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HardWork

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Posts posted by HardWork

    Three Consoles, Two Markets, One Hope

    in Modern Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Ok, one more time.

     

    1.) Nintendo fully funded, and still owns the N64 codefor those games.

    2.) They will not make "new" games. They'll be free N64 images. Playable with the Revolution controller, and that does not violate any IP law.

    3.) Nintendo has killer lawers. They hammered all this out years ago, before the (500 Mil) sale of Rare, and during the planning stages of the Nintendo Network.

     

    Bottom line: The 360 Grouchies can kick and scream all they want, sorry if reality scares them, but the simple truth is that Revolution owners will enjoy the N64 images of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. For Free. On Day One.

    The icing on the cake is the fact that these two games, released years ago, will play so much better with the Wand, and smoke circles around the new Bond products and the forgotten-by-next-summer PDZ.....

     

    See ya' there. :cool:

    post-3432-1136333770_thumb.jpg

    Three Consoles, Two Markets, One Hope

    in Modern Gaming Discussion

    Posted · Edited by HardWork

    Let's break it down:

     

    PS3: Sturdy vessel for the mass-market. Large market share built in part through casual peer-pressure. Sequel-itis. Inevitable franchise fatigue. Four or five diamonds in the rough per year, amongst a glut of pretty but poor titles. The new "VCR".

     

    360: Reliable console for the casual, or materialistic gamer. Low number of quality exclusives. Halo's 2.5, 3, 3.5, & 4 stand alone with core fans. May become the "Madden Exclusive" console after a MS/EA merge. The new "3D0".

     

    Revolution: Integral console for genre innovation. Suprising number of high-quality exclusives & adult-oriented titles. Motion-tracking may be copied by the competition before end of lifecycle. The new "NES"

     

    P.S. Do I sound like a Nintendo fanboy? Perhaps. But look me in the eye and tell me that "Baby-Step Sequel part XI" played with a dual-analog is exciting, fresh, or new. The industry desperatley needs another quantum leap forward.

     

    P.S.S. There is no malicious fan-bashing in these words, we all play video games. I intend to own all three consoles.

     

    I'll pick up a 360 sometime in '09, to enjoy Halo and exclusive PC ports.

     

    I'll pick up the PS3 in its second year, likely in Oct '07 with the next-gen GTA.

     

    I'll pick up the Revolution on its launch day, with Twilight Princess, Mario, and That Game Nobody Saw Coming. Oh, and I'll be playing the hell out of next-gen ruduxs of GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, online of course....drool. :cool:

    The Knight Rider 2600 project

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    And the slave labor continues, pulling and heaving on this immovable stone block....

    Hey, it moved an inch! Look at that!

    We've lost count of the downloads, disassembled files and Begginer's guides that's been studied....eylids...heavy...must..sleep...(snort) Huh? Sorry, my brain's been hurting latley....

    I actually had a dream about Andrew's CD-ROM 2600 theory, visions of astounding light sources and 3-D rendering on the VCS (NO WAY! NO WAY! I shouted at that wicked display, then woke up.) :D

    The countdown clock is coming along OK, and the title screen sorta resembles the above graphic (half purple screen, half brown)

    If not for the Team, and the abundance of on-line help, it wouldn't be even this far.

    Andrew, Paul, Thomas, & others: my respect for your accomplishments grows every day, and with every headache that I get from the learning curve. I feel like a blind woodsman, ya know? But its coming, slowly. Hey, if we can move that stone block an inch, then why not finish the journey of 10,000,000,000 inches? PULL, men, PULL!!! :twisted:

    Back to work....

    Thanx everyone, comments on the above formula are welcome...

    James for the Savage Team

    • Like 2

    The Knight Rider 2600 project

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    Here is the latest version of the KR2600 design document. Several facets of the game have evolved into a more rigid plan.

    The HIDEOUT concept has changed the most. Instead of a 3-tier "Keystone Kapers" plan, the HIDEOUT is now something more kin to "Karateka", or "Kung Fu", retaining the stealth elements from "Metal Gear". The proposed "camera" beams have been ditched in favor of "patrolling" HENCHMEN that the player must hide from, or fight. This is closer to the original concept, and it works better. There is also a lifebar for the player.

     

    The game will feature (3) Episodes. There are (3) GOONs to interrogate per Episode.

    The Dangers for DRIVING MODE have been figured out. The added Highway "cones" give the player a heads-up for dodging or Turbo Boosting obstacles.

     

    The Savage Team has proposed a 32k ROM for the final product.

     

    And, Team has proposed (3) new monikers for the Game, if indeed the Knight Rider name is not attainable. We would also ditch the hopes of moving 1,000 of these without the name, and limit the production of carts and Joypads to batches of 100.

