A new Commodore 64 computer and gaming handheld are coming via Indiegogo

[A new Commodore 64 computer and gaming handheld are coming via Indiegogo]

I fail to understand how this upgrade will even combat today's standard machines as in terms of graphics, sound, quality operation, etc. We have no working prototype being demonstrated for the general public, plus - Commodore International & USA both cease to exist, but the remaining IP holders would get their cut of profit if any is made at all from this 'project'.

 

If this does take off & it succeeds, then more power to the people putting this together.

 

[Sonic The Hedgehog on the 2600]

As much as I'd like to see a smooth scrolling Sonic game on the 2600, I feel that the limitations imposed by drawing levels almost exclusively out of player/missile/ball graphics are too restrictive. It would take forever to design decent levels, and even then I fear that the result wouldn't be as fun to play as a Sonic game should be.

 

Right now I'm trying to work on something more suited to the 2600, that embraces the graphical limitations of the console instead of trying to get around them. I'm trying to make the most out of what the TIA has to offer, without having to resort to excessively complex tricks. Hopefully this will be good practice for when I finally decide to work on something more ambitious.

 

After looking at the various screenshots & sprite demos.. there is nothing that proper time, planning, & dedication can do to a project on the VCS. The system itself is not limited, only the developer. PERIOD. The cartridge could hold a 6 bit project & would operate fine. Your television is a large portion of it & considering today's television sets - the power behind them with the VCS system outbeats today's 'interactive film players' that we call, Consoles. Again, NOTHING is entirely impossible.. only if you limit yourself in what you set to showcase, especially on the VCS.

[Music you listen to while programming]

It depends on the mood I am in & where I am at in production.

[List of Taboo Trademarks]

Yes, anything is possible if you just use the power of make-believe.

 

If you don't have any faith in a product such as the VCS 2600 that is still going strong in the gaming world, then WHY do you contribute your opinions to this board? People still buy games for the system. I get that many homebrew developers are just in it for fun & that's cool but if you are 'selling' these things as well, then look to market your product & at least make the most out of what you can get for your labor.

[List of Taboo Trademarks]

Reality check... two of my hacks have been among the more popular cartridges in the AtariAge store over the last 15 years, but even combined, the "profit", by which I mean my gross revenue, amounted to well under $1000, putting my hourly rate for hacking far below minimum wage (if I'd taken cash, but for the majority of it I took AA store credit to pay it forward). Actual "profit", as in net income, was well below zero, and people writing games from scratch will spend far more time at it and thus come out further in the hole.

 

But I didn't do my hacks or demos for profit and neither do most Atari 2600 coders. We're doing it for fun, and hiring a lawyer to negotiate a contract isn't fun... trust me. If you're putting together business plans for your VCS projects, you're doing it wrong. Really, really wrong. I assume that's why companies like Ebivision no longer exist today. It doesn't matter how underserved a market is if it's too small to cover expenses.

 

That's why most of us would rather ask forgiveness than permission. What kind of damages could they get? They send a C&D, another demake goes away (unless you're smart enough to release your source so that others might continue it in a non-infringing way) and that's the end of it. Even if you jumped through all the hoops, all you've achieved is working for a company for below minimum wage. If I have to beg someone for something before I start a project, I'm going to either work around them or not do the project. I'm not going to change Pac-Man into a fish or Mario into a raccoon or come up with yet another Flappy Bird/Man Goes Down or whatever. I'm going to sit it out.

 

As soon as hobbyists start treating the hobby like a business, I get disenchanted. This is why I find the current state of Atari homebrew, and threads like this, so dismaying. You are not going to get rich or even make any significant money at all. So just GPL your damn code already and stop pretending your hobby is your job.

 

Such rage in this post. If the Commodore 64 can make it's comeback like it is, I am certain that even through the years that homebrew development has been going on which has been since 1976, mind you.. I can see people making a swift profit off of their VCS 2600 creations. Again, if they own the rights to what they make AND they have a stellar backing & support.. should be fine. It may be a hobby for some & for some it could be more than that, again.. everyone has a career aside from this stuff & I am sure of that but the possibility of extra income or something more than that is always good to shoot for.

[List of Taboo Trademarks]

If I can add into this discussion:

 

All points made were on spot, but I want to add that IF you decide to venture down the road of making a game based on a TV program or Movie.. you should get the written consent of the copyright owners themselves & have some kind of an outline to give to them to showcase your game's outline & so forth. Once production is completed & the game has been tested.. from a legal standpoint you'd have to split profit between you & the copyright holder(s). I would say take 30% profit & give the remaining 70% to the copyright holder(s). Other than that, you should be good to go from that aspect.

[homebrew question]

Here's one example: I made a crappy Atari 2600 game that was originally a failed example program using batari Basic, Other people put it on cart, did the manual, box art, cart art, and so on. Out of the roughly 200 people in the world who still buy Atari 2600 homebrew carts, it probably sold less than 100 copies and that's including the Limited Edition that was sold before it was in the AtariAge store, so don't plan on getting rich.

I honestly believe that the VCS 2600 should be the only game system in existence to this day & I the reason say that is because today's games are all about high quality graphics & lack any decent if not sensible game play. If you can at least draw decently & program it to do what you want it to & it works, then it should sell. With that aside, I don't plan to make it rich IF I were to ever decide to develop a game for the VCS 2600 as I would leave all that up the consumer. The consumer sees the VCS 2600 as a box that allows two dots & a line, based on today's generation of consoles however what I have seen come out of the homebrew in recent years shows me that the developers of that timeframe basically rushed to put out their product rather than carefully designing it, knowing that yes they believed they had very little 'memory' to work with which would come to light that they were wrong, again from what I have seen in the past few years with homebrew projects.

I see that you changed your post. If you create something original, you don't have to worry about anything. But if you are looking to get your name in the news and sell more carts than you normally would, you either get permission from a big company so you can legally create an Atari 2600 version of their famous game or you do it without asking and hope they won't hear about it and sue your pants off.

I know all that & no I would not do any de-makes of any of today's 'games' or should I say 'interactive films'.

[homebrew question]

How does one sell their creation for the VCS, without legal repercussion?