Ugh ... He's back :(

[ColecoJoe]

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/coleco-and-arcade1up-team-up-to-create-new-coleco-mini-arcade-units/

 

Coleco and Arcade1UP Team Up to Create New Coleco Mini Arcade Units

Coleco Partnering with Arcade1Up is Win/Win for Gamers

(Mt. Laurel, New Jersey – June 29, 2020) Monday, July 6^th, 2020 – MOUNT LAUREL – Coleco and Arcade1Up are partnering to continue the revival of the Mini Arcade lineup. This lineup will be made available with new games in a similar setup to the popular larger form factor arcade units already available in many stores. The Mini Arcade line carries a much smaller footprint giving precedence to portability. Everything needed is built into each Mini Arcade unit – controls, screen, protective shell for screen, and nostalgia focused artwork. Arcade1Up will make the new Mini Arcade units available at retailers in their network. The level of retailer availability is invaluable as this partnership is beneficial to both companies and fans.

In 2018 Coleco launched their successful Kickstarter campaign to revive the Coleco Mini Arcade units. Robotech and Rainbow Brite were selected to headline the newly revived product line. Coleco Mini Arcades represented the first time Rainbow Brite was featured in a traditional video game. The campaign received more than double the preset goal amount. This level of support proved the Coleco brand was strong and thriving with fans.

Chris Cardillo, Coleco partner, had this to say, “We at Coleco are extremely proud to announce this partnership with Arcade1Up. This is the next level for the Coleco Mini Arcade units as Arcade1Up command a significant market share with retailers. They recently sold their one millionth arcade unit – that is phenomenal market penetration.” Cardillo continued with, “Taking the Coleco brand into the future is a huge endeavor. There are many areas that need attention and sometimes it is not clear to the public why certain steps or directions are taken behind the scenes. At the end of the day moving forward is our goal at Coleco. Partnering with Arcade1Up is an accomplishment I am incredibly happy to see come to fruition. Coordinating this agreement was a long process that I think will ultimately benefit fans in a positive way.”

Arcade1Up will assume production of the Coleco Mini Arcade units as well as all licensing of new properties to be featured. This agreement will allow Arcade1Up to use their already established production capabilities to fulfill customer demand. Arcade1Up has the freedom to use game properties they already have access to. They will also be able to acquire intellectual properties exclusive to the Coleco Mini Arcade lineup if they so choose.

Going deeper into his thoughts on this partnership, Cardillo stated, “The design of the Coleco Mini Arcade lends itself to customization in controller layout and internal hardware. This means gaming opportunities are infinite – only limited by the scope of the designers. It is going to be interesting to see what Arcade1Up does with the Coleco Mini Arcade lineup, I am sure fans will be just as excited as I am.”

Due to Covid-19 production of new Coleco Mini Arcade units has been pushed back from its original 2020 release date. Everyone involved are working as safely as possible to continue supplying product for fans to enjoy during the Covid-19 crisis.

[Special Teams]

Cardillo also had this to say:

"For everyone who buys a mini-arcade, we'll inundate your email with spam from Castle Windows"

[Omega-TI]

@ColecoJoe I wish AtariAge had a BARF button, not for your informative post, but for the news contained within.

 

[digress]

I actually bought both of the mini's in the original kickstarter campaign. Clearly he trampled some toes around here and I'm not excusing that. 

 

They are actually really well made and i bought the originals back in the 80's so very comparable.

 

Screen is a little small.

 

I would love to know if anyone has hacked them so I could load other roms as one is running a gameboy advance rom.

 

The other apparently is running a NES rom.

[christo930]

3 hours ago, digress said:

I would love to know if anyone has hacked them so I could load other roms as one is running a gameboy advance rom.

 

The other apparently is running a NES rom.

Dubya Tee Eff?  A NES ROM?  GBA ROM? For ARCADE games?  Surely they can use an old version of MAME on even the cheapest hardware?  This was excusable 10 years ago, it is not excusable now.  Even the cheapest SOC can play most games shipped in this line of products. 

 

Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery?  It figures.  This thing needs to have the ability to use standard alkaline cells. At a bare minimum it should have an easy to replace standard battery if they are going to include a rechargeable battery in the fist place.

 

Why do they always screw this stuff up?  What is so difficult about it? They are already paying for the license.

 

I would love to see a Rainbow Islands version of this, but only if it is using an arcade ROM.

 

 

They are inundating customer's email addresses with spam for replacement windows?  Again, WTF?