    A) Night Ride B) Lone Crusader C) Shadowy Flight

     

    Suggestions by the 2600 Forum for a new Name are welcome, as are any comments of the Game's formula. Enjoy!

     

    Thanx Everyone

    James "HardWork" for the Savage Team

    • Like 1

    The Knight Rider 2600 project

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    Yes, I've definitley considered releasing the Joypad on it's own. It agree that it could stand its own with out the KR game. The prototype feels pretty solid, it really does enhance the feel of several 2600 titles. (Star Raiders, Solaris, Enduro, & Night Driver are a few)

    It could be out there on the market next year, but we'll see how the early models do in the "lab." Right now I'm working with clay models, so the production phase is a ways off, and we're consumed with the KR title that uses it at this time.

    Oh, and concerning the KR namesake. We have a few alternate monikers ready, just in case we can't use the Knight Rider name.

     

    1.) Night Ride

    2.) Lone Crusader

    3.) Shadowy Flight

     

    Suggestions?

    We do have a few original game ideas that would use the Joypad, one of them a crude first-person shooter.

    Gotta go, I'm on my lunch break. I'll post some graphic storyboards for KR2600 later today, so stay tuned.

     

    Thanx,

    James for the Savage team.

    • Like 1

    The Knight Rider 2600 project

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    Novaxpress, I'm not trying to spar with you, but you're missing the point.

     

    1.) The "license" we hope to coup would be little more than "permission" to use the Knight Rider name on the finished product, not as a money-maker. I have posted many times that the KR2600 title will not generate a lot of revenue, and will be lucky to break even on the token cost of "permission" that we're willing to pay, in respect to the number of carts produced. 1,000 is the number of carts and Joypads we're shooting for, to offset the cost licensing, production, marketing, shipping, & customer service.

     

    2.) I didn't say that a licensed 3rd party would have absolute control to grant a sub-license. I said that a 3rd party may share our fondness for the product enough to task thier legal dept. to secure a sub-license for the "Hobby" market. This is entirely possible, but not probable, as said before.

     

    4.) The current KR franchise is based on the TV program. If/When a motion picture is published, you can bet that it's two KR properties will be marketed as different entites in various media. Let's say that the Knight Rider property becomes a searing, red-hot cash cow circa 2005. (It won't, but stick with me.) As you mentioned, the Studio likes to make money, and I'm sure that that the Studio would be quick to license the TV & Movie rights seperatley to game developers, if the demand were there. That ultra-high demand probably won't exist, alas. (The TV video game rights are currently held.) My mention of LOTR is an illustration of how a hot property can be whored out though the gamut of media, once rights are secured by 3rd parties.

     

    5.) As posted earlier, the hard-core fondness for KR and the 2600 are quite intertwined in the souls of our target audience. That's just one reason we're hoping to squeeze it onto the VCS. You probably weren't "feeling" that magical VCS/KR attachment in '83, so I don't expect you, Nova, to understand our motivation.

     

    6.) Knight Rider is one of the few intellectual properties that could make a splash in the current 2600 user base. If Star Wars never made a 2600 appearance in its time, don't you think (today's user base) would be excited now, if such a game were coming? I think so. There are people (KR geeks ages 25-40) who do care, and I'm convinced we can reach 500-1,000 of them through a bevy of innovative marketing tactics.

     

    7.) I still dig Garfield as much as ever, but I don't remember chatting excitedly with my 1983 buds about the possibility of a 2600 game. A copy of Pac-Man Arcade would be OK, and that's one game we did chat about at the time, next to KR2600.

     

    8.) I never claimed to be either a lawyer, or an acccomplished businessman in entertainment media. I am a passionate game player, collector, historian, & designer. Most everyone who is registered at AtariAge.com can relate to this hobby on those levels. I'm sure in that respect, we're more alike than disalike. (Have you played Vectrex today?)

     

    9.) Maybe we should have named ourselves Troll, instead of Savage! Bwa-ha-ha!! :D Hey, I don't blame folks for doubting the end result, given the thin, fragile vector of destiny we tread. Give us the time & room to do our work. There's a lot on our plate right now, & I have better things to today do than argue with schoolyard bullies over legal jargon. I'm quite tired of discussing licensing, though it's a necessary evil, part of the (still maturing) Business Plan, and I would be much more interested in discussing issues related to the Game itself.

     

    10.) I'm starting to like you, Nova, just for your passions alone. :P .

     

    All comments and sugestions are welcome, of course.

    Thanx everyone,

    James "HardWork" for the Savage Team

    • Like 1

    The Knight Rider 2600 project

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    Whew! It's getting warm in here! NovaXpress, I appreciate your passion. Let's examine the license coup again:

     

    1.) Savage does not intend to pursue the License until the game is finished, and there is a product to demo. This will take up to 3 years to become a reality, and all that exists of it today are extensive storyboards, gameplay theories, and experimental bits of code. As gloriously illustrated in this thread, it may never be finished.

