Classic Video Games
May 18, 2004 8:48 PM Subscribe
Licensing of 'abandonware' or classic video games... has anyone heard of any company or individual that was able to rerelease an old video game? If so, what kind of agreements were made with the original company with regards to royalty payments and upfront fees?
You may want to poke around the AtariAge forums. I know some people over there spend time tracking down copyright owners so that they can legally distribute the roms and such for prototype games that surface, etc.
posted by gluechunk at 10:15 PM on May 18, 2004
posted by gluechunk at 10:15 PM on May 18, 2004
Man, I've been waiting for a remake of Origin's Autoduel for years now. Someone bug EA for the copyright to that one.
posted by Hackworth at 10:20 PM on May 18, 2004
posted by Hackworth at 10:20 PM on May 18, 2004
Those JAKKs "TV Games" systems-in-controllers are just such a licensing deal: press releases on their site.
I'd be downright shocked if you were able to find any specific information on the financials of these deals. I think it's probably a safe bet that there are both royalties and upfront fees, but I'm just guessing there.
That's for games where a current functioning company holds the copyright, I'd imagine there are some that are pretty hard to dig up the holder.
posted by malphigian at 10:44 PM on May 18, 2004
I'd be downright shocked if you were able to find any specific information on the financials of these deals. I think it's probably a safe bet that there are both royalties and upfront fees, but I'm just guessing there.
That's for games where a current functioning company holds the copyright, I'd imagine there are some that are pretty hard to dig up the holder.
posted by malphigian at 10:44 PM on May 18, 2004
Oh, and more importantly, Hackworth:
...It's a safe bet that Richard Garriott remembers AutoDuel fondly. His company, NCSoft, has teamed up with developer NetDevil to revive the idea of car combat in a Mad Max-type universe as Auto Assault...
(as an even further offtopic aside, Gamespy's characterization of Autoduel as obscure is silly).
posted by malphigian at 10:51 PM on May 18, 2004
...It's a safe bet that Richard Garriott remembers AutoDuel fondly. His company, NCSoft, has teamed up with developer NetDevil to revive the idea of car combat in a Mad Max-type universe as Auto Assault...
(as an even further offtopic aside, Gamespy's characterization of Autoduel as obscure is silly).
posted by malphigian at 10:51 PM on May 18, 2004
Response by poster: I'd be downright shocked if you were able to find any specific information on the financials of these deals.
I guess it's like trying to get advice from lawyers on AskMefi. If they did know what to do, they sure as heck wouldn't divulge the information on a web forum.
posted by sleslie at 11:31 PM on May 18, 2004
I guess it's like trying to get advice from lawyers on AskMefi. If they did know what to do, they sure as heck wouldn't divulge the information on a web forum.
posted by sleslie at 11:31 PM on May 18, 2004
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posted by NortonDC at 9:53 PM on May 18, 2004