"their" game that was originally also made by Jeff Minter? Besides, what the fuck does Atari do except sit on a bunch of IPs and not let anyone use them?
We should also be mad at Hasbro, they own the Atari name now.
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Atari blocks Jeff Minter from releasing TxK on PC, VR, PS4
- Thread starter Visualante2
- Start date
"their" game that was originally also made by Jeff Minter? Besides, what the fuck does Atari do except sit on a bunch of IPs and not let anyone use them?
We should also be mad at Hasbro, they own the Atari name now.
Nerdkiller
Membeur
Somehow, I never knew I wanted TxK in VR until now.
What? No really. WHAT!? What sense does this make?
How the hell does this work?
Is there any legal precedent for this?
Well, I'm assuming that Space Giraffe managed to be different enough to not wake the sleeping bear.
I wonder if it might be because he did that.
Imagine this scenario:
Meff Jinter is hired by Atari to make an officially-licensed Tempest 5000 as an exclusive for the Xbox One.
He then uses that source code, redesigns the backdrops and graphics a bit, and releases it independently as Cyclone 5M, an indie multiplatform title.
That, of course, is explicitly an unauthorised port of Atari's IP, and I assume few people would take issue with Atari blocking that. The TxK situation isn't like that, but - and I think this is the problem - it's rather hard to tell.
So, yes. I wonder if it's being blocked because Atari can claim that since he developed a very similar game for them, he's using their assets internally, whereas a completely new person could develop the game without that stigma.
Wow, what a monumental dick move after they got those new versions ready from the sounds of it too. TxK is pretty excellent on Vita and I was looking forward to picking up the PC version as well :/
Oh well, at least I got to play it at all before these fuckwits realised they could screw Minter over on it.
Oh well, at least I got to play it at all before these fuckwits realised they could screw Minter over on it.
he's the original creator.
Yeah, let Jeff Minter release his game, give Jace Hall the god damn rights to Blood and fuck off to Mars you dinosaur company.
MrCunningham
Member
Atari, SA is literally one of the worst game companies in existence right now. They are on the verge of going bankrupt and the only games they have released in currently memory look and play like shit. Right now they are playing the role of IP hoarder.
Oppo
Member
This is a pretty good theory.
Clone games abound on every platform, it had to be something else, and his work on Tempest 2000 might be the connection here.
PrintedCrayon
Banned
Weird. I wouldn't have thought Atari could stake any claim whatsoever, surely they have no rights over an entire genre of games? I can understand similarities but then how many other companies could start suing each other for similarities in games?
Neuromancer
Member
Wow, that's terrible. I was really looking forward to playing this game on Morpheus.
Bothering Atari on Twitter can't hurt, so feel free to join me:
Bothering Atari on Twitter can't hurt, so feel free to join me:
Wow, that's terrible. I was really looking forward to playing this game on Morpheus.
Bothering Atari on Twitter can't hurt, so feel free to join me:
#freethellama is one hell of a hashtag.
Visualante2
Member
I went to their site and checked out their recent releases. They aren't even a B tier publisher since the release of Ghostbusters Sanctum of Slime.
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
No Dave Theurer made Tempest.. Atari just had Minter make Tempest 2000.
Don't give Minter credit for all of Tempest.. besides as much as I like Jeff Minters games.. he basically has just been remaking other peoples games for quite some time.
Neuromancer
Member
SerTapTap
Member
I'm certainly not above tearing into companies on twitter, #FreeTheLlama it is
Visualante2
Member
Well that makes sense now, they went after cartoon series Weebl and Bob because they alleged it infringes on their Weeble trade mark. They had to change it to Wobbl and Bob
Ban Puncher
Member
It is time for the Hover Bovver reboot.
PumpkinSpice
Banned
The use of the "atari" name has been a mess for decades. It's also almost always been used by awful, horrible companies.
