Godzilla #1 Posted February 5, 2009 Just curious if anyone knows about this, did Atari pay and license game ideas from outside/third party/citizens for making atari 2600 games back in the pre-80s days? All the stuff I read back then spoke to them not doing that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fiddlepaddle #2 Posted February 5, 2009 I think programmers generally tried to either come up with something original, or took an interesting idea and make it different enough that they wouldn't need to get permission. Of course, if the game was to be marketed based on the name, like for example, Space Invaders or Pac Man, they had to license it, or risk a lawsuit. In the beginning days of the video game (and personal computer software), it wasn't even clear whether software was covered by patents or copyright. I think the 1980's was where licensing really became more prevalent. One of the big lawsuits of the time that helped define the law regarding licensing was KC Munchkin .vs. Pacman. Another was Pong .vs. TV Tennis. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tisaperfectdayelise #3 Posted February 5, 2009 Just curious if anyone knows about this, did Atari pay and license game ideas from outside/third party/citizens for making atari 2600 games back in the pre-80s days? All the stuff I read back then spoke to them not doing that. Arg...I can't find it, but there was just a post about this. A guy submitted a game idea, and was given $1,000 and a promise of 2% royalties....and it never came to be....I'll post the link, if I can find it again.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Godzilla #4 Posted February 5, 2009 That's why I was asking, to see if anyone actually knew. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snider-man #5 Posted February 5, 2009 Just curious if anyone knows about this, did Atari pay and license game ideas from outside/third party/citizens for making atari 2600 games back in the pre-80s days? All the stuff I read back then spoke to them not doing that. Arg...I can't find it, but there was just a post about this. A guy submitted a game idea, and was given $1,000 and a promise of 2% royalties....and it never came to be....I'll post the link, if I can find it again.... http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=138461 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
landondyer #6 Posted February 6, 2009 Just curious if anyone knows about this, did Atari pay and license game ideas from outside/third party/citizens for making atari 2600 games back in the pre-80s days? All the stuff I read back then spoke to them not doing that. No. Corporate policy was to return ideas to the senders, with a letter stating that Atari did not accept unsolicited ideas from non-employees. You'll find that most corporations have a policy like this. It's to avoid being sued for "that Pac-man thing that I wrote you about years ago, and that you stole from me!" IIRC we were instructed to tell our managers if we ever got an "idea" letter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SoundGammon #7 Posted February 6, 2009 Just curious if anyone knows about this, did Atari pay and license game ideas from outside/third party/citizens for making atari 2600 games back in the pre-80s days? All the stuff I read back then spoke to them not doing that. No. Corporate policy was to return ideas to the senders, with a letter stating that Atari did not accept unsolicited ideas from non-employees. You'll find that most corporations have a policy like this. It's to avoid being sued for "that Pac-man thing that I wrote you about years ago, and that you stole from me!" IIRC we were instructed to tell our managers if we ever got an "idea" letter. Ask Steve Bristow, he was with Atari from the early days up to the Falcon computer. I believe he was in the coin-op division when I was sending my ideas in. It was around 1980 that they ceased taking ideas from outside. I'm still curious today how many, or any, ideas from the outside made it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Godzilla #8 Posted February 6, 2009 (edited) Just curious if anyone knows about this, did Atari pay and license game ideas from outside/third party/citizens for making atari 2600 games back in the pre-80s days? All the stuff I read back then spoke to them not doing that. No. Corporate policy was to return ideas to the senders, with a letter stating that Atari did not accept unsolicited ideas from non-employees. You'll find that most corporations have a policy like this. It's to avoid being sued for "that Pac-man thing that I wrote you about years ago, and that you stole from me!" IIRC we were instructed to tell our managers if we ever got an "idea" letter. Yea, that's what I remember reading in the magazines back then. The only 'outside' thing I remember from back then was that thing Atari did where they marketed your game if you wrote and they deemed it worthy (for the a8bit computers,) http://www.atariarchives.org/APX/about.php ah there it is The APX Edited February 6, 2009 by Godzilla Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Albert #9 