     

    2.) You are correct on the Knight Rider ressurection. I'ts likley to be a motion picture, ready for release sometime in the next two years.

     

    3.) I have never stated that the KR2600 license would be an exclusive one, that blocks out other publishers. Remember that franchise licensing is a tree with many, many branches that lead to various end products, especially on game consoles.

     

    4.) Lord Of The Rings, anyone? Or Tetris? Using LOTR as a loose example, the property exists in (two examples) book and movie form, and both media were licensed seperately. The Knight Rider TV and Motion Picture licenses are different animals, and in theory, products could branch from these two sources indefinitley. We could see two KR games on the PS3, that are sublicensed for Xbox2 and (Gamesphere?), one on the GBA, one for the PC, one for the Mac, one for the Tiger handhelds, at least one for the Wireless, one for the Card Game, one for games on the official Web site, the wristwatch & keychain games, etc. etc., and yes, it's possible, (not probable) that one of the dozen license holders might be swayed to sub-license thier rights to the "hobby" market, after thier initial run of product has enjoyed its 90 days of peak sales, and has cooled down.

     

    5.) Yes, money must be made, I won't argue that point. I never said it would be easy to grab any rights whatsoever. Maybe you have to love Knight Rider to understand, that to hundreds of thousands of people, the franchise touches us on a personal level much like the original Star Trek did with many during the 70's and 80's. It's personal, integral, inspiring, bonding, imaginative and fascinating to the core. If you can't relate, then you probably don't want our game.

     

    6.) What does this geeky pledge have to do with anything? I'll say that somewhere in the sea of future KR game licenses, someone whom will hold one of these licenses will be just as pleased with our game as we are, and may grant rights to a sub-license, and legal mumbo-jumbo to make room for a new "hobbyist" branch, after thier product is in the bargain bin. Call us insane, but we are rock-solid sure that there are at least 500 of Us out there, and maybe 1,000, Die-hard KR fans whom wanted this game 20 years ago, and would make the $70 pilgrimage to own it. Maybe we're wrong, but hey. Time, and creative marketing will tell.

     

    7.) As stated before, the Savage staff are capable guys. My friend doesn't work at Kinko's, he is part owner & technical support of a local print shop. He specializes in C+ and Assembly, a great KR and 2600 fan, and has brewed a great faith in the project as our friendship established over the Storyboards. The other fellow, a friend from the old school, is also a huge KR fan, & he's quite brilliant with math. I'm the game's designer & visionary. Creating the Team, and establishing our (temporary) name has only inspired us to work harder.

     

    8.) Andrew, I really do respect your experience in this field. And you may be right when stating that this project is too ambitious for the 2600.

    It seems that the parent enviornment (the 800) is easier to hack for, and the transition to the 5200 is seeming more likley. We would still like to write it for the 2600, but MUCH work still must be done.

     

    9.) Having said that, Please allow 2 - 3 years for delivery. We're working on it.

     

    Thanx everyone,

    James "HardWork" for the Savage Team

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    • Like 1

    The Knight Rider 2600 project

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    OK, last post for the day:

    The game might be posted in the 5200 forum, but the code will get rewritten a few times as it mutates to the 2600 environment. The 2600 audience is still the target, but we'll see how it goes, the whole thing is still early. :)

    I have clearly stated from the first post that I'm new to the 2600, but not to hacking. I'm warm to BASIC programming, and I'm no dummy. Also, I've had two guys jump on board this last week. One is a good friend of mine of 10 years, who was the first to know of KR2600, at the New Year. The other fellow I met by chance, whom works at the print shop where I have been producing my storyboards. These guys are no dummies, either.

    Both have pledged full support after absorbing the content of my early work, & the content of this site. This week we have formed the Team, christened it with the "Savage" name, and have gotten little sleep since then. :D

    Thanx, everyone.

    James

    • Like 3

    The Knight Rider 2600 project

    in Atari 2600

    Posted

    Thanx for your positive comments, Vanguard! But please don't underestimate my team's energy to build the game, and please know that we have strong backgrounds in mathematics & game theory. Also, I didn't realize that you were the holder of KR license!

    We are dedicated to hacking this thing, and also know that I have many clever angles at approaching the KR license, and will exhaust them all before I simply "Forget It."

    And that goes for all the nay-sayers out there, (cough,Andrew,ahem) who are quick to say that It Can't Be Done.

    Thanx everyone, all feedback is welcome...

    James "HardWork," for all the Savage staff

    • Like 1
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