Edited July 1, 2020 by christo930

[digress]

i'm referring to the control stick, buttons & overall case is well done.

 

I think it was a huge mistake not to allow you you add your own roms via micrsd or usb at least

 

For what it is, remembering the originals were single game cabinets too, it is well done.

[christo930]

1 minute ago, digress said:

i'm referring to the control stick, buttons & overall case is well done.

 

I think it was a huge mistake not to allow you you add your own roms via micrsd or usb at least

 

For what it is, remembering the originals were single game cabinets too, it is well done.

My complaint isn't really that it is a dedicated single game, it's that it's a NES or GBA version and not an actual arcade game.   This is, after all, supposed to be a portable arcade machine.  Though I have never heard of an arcade game called Rainbow Brite.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Maybe the only have the licensing for the GBA version of the Robotech game? As for the Rainbow Bright Game, that was actually a commissioned game and was done by AA's very own PacManPlus...

 

 

[mr_me]

2 hours ago, christo930 said:

My complaint isn't really that it is a dedicated single game, it's that it's a NES or GBA version and not an actual arcade game.   This is, after all, supposed to be a portable arcade machine.  Though I have never heard of an arcade game called Rainbow Brite.

The two games mentioned were not arcade games.  They are not emulated and are what they are.  They haven't mentioned titles of the upcoming lineup but I expect arcade titles and mame or a similar emulator.

 

I don't understand why Arcade1up needs RWB/Coleco.  Arcade1up is providing the licenses, handling the manufacturing and distribution; for what do they need RWB/Coleco?

[zaphro72]

5 minutes ago, mr_me said:

The two games mentioned were not arcade games.  They are not emulated and are what they are.  They haven't mentioned titles of the upcoming lineup but I expect arcade titles and mame or a similar emulator.

 

I don't understand why Arcade1up needs RWB/Coleco.  Arcade1up is providing the licenses, handling the manufacturing and distribution; for what do they need RWB/Coleco?

Is it possible that they have some type of copyright on that mini-Arcade design?

[mr_me]

They could try and claim copyright, I doubt it would qualify. It's not a particularly good design anyway.  They probably own some molds that would save arcade1up a couple of bucks.  And finally it can have the Coleco trademark on them, whatever that is worth.

 

Edit:

Regarding the design, if you want a tabletop why such a small screen.  And if you want portability why not make a handheld.

Edited July 1, 2020 by mr_me

[Sgt Jack V]

Robotech? Oh, for fuck's sake, I hope Harmony Gold just stops existing in this world as a whole so we can have actual Macross stuff.

[nick3092]

It sounds like CollectorVision crawled into bed with him too, even thought they claim they aren't. They are selling him a bunch of Phoenixes, and he's going to re-brand them ColecoVision. Further solidifying his illegitimate claim on the ColecoVision brand.
 

CV is saying it's no different than anyone else buying their product and turning around and selling it. But in this case it sounds like they are re-branding it. Which I imagine CV would have had to sign off on. Which is climbing into bed with him. 

[Loafer]

Sigh Internet forums sometimes...

[MrPix]

11 minutes ago, nick3092 said:

It sounds like CollectorVision crawled into bed with him too, even thought they claim they aren't. They are selling him a bunch of Phoenixes, and he's going to re-brand them ColecoVision. Further solidifying his illegitimate claim on the ColecoVision brand.

It's not that simple. 

First sale doctrine applies. Once Coleco has bought the items they're free to do as they wish with them. For CollectorVision, this is also a smart move. Coleco can't turn around and claim CollectorVision is selling the console without Coleco's authorization. This seems to be that sweet spot where by simply acknowledging each other's rights, both gain protections.

I con't know anything about Coleco Holdings' claims to the property rights, but they're owned by Dormitus Brands. That company's claims may be legitimate - they're certainly high profile and this is their business model.

 

 

[ColecoJoe]

14 minutes ago, nick3092 said:

It sounds like CollectorVision crawled into bed with him too, even thought they claim they aren't. They are selling him a bunch of Phoenixes, and he's going to re-brand them ColecoVision. Further solidifying his illegitimate claim on the ColecoVision brand.
 

CV is saying it's no different than anyone else buying their product and turning around and selling it. But in this case it sounds like they are re-branding it. Which I imagine CV would have had to sign off on. Which is climbing into bed with him. 

Well I don't think CV ever had issues with Cardillo and Coleco. Wasn't the Phoenix originally going to be branded a Coleco console until they ran that poll asking the community if they should release it with the branding or not?. I think the only Coleco fallout I remember was with Opcode and TPR? Regardless, that press release you are referring to does read like a partnership between Coleco and CV.

