Coleco.com is back!

[+5-11under]

http://www.colecoage.com

 

 

this is even weirder !

I think that's been explained already.

[Jess Ragan]

The ColecoVision is a marketing dead end. Since Coleco never had any intellectual property of its own- just arcade conversions- it would be impossible to revive the game system with the software that made it famous. Donkey Kong is Nintendo's, Zaxxon is Sega's, and I believe LadyBug belongs to Aruze now... what's left? Oh boy, I can't wait for that TV Game with Destructor and Illusions on it!

[+Yurkie]

The ColecoVision is a marketing dead end. Since Coleco never had any intellectual property of its own- just arcade conversions- it would be impossible to revive the game system with the software that made it famous. Donkey Kong is Nintendo's, Zaxxon is Sega's, and I believe LadyBug belongs to Aruze now... what's left? Oh boy, I can't wait for that TV Game with Destructor and Illusions on it!

 

 

No need for game licensing. All that is needed is new hardware and the carts can be bought off Ebay or at flea markets ect.

[newcoleco]

The ColecoVision is a marketing dead end. Since Coleco never had any intellectual property of its own-

False. It's not that they didn't had intellectual property to exploit, it's just that what we want to see making a come back isn't a Coleco Industries intellectual property.

 

Remember that Coleco Industries started with pools and toys, which include Mr.Turtle, Cabbage Patch Kids, and various LED games including Head-to-Head. So they had intellectual properties of their own. The problem is even if CV kids games was planned featuring Mr.Turtle and Cabbage Patch Kids, we don't remember them as possible mascots like Sonic and Mario, and certainly not as videogames (note : CPK Adventure in the park is a reskin of another game) because they didn't had time to develop these CV games and the game system was oriented arcade games wiht licensed games.

 

After bankruptcy, Coleco Industries was splited between various companies. These brands was dead... except recently when smaller companies asked for the brands to release new products based on these brands including new Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and of course a Head-to-Head Coleco tvgame unit that was a big deception because we expected a come back of the ColecoVision.

 

A ColecoVision come back will not include the games we expected from our childhood, but it doesn't mean that Coleco Industries didn't had intellectual properties to exploit and making videogames based on them.

[goldenegg]

No need for game licensing. All that is needed is new hardware and the carts can be bought off Ebay or at flea markets ect.

 

That's just not going to happen though. There's simply not enough of a market for something like that. If they are to release a retro system, it will need to have built-in games. No one would be successful selling a ColecoVision compatible system and then telling people they need to buy their games off eBay or Craigslist. Nintendo and Sega clone systems do well, simply because there's a much larger market interested in those systems.

 

I doubt think getting proper licensing for some of the games would be too difficult (not counting Nintendo), but it might be cost prohibitive. I'd expect this to happen and would hope they'd provide a 100% compatible cart slot for those of us who have carts to play.

[newcoleco]

I doubt think getting proper licensing for some of the games would be too difficult (not counting Nintendo), but it might be cost prohibitive.

Ask to Blu Sky Ranger why they didn't release any cartridges of the prototypes He-Man for the ColecoVision. Based on the information I've heard, I've estimate a batch of 500 loose cartridges for $50 each will be just enough in order to pay back the license Mattel is asking and the production cost.

 

... I'd expect this to happen and would hope they'd provide a 100% compatible cart slot for those of us who have carts to play.

That's a solution, a compatible cartridge slot, which include using a coleco-in-a-chip solution, and this way there is no issue regarding licensed games, and provide more working ColecoVision to the fans. However, I doubt of the 100% compatibility.

[carmel_andrews]

Well, if coleco do 'rise from the ashes' (phoenix stylee) then this will be the second time (they tried something similar in the late 80's, going by something i remember reading in a multi format UK gaming magazine), i guess the then owners had acquired rights and IP's etc from Hasbro (who previously had bought out the whole coleco company

[Jess Ragan]

I'm falsing your false. The Cabbage Patch Kids are licensed to Jakks Pacific now. Most anything Coleco had that was of any value was parted out to different companies after the bankruptcy. Trying to find IP for a Coleco product would either involve having to design new software from scratch or require a lot of legal negotiations, and frankly I don't think it's worth the hassle. The Coleco brand name doesn't have the resonance of Nintendo or Sega or Atari, and without its own library of games a revival would be upsetting for long-time fans and pointless for everyone else.

 

What did the new Coleco give us when it was revived back in the mid 2000s? Some really natty TV games, along with a tiny handheld Sega Master System. I don't see it getting much better than that.

 

The ColecoVision is a marketing dead end. Since Coleco never had any intellectual property of its own-

False. It's not that they didn't had intellectual property to exploit, it's just that what we want to see making a come back isn't a Coleco Industries intellectual property.

 

Remember that Coleco Industries started with pools and toys, which include Mr.Turtle, Cabbage Patch Kids, and various LED games including Head-to-Head. So they had intellectual properties of their own. The problem is even if CV kids games was planned featuring Mr.Turtle and Cabbage Patch Kids, we don't remember them as possible mascots like Sonic and Mario, and certainly not as videogames (note : CPK Adventure in the park is a reskin of another game) because they didn't had time to develop these CV games and the game system was oriented arcade games wiht licensed games.

 

After bankruptcy, Coleco Industries was splited between various companies. These brands was dead... except recently when smaller companies asked for the brands to release new products based on these brands including new Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and of course a Head-to-Head Coleco tvgame unit that was a big deception because we expected a come back of the ColecoVision.