Posted February 6, 2009 No. Corporate policy was to return ideas to the senders, with a letter stating that Atari did not accept unsolicited ideas from non-employees. You'll find that most corporations have a policy like this. It's to avoid being sued for "that Pac-man thing that I wrote you about years ago, and that you stole from me!" My mother got such a letter from Activision when she sent them an idea back in the day. Definitely pretty common practice--here is Apple's page on sending them "Unsolicited Ideas": http://www.apple.com/legal/policies/ideas.html ..Al Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snider-man #10 Posted February 6, 2009 (edited) No. Corporate policy was to return ideas to the senders, with a letter stating that Atari did not accept unsolicited ideas from non-employees. You'll find that most corporations have a policy like this. It's to avoid being sued for "that Pac-man thing that I wrote you about years ago, and that you stole from me!" My mother got such a letter from Activision when she sent them an idea back in the day. Definitely pretty common practice--here is Apple's page on sending them "Unsolicited Ideas": http://www.apple.com/legal/policies/ideas.html ..Al Your MOTHER sent in a game idea to Activision? That's....cool! Edited February 6, 2009 by Snider-man Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Albert #11 Posted February 6, 2009 Your MOTHER sent in a game idea to Activision? That's....cool! Yep, complete with sketches!! Wish I still had all that stuff.. ..Al Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Godzilla #12 Posted February 6, 2009 Just curious if anyone knows about this, did Atari pay and license game ideas from outside/third party/citizens for making atari 2600 games back in the pre-80s days? All the stuff I read back then spoke to them not doing that. No. Corporate policy was to return ideas to the senders, with a letter stating that Atari did not accept unsolicited ideas from non-employees. You'll find that most corporations have a policy like this. It's to avoid being sued for "that Pac-man thing that I wrote you about years ago, and that you stole from me!" IIRC we were instructed to tell our managers if we ever got an "idea" letter. Ask Steve Bristow, he was with Atari from the early days up to the Falcon computer. I believe he was in the coin-op division when I was sending my ideas in. It was around 1980 that they ceased taking ideas from outside. I'm still curious today how many, or any, ideas from the outside made it! You can't substantiate yourself or your own claims. There is just too much bias That's kinda why I made this thread... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Godzilla #13 Posted February 6, 2009 Your MOTHER sent in a game idea to Activision? That's....cool! Yep, complete with sketches!! Wish I still had all that stuff.. ..Al That would be a kickass contest. 'make als moms old un-programmed activision game!' mom can sew up some patches to boot Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snider-man #14 Posted February 7, 2009 Your MOTHER sent in a game idea to Activision? That's....cool! Yep, complete with sketches!! Wish I still had all that stuff.. ..Al That would be a kickass contest. 'make als moms old un-programmed activision game!' mom can sew up some patches to boot That would be HYPER-kickass! It could be called "Al's Mom's Game". And Al? That'd make a kickass Christmas present for her. Maybe the 2009 Holiday Cart concept is brewin'? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SoundGammon #15 Posted February 8, 2009 Just curious if anyone knows about this, did Atari pay and license game ideas from outside/third party/citizens for making atari 2600 games back in the pre-80s days? All the stuff I read back then spoke to them not doing that. No. Corporate policy was to return ideas to the senders, with a letter stating that Atari did not accept unsolicited ideas from non-employees. You'll find that most corporations have a policy like this. It's to avoid being sued for "that Pac-man thing that I wrote you about years ago, and that you stole from me!" IIRC we were instructed to tell our managers if we ever got an "idea" letter. Ask Steve Bristow, he was with Atari from the early days up to the Falcon computer. I believe he was in the coin-op division when I was sending my ideas in. It was around 1980 that they ceased taking ideas from outside. I'm still curious today how many, or any, ideas from the outside made it! You can't substantiate yourself or your own claims. There is just too much bias That's kinda why I made this thread... Well, I got some friends that will testify that they saw the letter & check and they also bugged me for a couple years with the question: "When is your game coming out?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Albert #16 Posted February 8, 2009 Maybe the 2009 Holiday Cart concept is brewin'? That would be great except I'm sure those materials (along with Activision's response) are long, long lost.. ..Al Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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