Zerosquare Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 (edited) 8 hours ago, slx said: It would seem that the obstacle of proceeds of a new production of Battlesphere going to charity would be surmountable. The charity thing is a red herring, just like the "nobody meets our quality standard" part. The authors' behavior makes it clear they want the supply of their game to remain scarce. 5 hours ago, phoboz said: 3. If the source code would be open, it would be even more great (I am not sure from the discussion if other people than me agree, or not?) It's a moot point since this is never going to happen. If you read the discussions back in the day, you wouldn't even ask the question. Edited May 3, 2021 by Zerosquare 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 @phoboz I have personally spoken to the creators of the game and it's just not going to happen. Too many loopholes and requirements. It's like trying to get the Beatles back together now. It's an exercise in futility; just best to forget about it and move on. Just be happy you can go buy a reproduction of the game for $40 these days. I had to pay $700 to see what the fuss was about and guess what, it wasn't worth $700 of fun! It's just another 3D space shooter game. LOL 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 10 hours ago, CyranoJ said: the equation is: (Ego * Bullshit) / 101-%asshole This should be turned into a video game. Have to balance out how much ego pellets vs bullshit before fighting %asshole bosses. Or you then become the %asshole. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 44 minutes ago, Rick Dangerous said: @phoboz I have personally spoken to the creators of the game and it's just not going to happen. Too many loopholes and requirements. It's like trying to get the Beatles back together now. It's an exercise in futility; just best to forget about it and move on. Just be happy you can go buy a reproduction of the game for $40 these days. I had to pay $700 to see what the fuss was about and guess what, it wasn't worth $700 of fun! It's just another 3D space shooter game. LOL Ha, some of those reproduction people never send you the game... bastards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 There seem to be plenty of ROM files floating around the usual places. If any of those actually work with the JagGD or a Skunkboard there is not a lot of effort required to play it. Of course that would not be legit but hard to prevent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 1 hour ago, leech said: Ha, some of those reproduction people never send you the game... bastards! Yeah - you need to find an honest thief! Sometimes that's as hard as finding a reliable drug dealer. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 2 hours ago, Stephen said: Yeah - you need to find an honest thief! Sometimes that's as hard as finding a reliable drug dealer. Ha, that is why I always suggested they legalize that stuff and charge a lot of taxes on it. It eliminates a whole lot of crime! They drug dealers would have to turn to selling reproduction Jaguar carts... oh wait, they probably already did now that marijuana is legal most places! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayik Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 5 hours ago, slx said: There seem to be plenty of ROM files floating around the usual places. If any of those actually work with the JagGD or a Skunkboard there is not a lot of effort required to play it. Of course that would not be legit but hard to prevent. BSG works fine with the JagGD. BS does not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdownita Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 4 hours ago, rayik said: BSG works fine with the JagGD. BS does not I was expecting by now someone would have said it ... in the taunting section, but I call BS on this one. And yes, it comes in Gold too. (I should stop attempting jokes, but hey, I was done with all the BS) Plus it says it right there on the first page: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonesCollector2 Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Make an Open Source manual with art recreation ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 I mean there are PDF's of pretty much every videogame manual ever available online; what makes this one so special that it shouldn't be? I'm pretty sure 4Play is no longer a solvent corporation either; so..it's been nearly 25 years...no one cares. Enjoy the game, the manual, whatever. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 31 minutes ago, Rick Dangerous said: I'm pretty sure 4Play is no longer a solvent corporation either; so..it's been nearly 25 years...no one cares. Enjoy the game, the manual, whatever. So we could shift the thread to "who owns the rights for Battlesphere and why" for more fun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 They (the creators) still do; and they aren't selling. Otherwise it'd be listed in the Songbird store right now, with black, clear, green, or red shell available. EDIT: Also i will add; to anyone who has this game (I have the original BS and BSG myself) as an "Investment" and is worried about ROM, repros, etc. impacting value....guess what---it won't! Just look at the Sega/Nintendo scenes; the original games just keep going up and up in price even though everything can be played easily on an emulator or Everdrive cart on original hardware. And those games are far more readily reproduced and copied. There are always ways to verify if something is original; and if it is; that's where the value lies. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayik Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Rick Dangerous said: I mean there are PDF's of pretty much every videogame manual ever available online; what makes this one so special that it shouldn't be? I agree. I've read the backstory and just don't get why anything with those games are taboo. For games that are still being sold, I understand it. They are wrong to share. Edited May 4, 2021 by rayik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cubanismo Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Does anyone know copyright law well enough to say when the copyright expires without further action? I know most countries have ridiculously long copyright periods these days, but don't they have to be renewed at some point to avoid falling into the public domain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 After 1978, it's 70 years; so no this game is not close to being in the public domain. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosquare Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 3 minutes ago, Rick Dangerous said: it's 70 years 70 years after the death of the author(s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cubanismo Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Welp, nevermind that then ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leech Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 22 minutes ago, Zerosquare said: 70 years after the death of the author(s). Yeah, and I think Disney has lobbied for some other crazy rules on it, so it perpetually lasts forever on things like characters, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 3 hours ago, Rick Dangerous said: EDIT: Also i will add; to anyone who has this game (I have the original BS and BSG myself) as an "Investment" and is worried about ROM, repros, etc. impacting value....guess what---it won't! Just look at the Sega/Nintendo scenes; the original games just keep going up and up in price even though everything can be played easily on an emulator or Everdrive cart on original hardware. And those games are far more readily reproduced and copied. There are always ways to verify if something is original; and if it is; that's where the value lies. Yeah, I agree. I use to own a Gold NWC cart(NES). I sold it because the repros coming out and flash carts being developed. All those did was feed the interest in the real carts and tripled the prices of rarer games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagChris Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 5 hours ago, cubanismo said: Does anyone know copyright law well enough to say when the copyright expires without further action? I know most countries have ridiculously long copyright periods these days, but don't they have to be renewed at some point to avoid falling into the public domain? You might want to look into it for yourself. VladR and I were talking to David Crane about Pitfall at the PRGE one time. He said Activision has to use the IP every so often or they'll lose it. He made it sound more immediate. So you might want to.look into the details for yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 1 hour ago, JagChris said: VladR and I were talking How that stunning 3D racing game coming along? I'm dying for an update after all this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagChris Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 It's achieved ludicrous speed and has now gone to plaid 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseystyle Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 2 hours ago, Stephen said: How that stunning 3D racing game coming along? I'm dying for an update after all this time. Man, once in a while I still think about how underwhelming that demo was. I didn’t at all get what his point was and re reading that thread just leaves me more confused. It was soooo crappy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cubanismo Posted May 5, 2021 Share Posted May 5, 2021 6 hours ago, JagChris said: You might want to look into it for yourself. VladR and I were talking to David Crane about Pitfall at the PRGE one time. He said Activision has to use the IP every so often or they'll lose it. He made it sound more immediate. So you might want to.look into the details for yourself. IANAL, and I'm getting deja vu, but that's trademarks. I can't make "Pitfall: The IP adventure" because someone has a trademark on Pitfall games and probably keeps it active. Unless Scatologic is actively using the BattleSphere trademark, I probably could get away with making "BattleSphere II: The most spherical of all battles." However, that doesn't mean I can print off copies of their existing BattleSphere manuals or sell reproductions of their existing games. Copyright is a zeroobligation thing for the holder. I could maybe post a ROM image or manual PDF on an archive-centric section of a website and claim fair use as an act of preservation. Maybe. Once again, IANAL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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