bojay1997

Yes, and I have explained to you that just showing that you used a name first by producing a copy of a magazine you purported to send to yourself is not enough to defend yourself against such a claim. Believing otherwise is foolish.

You're three guys with a poor business plan and no funding that want people to give you almost two million dollars and pay market rate salaries for a year while you spend other people's money to create a commercial venture that isn't even conceptually proven to work. The fact that you have lost a developer (Piko) and the guy who was supposed to develop your cores (i.e. the very heart of how your concept would work) in one day speaks volumes about your incompetence and delusional nature. Why wouldn't you have locked your core developer into a deal before you launched this ill-fated project? The post-mortem is going to make a heck of an article in your magazine and you can probably auction off your cardboard prototype on Gamegavel assuming either one is still around in a month or two.

Proving you used a name before a valid trademark holder doesn't necessarily mean you have a defense to an infringement of trademark claim. As others have noted, there were at least two other magazines I am aware of, "Retro" and "Retro Gamer" that predated both Retro Gaming Magazine and Retro Magazine, so they would likely have an even stronger argument. Indeed, the threshold to even obtain a trademark is generally use in commerce and sending yourself a copy of a magazine without proof that it has actually been sold commercially is pretty worthless.

Not sure why you're giving legal advice about something you clearly don't understand. This doesn't appear to be a copyright dispute. You can have a million different products called Retro on the market including books, magazines, etc…and that doesn't give someone else the right to claim copyright in your similarly titled work. If anything, this would be a dispute over a trademark to the name "Retro" in connection with a magazine and sending yourself a copy of a work called "Retro" might serve as some support for the idea that you used the name first, but it does nothing in and of itself to further a claim with USPTO to have a trademark stricken. There are other existing magazines called "Retro" out there that predate both Retro and this other magazine with a similar name, so if anything, they would likely have a stronger basis to argue for a reversal of the trademark award.

I think the reality is that they never had much in the way of financial resources to put into this thing at all. I mean, my understanding is that none of Mike's video game business ventures have ever really panned out financially. Gamegavel has never made any money from what he has posted in the past and I suspect Retro might break even or even lose money given the declining magazine business and the need to go back to Kickstarter each year. A lot of us suspected this was a doomed project from the beginning given the niche nature of the product and the overly ambitious goals backed by a team with little or no experience launching this kind of product. I hope nobody actually throws money at this thing because I think this is probably the worst conceived and most risky crowdfunding venture I have ever seen.

My issue with the Retro VGS is that it forces people to buy an unnecessary piece of hardware all in what seems to be an attempt to justify purchasing the Jaguar molds. Why not just set up a publishing company to publish cart versions of indie games on the platforms that the cores will mimic? Why would I need to buy any of the games that have been announced so far when I can already purchase them in physical format from places like Indiebox or in the case of Shovelknight, on disc from any major video game retailer in a couple months? Do I need another copy of Pier Solar or Super Noah's Ark 3D on a non-native platform when I can already buy it on cartridge for the original platform it was developed for? I am a gamer and a collector and I prefer physical media to digital. Having said that, I don't believe in putting something on physical proprietary media, especially when a piece of custom hardware is required to play it, just for the sake of releasing it on a cartridge, absent some other artistic or otherwise compelling reason.

Actually, the default now for a successful "not as described case" is that Ebay sends you a prepaid return label that the seller has to pay for. I've had to do it twice in the last few months and that's how it was handled each time without even asking.

The seller would have very little recourse other than to complain to Ebay in which case they may do a goodwill refund to the buyer and allow the seller to keep the purchase price. Having said that, Ebay is getting much less willing to issue such goodwill refunds and would likely make the seller take the loss.

Disagree strongly for many reasons that putting sealed games into an acrylic case somehow is a good means of protecting them. Shrinkwrap decays over time and reverts to its original form which is a petroleum by-product. Similarly, the acids in paper, cardboard, adhesives on labels, plastic and metal parts etc... break down over time. The general consensus from institutions that are actively preserving the physical copies of games is that shrinkwrap should be removed and games should be stored with the individual components separated and preserved according to their respective needs. In addition, the components need to be stored in dark environments with stable temperature and humidity. The cases being used to "Slab" games by VGA are not UV proof (although they have some UV protection) and are not airtight as that could result in a buildup of condensation inside the case. Similarly, the very fact that someone sticks materials that tend to degrade each other (paper, plastic, dyes, adhesives, metals, batteries in some cases) in a clear plastic case does nothing to prevent that degradation. The only thing the morons spending money to get sealed games graded will have in the future is a lump of decayed cardboard, shrinkwrap and adhesive goo in a clear case. On the other hand, properly preserved manuals, boxes, and cartridges could theoretically last for hundreds of years if stored properly, although it's very likely the underlying game won't be functional.

Both SOLD. Thank you.