MrCunningham
Member
Have you seen Jim Sterling's playthrough of Haunted House? : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkilcQ9kTw
Or Kotaku's current look at Rollercoaster Tycoon: http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1004812
This is the current state of Atari. They aren't even a "C" publisher at this point.
Wow, that's terrible. I was really looking forward to playing this game on Morpheus.
Bothering Atari on Twitter can't hurt, so feel free to join me:
tweeted too (make your own owl noise joke)
The game name 'TxK' & look is almost like saying this is the new Tempest.
Sony & Naughty Dog can't just make a new Crash Bandicoot game & call it CBX.
I'm kind of tangentally involved in this, Jeff let me convert the game to work on Android, Linux, OSX while LS handled PC, VR and PS4 versions. It's been mostly done for a while now. I used to be a coder a while back so it's been great fun having a hobby project to work on. But yeah, right now that work doesn't look like it'll see the light of day.
I've been involved in games for a good while and have a passing understanding of IP law as it relates to videogames and my feeling is they don't have a case with much merit. That said the cost to establish that legally is really high, something they've taken the time to point out in their legal correspondance, which means we are where we are. Pretty sure some more details will come out soon but it's not for me to share tbh.
Probably best to make it clear that I'm not speaking for Llamasoft or even Ruffian, who pay me for my day job, just for myself.
And it all seems hugely wrong to me and could be catastrophic for Llamasoft.
I've been involved in games for a good while and have a passing understanding of IP law as it relates to videogames and my feeling is they don't have a case with much merit. That said the cost to establish that legally is really high, something they've taken the time to point out in their legal correspondance, which means we are where we are. Pretty sure some more details will come out soon but it's not for me to share tbh.
Probably best to make it clear that I'm not speaking for Llamasoft or even Ruffian, who pay me for my day job, just for myself.
And it all seems hugely wrong to me and could be catastrophic for Llamasoft.
gingerbeardman
Member
I reached out to Jeff and I'll repeat here.
Perhaps the EFF can help with legal costs?
Legal Assistance from EFF
https://www.eff.org/pages/legal-assistance
Oh snap, had no idea that was the case.
DaBargainHunta
Member
Gross. I hope they counter-sue and drive "Atari" out of business. Not like it's the "real" Atari anyway. What fucking bullshit! Minter created the damn concept in the first place.
Corrected:
Corrected:
Yeah I saw that GBM (and favorited the tweet). It's really interesting.
And I wonder if you can crowdfund a legal case
So basically Atari are saying it's going to cost you a fuckload to prove us wrong in lawyer speak so we're taking our ball back until you can afford to prove it's not our ball in the first place?
Wow, that's terrible. I was really looking forward to playing this game on Morpheus.
Bothering Atari on Twitter can't hurt, so feel free to join me:
I actually think that the more tweets Atari gets, the more empowered their lawyers will be in digging in their heels and not settling this issue.
Unfortunately, widespread publicity could actually make it less likely that these ports see the light of day. We are damned if we do, damned if we don't make a big stink about this situation.
SerTapTap
Member
What are you talking about? They already said no, it's not like they'd just randomly change their mind after seeing people DIDN'T see it as a problem. I'm not saying Atari's fetid corpse will respond, but the last few years have shown companies DO respond to social media campaigns and fan backlash.
Yep. They'll go "Ah, people care about this IP, we better keep it"
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
No, he didn't.
Jeff Minter DID NOT invent or create Tempest. Dave Theurer created Tempest, of Missle Command and I, Robot fame.
STOP giving Minter credit for other peoples work.
MrCunningham
Member
Well yes, because it looks like Tempest 2000, a game that Jeff Minter developed for Atari way back in 1994. And yeah, Tempest 2K was a remake of a previous Atari arcade game from the 80s'.
DaBargainHunta
Member
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Yeah, I'm not getting how Atari is in the wrong for blocking what's clearly a copy of one of their properties.
I bet you are one of those people who think that Marvin Gaye wrote "Blurred Lines".