DerekRumpler Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) I've been pestering them across Twitter and Coleco Holdings, the rights distributor for the Coleco name, have completely denied Pat and Ian's claims. I am not saying that I believe Coleco Holdings, but they need to comment and show otherwise. I made this account so people could see it. The tweet where they deny it: https://twitter.com/colecovision_/status/700438168353509376 Edited February 19, 2016 by DerekRumpler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 (edited) The guys behind the Retro VGS (whoops... the Coleco Chameleon) and the current rights holders (River West Brands, Coleco Holdings.... whatever) to the Coleco name are a match made in heaven. Why anyone would want to work with these guys (past, present or future) is totally beyond my comprehensve abilities. Aside from that, I wish them all the best. The only contribution River West brands is making is detailing and outlining what Retro VGS can and can't do with the brand name they are buying. They are not contributing anything. This is all Retro VGS Inc. So things like Cabbage Patch Kids and Donkey Kong are definitely off limits, but other things like ColecoVision logo, and saying "Coleco is back in the video game business" they are allowed to say/use in marketing materials. Edited February 19, 2016 by Hannacek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 The only contribution River West brands is making.... Yeah, I get that and still can not comprehend why any of the CV Homebrewers would waste their time, money and effort working with River West Brands / Coleco Holdings, LLC. They are turning the Coleco name into a mockery. It's really too bad that someone the likes of a Keith Robinson and the Blue Sky Rangers couldn't have acquired at least the rights to all things ColecoVision and Adam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opcode Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Yeah, I get that and still can not comprehend why any of the CV Homebrewers would waste their time, money and effort working with River West Brands / Coleco Holdings, LLC. They are turning the Coleco name into a mockery. It's really too bad that someone the likes of a Keith Robinson and the Blue Sky Rangers couldn't have acquired at least the rights to all things ColecoVision and Adam. Well, I got involved with RWB way back in 2005, because someone mentioned my name to Mark and he got in touch with me. Back then he had big plans, but it became clear to me he had little idea about what he had bought. He didn't seem that aware of all the licenses involved and such. With time he clearly lost interested and started looking for partners. I am not going into details here, but let's say I got in touch with many of those partners and even got involved in some pretty ugly disputes. He was nice enough to get me a license when I requested one though, and for that I am thankful. Other than that, I blame his current partners for this Chameleon fiasco. I don't think Mark is directly involved, but I could be wrong. Being able to use the ColecoVision name (I don't care about the Coleco name actually) is nice, but I agree, at this point I would think twice before talking to them again. Just bad vibe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I wish ALL the classic brands were owned by people like Keith Robinson. Atari, Coleco etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serguei2 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 You guys should just join the fun in the other thread in the modern gaming section. this one seems a bit slower. The other thread fills up my inbox. This one is better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 The other thread fills up my inbox. This one is better. You're doing it wrong. Instead of getting notifications, just compulsively check it all day and all night long. That's what I do, and look how awesome I am? I'm rich and thin and not scamming people with a flawed retro turd console. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 The ONLY problem with the Chameleon is the lies and deception. If they would just come out and be clear with what it is and what it is not, then all of us could make an informed decision about whether or not we want to buy it. But, people are feeling lied and mislead, which is why there is so much hatred towards this. (And the prototype being a SNES mini is only the icing on the cake). The problem with the Chameleon is that they are misleading people about this not being the Retro VGS. This is the Retro VGS 2.0. They are misleading people about this being "The next Coleco console" and "Coleco is back". Coleco has been dead for decades, and they shouldn't lie to people and claim otherwise. They need to stop misleading people that they have anything to do with Coleco. They paid for the rights to the name, and that is all. It would be like buying the rights to the Coca Cola brand name and logo, but that didn't include any products or drinks. They could not make Coke or Sprite, or any of the things Coca Cola is known for. They couldn't even make their own version of Coke or Sprite, because someone else owns the rights to those. It is the same with Coleco; everything they were known for has been sold to someone else, or went back to its original rights holder, like Smurfs, Donkey Kong, Cabbage Patch kids, ALF dolls, etc. Coleco Holdings couldn't make a generic Smurf game or a generic Donkey Kong or Cabbage Patch Kid, because someone else owns that. All they own is ColecoVision itself, Adam computer, Super Action Controller, and other stuff like that, which has very little value. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 The other thread fills up my inbox. messages.png This one is better. Protip: Use "only when not online" option for the busier subbed threads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 They paid for the rights to the name, and that is all. It would be like buying the rights to the Coca Cola brand name and logo, but that didn't include any products or drinks. They could not make Coke or Sprite, or any of the things Coca Cola is known for. They couldn't even make their own version of Coke or Sprite, because someone else owns the rights to those. I think this is a nice analogy, and you can take it farther. There was a short-lived, pre-Sierra Mist soft drink called "Apple Slice" soda (actually from Pepsi, but go with it) from the 1980s? It kind of tasted like fizzy, sweetened apple cider. It's been discontinued for decades, but occasionally someone asks about it in a "remember when" kind of way. "Coleco" has the name to Apple Slice (Venture, Pepper II) but not Coca-Cola (Donkey Kong!) or even Pepsi Cola (Donkey Kong Jr.), which is what the mainstream wants. More importantly, the name "apple slice," like "chameleon," is a generic noun and does nothing for anyone. Even more importantly, "Coleco" doesn't have the marketing muscle of Coke, which spends billions of dollars worldwide to sell its sugar water. "Coleco" has a heavily censored Facebook page and a planned month of panhandling on Kickstarter. By the way, and just for fun, there are a crazy number of Coca-Cola brands, many more than there are original software titles for ColecoVision. