-throat mobile phone market, and for that reason wildly refuse to give permits to serious sites (those who ask before uploading) offering free downloads of classic games few people remember anyway. Possibly though those IP holders would listen if money was involved.

 

Edit: Wikipedia writes that "Most of Data East's intellectual properties were acquired in February 2004 by G-Mode, a Japanese mobile game content provider. [..] In September 2009, Majesco Entertainment has announced that it would release a collection of arcade games from Data East called Data East Arcade Classics for the Wii console under license from G-Mode."

 

I suppose that may also be part of the answer, if G-Mode provides mobile games themselves, licensing titles to a D2TV would kind of add to their own competition.

Edited February 7, 2017 by carlsson

[+DZ-Jay]

 

As a kid i played a TON of Blackjack :-) It felt a bit sinister coming from a southern baptist background that i was able to play one of the Devil's gambling games! HA! I enjoyed it quite a bit as a kid. Oddly the learning games seemed like kids toys and i had zero interest in any MATH fun....i sucked at math and i sure as hell was not gonna play it on my game.

 

As for Space Battle, i loved it! Combined with the fact the local TV station had "Pow 5" where you filled out a card, the local TV station would draw a name and you could "Pow" your way to winnings....all via Space Battle. I never got the call but my BFF back in those days did call and i was glued to the TV set listening to him yell "POW, POW".

 

Space Hawk was one that gave me the brain pain. I recall getting it at the local K mart and RUSHING home because the name...and the box seemed amazing. Imagine the disappointment i had when i was just floating around ...and jetpacking around....and spinning around....and sometimes shooting stuff with no real 'game' to it.

 

Now burger time i loved. I suppose the fact that it moves slower than you'd like is part of the game play. Creating angst!

 

Now, those Imagic games got a TON of play. Me and my brother 'beat' (for lack of better words) the Dragon in Swords & Serpents. I think i lost weeks of my life to Beauty and the Beast. And for me (Back in the day) the best graphiced game on intellivision was Demon Attack! Plus the sounds from that game were really UN-intellivision.

Now, Microsurgeon is like Space Hawk to me. I was like WTF is this??

 

Never even knew about that Tutankhamun game till joining this forum.

Correction: I meant to say Space Hawk as a bad game, not Space Battle. Sorry.

 

Microsurgeon, in the other hand, I will defend vehemently as a master stroke.

[mr_me]

It probably has been discussed to death before, but with strong brands like Barbie and Hot Wheels as part of Mattel, where were the Intellivision games based on those IPs? For sure it must have been cheaper for Mattel Electronics to get licenses from the mother company than getting equally big names elsewhere? Eventually Epyx made games based on those brands for home computers, so it was not entirely unthinkable. Mattel also had published a huge number of board games. Surely some of those could be translated to video games with just as much playability as e.g. Horse Racing?

 

For instance, Mattel in 1981 released a board game based on the TV series Dallas, in which the JR character is represented by a handheld computer which generates dice rolls, negotiates deals, handles blackmailing and cheats. I suppose the board game license wasn't directly transferrable to making a video game, but perhaps it had been within reach, and could have been an as iconic resource management game for the Intellivision as e.g. M.U.L.E. became two years later (except that there is no blackmailing going on on planet Irata).

Ive never heard much about Intellivision and Barbie or Hot Wheels. Was there interdepartment financial negotiation; they could never afford the license. And these were toys and the Intellivision, at first, was about realism. I think Keith Robinson once said that Barbie was sacred to Mattel and having another department touch her might have been unthinkable. Intellivision did have a Mattel license with Masters of the Universe. I think Keith said it was a terrible working experience.

 

Mattel Electronics was big on Intellivision licensing from the beginning. NFL MLB NHL NBA NASL PBA APBA USCF CTW TRON D&D. But they didnt pay much for them. Mattel Electronics was cheap. They were hesitant entering the market, beat down APh development fees, they hired inexperienced programmers, bought lower brand development equipment, and bailed the minute things got rough.

 

Space Battle was supposed to be called Battlestar Galactica but negotiations fell through. Auto Racing was always referred to as USAC Auto Racing by one magazine. Was that another license that fell through? Later they got a Hanna Barbera license, a waste of money.

[Denicio]

Correction: I meant to say Space Hawk as a bad game, not Space Battle. Sorry.

 

Microsurgeon, in the other hand, I will defend vehemently as a master stroke.

 

I suppose i need to give MS a fair shake. It does LOOK great but i never really got my head around the game play.

Now that i have in my collection of games from the big score around Xmas, i will grab a bottle of red and take on MS!!!

[Denicio]

Ive never heard much about Intellivision and Barbie or Hot Wheels. Was there interdepartment financial negotiation; they could never afford the license. And these were toys and the Intellivision, at first, was about realism. I think Keith Robinson once said that Barbie was sacred to Mattel and having another department touch her might have been unthinkable. Intellivision did have a Mattel license with Masters of the Universe. I think Keith said it was a terrible working experience.

 

Mattel Electronics was big on Intellivision licensing from the beginning. NFL MLB NHL NBA NASL PBA APBA USCF CTW TRON D&D. But they didnt pay much for them. Mattel Electronics was cheap. They were hesitant entering the market, beat down APh development fees, they hired inexperienced programmers, bought lower brand development equipment, and bailed the minute things got rough.

 

Space Battle was supposed to be called Battlestar Galactica but negotiations fell through. Auto Racing was always referred to as USAC Auto Racing by one magazine. Was that another license that fell through? Later they got a Hanna Barbera license, a waste of money.