I guess I'm not following how you're defining "entire development kit". Wouldn't you also need the 3do M2 Nubus dev card (and a compatible Mac) to actually do any sort of development? Is that included somewhere and I'm missing it?

When was Mean 18 ever sold in the $350-$400 range? I have seen sealed copies go for up to $150 over the past five years, but nothing close to $350-$400. A sealed copy in damaged condition just sold for $125 on Ebay, so if anything, the price seems to be going up, not down.

Incorrect for items not as described or damaged. The only time a seller can make you pay return shipping now is if you are returning the item because you don't want it for some reason that is not the fault of the seller.

That is one stupid seller considering Ebay now makes the seller pay return shipping if an item is damaged and has to be returned for a full refund.

That looks like very recent and hand done Y fold wrap. I suspect this is just a reproduction box of some kind as it appears very modern in construction and I have never seen anything even close to that in any region for 2600 releases.

Pretty sure that's a repro. There is at least one vendor I know of in Europe that sells those and I have seen them for sale before on various forums.

Unfortunately, everything you listed is common (maybe a few dollars to a high of $10 if they are mint sealed) with the exception of a few of the 7800 titles like Commando, Fatal Run, Ninja Golf, Alien Brigade and Impossible Mission that go for anywhere from between $25 and $100 or so sealed mint. Pictures would be helpful as condition is everything on these games.

They didn't buy it because the flippers spend hours every day scouring Ebay and buying up all the copies of in-demand games. By the time the average buyer who may have a job and a family and lots of other things going on takes a look on Ebay, the items are long gone. These flippers don't just buy one copy or a few copies of in-demand games, they try to buy them all, often side dealing or otherwise engaging in shady practices to do so. I honestly don't see where you're going here. Frankly, I don't understand why anyone would advocate for the flippers. As I've said before, they aren't doing anything illegal, but they are not providing anything of value to the market and at worst, they not only hurt the buyers who end up spending more for items, but collectors who are trying to buy items in the "real world" and are faced with sellers who point to inflated Ebay sales numbers. As many of us have pointed out, we aren't talking about collectors who sell duplicates or sell at a profit or even professional sellers that sell items for fair market value. This is really a new and specific breed of people who sit on Ebay and scoop up massive quantities of rarer games and then immediately post them for sale at many times the purchase price. Personally, as a collector, I don't take pleasure in the value of items going up, even if I have owned them for years or paid far less than their current value. I sincerely hope that everyone who collects is able to find the games they want at reasonable prices as I know the enjoyment that owing games you've always wanted or dreamed about as a kid is a neat experience and shouldn't be ruined by a few greedy flippers looking to manipulate the market.

Except that the buyer could have simply bought the game from the original seller for far less money on Ebay where it was originally listed until the flipper grabbed it up. There is no service being performed by the flipper, the flipper is simply intervening in the marketplace and costing buyers more money. If the flipper was actually buying up lots and breaking them apart or going to thrifts and swap meets and hunting for games, I would be much more sympathetic to the argument. As it stands, these Ebay flippers are providing a service nobody wants or needs and simply lining their own pockets at the expense of buyers.

I'm sorry, but your analysis is incorrect, at least under US copyright law and likely most other Western European laws as well. This is the use of copyrighted images in a commercial manner. These images are not being used to promote or solicit the sale of the goods pictured in the images. The images printed on the cards are the actual goods being sold. Similarly, you'd be hard pressed to claim there was some academic or scholarly purpose to these cards. As such, there is no "fair use" or other copyright exception here and it doesn't matter if it's 1980 or 2015 in this particular case as the images are still within copyright. So while it is probably unlikely that Atari will take action, they certainly would be within their rights to do so.

Just as your opinion is of no importance to me. Potential customers deserve to have all the facts and I simply am pointing out that you've claimed this was for sale before and got into arguments with long time members of this forum. Not a great way to start a relationship.

Actually, plenty of PC game developers did move on to cartridge based consoles or serious application development as a result of piracy. There was massive piracy on the Amiga and of the Amiga owners I was friends with growing up, I don't know a single one that didn't have a massive pirated library even if they purchased the occasional legit game. I think non-pirates on the Amiga, Commodore and Atari ST would be the exception and not the rule.

This guy appears to be a time waster with a bad attitude. Apparently he has posted this same thing at least twice in the past three years. For example - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/188547-intellivision-model-1149-keyboard-for-sale/

I don't think any of his stuff is actually sealed. At least not the bulk of it and not factory sealed. He says the boxes are sealed which might be accurate, but the games are clearly pictured as being outside of those sealed boxes.

I say this with peace and love and as someone who has traveled and worked in Canada extensively. Canada's postal system is among the worst in the world. I have literally shipped items to and from Europe and Asia in half the time it takes for something to go from California to Vancouver or Toronto. I've had more items lost and damaged in Canadian postal hands than any other country in the world. Honestly, I don't know what it is, but I have many friends who live in Canada and they report similar experiences. Canada is an amazing country in many ways, but it has a terrible postal system.