 

A ColecoVision come back will not include the games we expected from our childhood, but it doesn't mean that Coleco Industries didn't had intellectual properties to exploit and making videogames based on them.

[newcoleco]

I'm falsing your false. The Cabbage Patch Kids are licensed to Jakks Pacific now.

If you read carefully what I've written, you'll understand that you just confirmed what I've said. You're mixing up River West Brand who asked rights to exploit Coleco, ColecoVision and Head-to-Head names, and Jakks Pacific who asked rights from Mattel, with the original Coleco Industries from the 80s. The company had intellectual properties, they didn't had time to develop them into videogames back then, and anyway, like I've said, it's not the games you are expecting, you want the arcade ports. Edited September 4, 2010 by newcoleco

[Murph74]

I agree that a new ColecoVision with games on a legal, commercial level is likely not going to happen. And I'm ok with the idea that probably 90% of anything Coleco did was under licensing agreements. From the Smurf and Rambo toys, to the arcade games ported, to even Cabbage Patch Kids (see Xavier Roberts). I'd think very little of Coleco's lasting legacy products were Coleco IP. Things like Quiz Wiz were eventually acquired by Tiger Electronics and brought back to market in the 90's.

 

Now, what the licensing agreements were, that's something I've not seen anywhere. Were they for term, perpetual, quantified, royalty based, flat rate, transferable? Lots of options. It *IS* possible (although highly unlikely) that the licensing agreements are still applicable if there is a company or derivative company still known as Coleco beyond just the brand name. Based on my understanding of the licensing world. Today most licenses are for a specific amount of time and royalty based. But the early 80's were a completely different world. The 'lawyering' wasn't quite as intense, iron-clad and thorough as it is today.

 

Again, I'm not suggesting that the games could be included, I'm just saying from what I know, it's not 100% impossible that a Colecovision on a chip type plug n play might still be able to include the legacy games we love(d). I'm sure someone will be able to prove me wrong though.

[SRGilbert]

Maybe people are just confusing two different types of products.

 

One would be something along the lines of the Atari Flashback 2, with new hardware and built in games. As explained, this would be very unlikely due to licensing , and also probably why there has never been any sort of CV compilation for modern consoles the way that Atari and Intellivision has.

 

The other more likely product would be something like the NES clones that have been around for a couple of years now. A new console that replicates the original hardware and allows you to use the ORIGINAL carts.

 

What I would love is something like that, but with a built in functionality of Atarimax's Colecovision Ultimate SD Cartridge. Wouldn't THAT be awesome!

[ColecoFan1981]

Perhaps we should paraphrase ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and just admit "remembering the ColecoVision and other classic video game systems the way they were." We can never recreate the good old days.

 

~Ben

[WatchVenusSpa]

Who has the rights to Exidy's VENTURE?

[newcoleco]

Who has the rights to Exidy's VENTURE?

 

I don't know if they still have the rights for the Exidy titles but in 2008 I've got this reply.

 

From: meanhamstersoftware.com

Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 13:55:06 -0700

 

We own the rights to all Exidy titles.

 

We appreciate the retro community. I'd like to help you with legal licensing for these products. Please send me the scans.

 

John

 

Because I didn't receive a reply from them since then, even if I've written another message this year regarding the rights on Exidy titles, I can't confirme that it still the case. But, if it is, then it's really good to know that these people appreciate what we are doing in the retrogaming community.

[SpaceDice2010]

In many instances when a company files for bankruptcy protection and doesn't come out then the rights revert back to the original owner. In some instances a company gets the rights for a certain period of time then has to renew them. The hard part about finding who owns the rights to Coleco games is that many of the original copyright holders are out of business themselves. This would be dang hard to figure out who owns the rights.

[Murph74]

Who has the rights to Exidy's VENTURE?

 

I don't know if they still have the rights for the Exidy titles but in 2008 I've got this reply.

 

From: meanhamstersoftware.com

Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 13:55:06 -0700

 

We own the rights to all Exidy titles.

 

We appreciate the retro community. I'd like to help you with legal licensing for these products. Please send me the scans.

 

John

 

As of last year, they still had the rights, Daniel. There was a Crossbow project for making Exidy arcade shooter cabinets into a multigame, and apparently it went all nice and legit. Google "Exidy 440".

[jhd]

One would be something along the lines of the Atari Flashback 2, with new hardware and built in games. As explained, this would be very unlikely due to licensing , and also probably why there has never been any sort of CV compilation for modern consoles the way that Atari and Intellivision has.

 

Exactly! As others have correctly noted above, the vast bulk of the CV library consisted of arcade titles. A compliation of only those games that were original to Coleco would be both very small and not especially memorable.

 

The other more likely product would be something like the NES clones that have been around for a couple of years now. A new console that replicates the original hardware and allows you to use the ORIGINAL carts.

 

I have been actively collecting video games since the late 1980s and I have only ever seen a very few CV cartridges "in the wild", though they may be more common in other places. Not surprsingly, the most common cartridge is Donkey Kong.

 

I bought my Famiclone primarily because it includes 150+ built-in titles. NES cartidges are far more common than CV cartridges, but I still have no desire to waste time searching the thrift shops, flea markets, Ebay, etc. to find the games that I wish to play. I expect that most casual gamers would feel the same way.

[ten-four]

Err... strange, is it possible that River West Brand abandon the idea to exploit the ColecoVision brand name? The domain name http://colecovision.com is not existing and my browser suggest me to use http://coleco-vision.com which is a site named "colecopedia". What is going on?

 

 

RWB still have the domain, but now there's "The 3 little pigs" as a pop up book for ipad.