To those who created Adventure II and other homebrewers

[riffraff]

I am working on a homebrew Bally Astrocade game which is a port of a classic coin-op/2600 game and am wondering if I can release it with the same name without worrying about any kind of legal troubles from Atari.

 

I remember a guy called VGR, he maintained a "rarity list" for the 2600 before the Digital Press's was so popular. Anyways he had written a port of Adventure for MS-DOS and asked Atari if he could release it into the public domain for free. Atari told them that if he did, they'd sue his ass (hardly an empty threat, Atari sued people for fun back then). Anyways he never did release this even anonymously for fear of being sued.

 

This was over 10 years ago, so maybe Atari is no longer sue-happy. Are you guys worried about any kind of problems from Atari now with Adventure II? I noticed you have © 2004 on the box and use likenesses from Adventure.

 

What about 2600 games like Medievil Mayhem? It's obviously a Warlords game. Was the name made the way it was to avoid confusion from the original 2600 Warlords game or were there legal considerations?

 

My game is about 70% complete. I'm looking forward to releasing this game and others after it.

 

I'd like to know what you guys think about these issues reguarding homebrew games.

[Atarimania75]

I am working on a homebrew Bally Astrocade game which is a port of a classic coin-op/2600 game and am wondering if I can release it with the same name without worrying about any kind of legal troubles from Atari.

 

I remember a guy called VGR, he maintained a "rarity list" for the 2600 before the Digital Press's was so popular. Anyways he had written a port of Adventure for MS-DOS and asked Atari if he could release it into the public domain for free. Atari told them that if he did, they'd sue his ass (hardly an empty threat, Atari sued people for fun back then). Anyways he never did release this even anonymously for fear of being sued.

 

This was over 10 years ago, so maybe Atari is no longer sue-happy. Are you guys worried about any kind of problems from Atari now with Adventure II? I noticed you have © 2004 on the box and use likenesses from Adventure.

 

What about 2600 games like Medievil Mayhem? It's obviously a Warlords game. Was the name made the way it was to avoid confusion from the original 2600 Warlords game or were there legal considerations?

 

My game is about 70% complete. I'm looking forward to releasing this game and others after it.

 

I'd like to know what you guys think about these issues reguarding homebrew games.

 

Not sure of any of the legal stuff but i wish you luck with it all, and i will be looking forward to some cool games from you!

Edited May 14, 2007 by Atarimania75

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Ron and the rest of the Squre Trio group actually got permission from Atari to use the Adventure name and likeness for Adventure II. There was a time during Adventure II's developement when it was known as "Quest for the Golden Chalice" and other names of the ilk.

[riffraff]

Right on, thanks!

[+legeek]

Craig Pell (VGR) DID release his Adventure game as "Indenture"...

http://www.erasurewars.net/indenture.html

 

However he had to release it as Freeware...

http://home.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/cvg/Indenture.html

 

Cheers,

Ben

[bomberpunk]

from my personal experience...

 

about five years ago i started coding a sequel, also called Adventure II, in Qbasic. i had contacted the original programmer Warren Robinett for permission, guidelines, and to inquire about what HE would want from a sequel. although those emails are long gone, i do remember him saying something like Adventure is just a word and that slapping a 'II' behind it does not infringe on copyrights, at least that was what he believed was correct at the time. i'm not sure if that was right, or if it was exactly what he said, but that was the gist of it.

 

oh, and my sequel died in an early development stage if anyone was wondering, but there was a finished (and glitchy) 2-player VS mode where players ran around an empty playing field and wielded their swords ala Legend of Zelda's Link (when he was charged up with a blinking sword, a move that debuted in A Link To The Past). i wonder if i still have that.

[+SpiceWare]

What about 2600 games like Medievil Mayhem? It's obviously a Warlords game. Was the name made the way it was to avoid confusion from the original 2600 Warlords game or were there legal considerations?

I named it Medieval Mayhem to follow the alliteration used by Bryan Edewaard for Castle Crisis.

[jboypacman]

Am going to have to get a Bally Astrocade now! Good luck Riff on the game and i cant wait to see it.