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValkerieSilk Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 This thread is in the wrong category. Exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannacek Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 (edited) Yeah, I get that and still can not comprehend why any of the CV Homebrewers would waste their time, money and effort working with River West Brands / Coleco Holdings, LLC. They are turning the Coleco name into a mockery. It's really too bad that someone the likes of a Keith Robinson and the Blue Sky Rangers couldn't have acquired at least the rights to all things ColecoVision and Adam. From what I understand Keith Robinson was in the right place at the right time and was able buy Intellivision for a good price. Because he worked for Intellivision back in the day he can continue the brand, and he also has respect for the brand so he is looking after the best interests of the brand. Keith Robinson was able to keep Intellivision alive through all these years (even though it was really only a small piece that remained alive). Coleco died completely, and got bought and sold several times. Either no one who was associated with Coleco wanted to buy the brand rights to keep it alive, or the price was too high. Edited March 2, 2016 by Hannacek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 From what I understand Keith Robinson was in the right place at the right time and was able buy Intellivision for a good price. Because he worked for Intellivision back in the day he can continue the brand, and he also has respect for the brand so he is looking after the best interests of the brand. Keith Robinson was able to keep Intellivision alive through all these years (even though it was really only a small piece that remained alive). Coleco died completely, and got bought and sold several times. Either no one who was associated with Coleco wanted to buy the brand rights to keep it alive, or the price was too high. Although, there's a whole difference between Coleco and Mattel Most (95%) of all Coleco games were liscenced , (as most of Coleco products anyway ) When Coleco got brankruptcy, most of their assets were sold to Hasbro At this point, it has been 5 years since Coleco sold all their CV/ADAM stocks So what remained exactly after the bankruptcy? .... well, the Coleco/ColecoVision/ADAM/Head to Head names Pretty much only this along with a few of their completely original games (Super Action sports games mostly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 (edited) Eh, it's a much stranger scenario for RiverWest brands in my opinion...They didn't 'buy' anything, they just filed the appropriate paperwork. Pretty much anyone with a lawyer can acquire a 'dead' or 'abandoned' brands like Coleco was. Here's an fairly straight forward article about how and what they do: http://propertyintangible.com/2008/07/who-owns-dead-mark-ask-river-west.html and here's another less techie article about their business model http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/magazine/18rebranding-t.html . But JF is dead on with the idea that the branding only goes so far without the licensing agreements as well. While I'm confident all agreements are null and void with the dissolution of the original Coleco, Inc of Amsterdam, NY, I'd love to see some of the licensing paperwork from the original agreements. Were they in perpetuity? Were they for limited date ranges? Were they renewable? Were they platform specific? Etc. Edited March 4, 2016 by Murph74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 But JF is dead on with the idea that the branding only goes so far without the licensing agreements as well. Not sure If I understand properly (call it: Language barrier) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Simply, I agree with your notion (the Coleco/ColecoVision/ADAM/Head to Head names Pretty much only this along with a few of their completely original games) that the name Coleco is great, but most of the games we knew them for weren't their own property, they were licensed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Simply, I agree with your notion (the Coleco/ColecoVision/ADAM/Head to Head names Pretty much only this along with a few of their completely original games) that the name Coleco is great, but most of the games we knew them for weren't their own property, they were licensed. Got it, thanks for the explanation Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
128Kgames Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 (edited) Project is DEAD: Coleco officially pulls its name from the Chameleon It's time to abandon ship. http://www.engadget.com/2016/03/08/coleco-pulls-support-from-chameleon/ RetroVGS has deleted its Facebook page and its website is unavailable. Todd Shallbetter, COO of Atari, contacted us with the following statement: "Atari does not have, and never has had an agreement with RetroVGS to release Atari 2600 games on their product." Edited March 8, 2016 by TMOSteel 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serguei2 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Abandon ship! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
128Kgames Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I wonder if the Chameleon can be used as a flotation device? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Fill it with hot air, let it float away. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
128Kgames Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Fill it with hot air, let it float away. But wasn't it filled with hot air already... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 Erm.. what I meant to say is it was filled with hot air already and floated away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValkerieSilk Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 I can never look at my Atari Jaguar the same way again ;( ... Thanks alot Chameleon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 And this news comes as a surprise? I'd like to give Coleco Holdings, LLC the benefit of the doubt, but I just can't after the Coleco name just got dragged further through the mud. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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