 

Now.... a CURRENT homebrew of BSG would be amazing. I wanna have game play so i can be Gaius Baltar in a threesome with Six and Three!!!!

 

Oh, and make it for Intellivoice too....gotta have Saul Tigh barking out angry orders!

 

If i only knew how to code........

[carlsson]

I see that Mattel wanted to protect Barbie from getting exploited. I wonder how Epyx got away with the C64 game they released in 1984. Basically the underlying tone is that Barbie has to do whatever Ken says, no matter how often he changes his mind. If she refuses to follow his commands, the game ends with the screen going black which some read as he beats her unconscious for not doing as he asks. In order to win the game, you basically has to dress Barbie in a somewhat revealing swimsuit no matter if they're going to the beach, the restaurant, the theatre etc. It doesn't exactly seem like a game enforcing strong womanhood, but perhaps that is a thing of the 1990's and 2000's when Barbie begun to stand up for herself.

[mr_me]

...

Space Hawk was one that gave me the brain pain. I recall getting it at the local K mart and RUSHING home because the name...and the box seemed amazing. Imagine the disappointment i had when i was just floating around ...and jetpacking around....and spinning around....and sometimes shooting stuff with no real 'game' to it.

....

 

When I first played Space Hawk as a kid I was expecting an Asteroids knock off and was disappointed. I thought it wss too easy and could play endlessly. I looked at it again recently and its not a bad game. I enjoy tracking the spacehawks. Forget about the bubbles, killing spacehawks is the point of the game. [i usually play until the rainbow bubbles appear.] Its still too easy but is my second favourite space network game after space battle.

 

I heard the programmers at Mattel debated on game endings. Should it have an ending. Should it get impossibly hard to end the game. Should it self adjust for endless play. Space Hawk is one of those.

 

...

I was never any good at Tarmin but does it hold the honor of being the first POV shooter type of game? (proper gaming lingo?).

The first person graphics in Treasure of Tarmin is based on a much, much older game. Check this out. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maze_War I remember playing something similar on a commodore pet. Edited February 8, 2017 by mr_me

[Flojomojo]

Agreed -- there's definitely some Maze War DNA in there but the RPG leveling make it a different species. BTW it seems the maps are knowable if your brain works a certain way (mine does not but I'm intrigued to learn) http://huguesjohnson.com/programming/c-sharp/random-maze/

[Denicio]

Very cool info. Thanks for sharing. Had no idea something predated Tarmin.

[Flojomojo]

Very cool info. Thanks for sharing. Had no idea something predated Tarmin.

 

Just like how there's always someone richer, thinner, smarter or stronger than you ...

...there's always a bigger nerd ...

...and there's always a game that came before something you like that did it first!

[Denicio]

 

Just like how there's always someone richer, thinner, smarter or stronger than you ...

...there's always a bigger nerd ...

...and there's always a game that came before something you like that did it first!

 

That got a loud belly laugh out of me!

[m-crew]

Since all this talk about lock n chase , it got my interest back and to play a few games. So the last couple days I have been trying to beat my high score of 38740 (disc -white) I have come very close countless times but always a couple hundred or so short of it.

Ahhh!!! The frustration lol ? lol

Friday night I'm going to try few games after a bit of dragon and ale. That may help or not ?

 

Cheers

[BBWW]

Ive never heard much about Intellivision and Barbie or Hot Wheels. Was there interdepartment financial negotiation; they could never afford the license. And these were toys and the Intellivision, at first, was about realism. I think Keith Robinson once said that Barbie was sacred to Mattel and having another department touch her might have been unthinkable. Intellivision did have a Mattel license with Masters of the Universe. I think Keith said it was a terrible working experience.

 

Mattel Electronics was big on Intellivision licensing from the beginning. NFL MLB NHL NBA NASL PBA APBA USCF CTW TRON D&D. But they didnt pay much for them. Mattel Electronics was cheap. They were hesitant entering the market, beat down APh development fees, they hired inexperienced programmers, bought lower brand development equipment, and bailed the minute things got rough.

 

Space Battle was supposed to be called Battlestar Galactica but negotiations fell through. Auto Racing was always referred to as USAC Auto Racing by one magazine. Was that another license that fell through? Later they got a Hanna Barbera license, a waste of money.

 

 

Hot Wheel's Racing could have been much "hipper" than Auto Racing. You would need at least one loop to make it work!

[m-crew]

Sure it would , with the choice of picking a car you have in your hot wheels collection at home.

 

Cool for sure.

[Cee Cee]

On 2/6/2017 at 3:45 PM, Denicio said:

Okay, i have seen it mentioned from time to time that the reason Lock 'N Chase was never included on the Flashback consoles or other formats was due to Licensing. Has there been a full explanation of why this is? It WAS a game Officially released under Mattel with their packaging and graphics splash screen on start up. How is it they have no access to it?

 

Can someone fill this old dude in on the reasons why there was a licensing issue with this game?

All the D&D games i TOTALLY get because they are using the D&D name. But Lock 'n Chase? Color me confused.

D

 

I remember hearing about its pending release. Stunned that Intellivision had FINALLY licensed an arcade game for Intellivision, I remember going and finding it an arcade to play it before the Intellivision version dropped.

For whatever reason, Mattel Electronics made ZERO mention anywhere on or in its packaging of it being based on an arcade game. Bump 'n Jump is the only one I recall them doing this for. They didn't even do it with the one huge arcade hit they licensed, which was of course, BurgerTime. 

 

In Mattel's entire history with the system, they only ever licensed 5 arcade games for Intellivision; the four Data East titles, BurgerTime, Bump 'n Jump, Lock 'n Chase and Mission X; and the Konami game Loco-Motion.