[ColecoJoe]

2 minutes ago, MrPix said:

This seems to be that sweet spot where by simply acknowledging each other's rights, both gain protections.

But the Phoenix doesn't really infringe on Coleco does it, if it's just an FPGA console that happens to accept Colecovision cartridges? They aren't calling it a Colecovision. 

[mr_me]

12 minutes ago, MrPix said:

It's not that simple. 

First sale doctrine applies. Once Coleco has bought the items they're free to do as they wish with them. For CollectorVision, this is also a smart move. Coleco can't turn around and claim CollectorVision is selling the console without Coleco's authorization. This seems to be that sweet spot where by simply acknowledging each other's rights, both gain protections.

I con't know anything about Coleco Holdings' claims to the property rights, but they're owned by Dormitus Brands. That company's claims may be legitimate - they're certainly high profile and this is their business model.

 

 

RWB/Coleco would need Collectorvisions permission to rebrand it Coleco.  And as Colecojoe pointed out RWB/Coleco has no rights to the firmware or anything else in the colecovision other than their claim on the name trademark.  And as previously said, RWB/Coleco need to regularly produce product to hold on to that trademark.

Edited July 4, 2020 by mr_me

[nick3092]

20 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said:

Well I don't think CV ever had issues with Cardillo and Coleco. Wasn't the Phoenix originally going to be branded a Coleco console until they ran that poll asking the community if they should release it with the branding or not?. I think the only Coleco fallout I remember was with Opcode and TPR? Regardless, that press release you are referring to does read like a partnership between Coleco and CV.

CV didn't start the poll, I did. CV clearly had no problem with the crap Cardillo did. But I did. And most of the community agreed. So they backed down. Now 2 years later, they are back at it.

 

You can read in their sub forum that CV says they aren't in bed with him, they are just selling him 50-some units. But if Cardillo is doing any kind of re-branding (which that press release he did says they are), there is in fact an agreement in place, and it's not just someone buying 50 units.

 

You want to buy 50 units and then sell them on eBay or whatever as is, fine. Not a partnership. You buy 50 and rebrand them with the creator's permission, then it's a partnership. 

Edited July 4, 2020 by nick3092

[MrPix]

7 minutes ago, mr_me said:

RWB/Coleco would need Collectorvisions permission to rebrand it Coleco.  And as Colecojoe pointed out RWB/Coleco has no rights to the firmware or anything else in the colecovision other than their claim on the name trademark.  And as previously said, RWB/Coleco need to regularly produce product to hold on to that trademark.

That's right, but that doesn't affect their right to sell what they have bought. As long as they do not misappropriate the firmware by claiming ownership of it (they might be able to claim it was a derivative work but that would be a long and very uphill battle for them somewhat akin to IBM vs. Phoenix). They can change the label on the box, and resell it under first sale doctrine. They cannot change copyright or TM notices, but they can remove a TM name and replace it with their own.

It's a complex area, but First Sale Doctrine negates many TM protections. You can't infringe simply buy buying a legitimate product and then reselling it with a different sticker on it. If you counterfeit the trademark, that's a separate issue.

[MrPix]

2 minutes ago, nick3092 said:

CV didn't start the poll, I did. CV clearly had no problem with the crap Cardillo did.

I know nothing of this Cardillo. Is there a short summary of the shenanigans somewhere? I've googled but the results were noisy.

[zyzzle]

Those screens look ridiculously small, designed for midgets in fact. Make the screen twice as large, and the product would be viable.

[nick3092]

23 minutes ago, MrPix said:

It's not that simple. 

First sale doctrine applies. Once Coleco has bought the items they're free to do as they wish with them. For CollectorVision, this is also a smart move. Coleco can't turn around and claim CollectorVision is selling the console without Coleco's authorization. This seems to be that sweet spot where by simply acknowledging each other's rights, both gain protections.

I con't know anything about Coleco Holdings' claims to the property rights, but they're owned by Dormitus Brands. That company's claims may be legitimate - they're certainly high profile and this is their business model.

 

 

Well, I'm no lawyer. But buying something, taking the original manufacturers name off and putting yours on is sketchy.

 

Also, read up on the history. Cardillo conned Ben Heck into making a portable ColecoVision, and even recreating the logo so they could go to court and claim the name. 

[ColecoJoe]

Just now, MrPix said:

I know nothing of this Cardillo. Is there a short summary of the shenanigans somewhere? I've googled but the results were noisy.

You can maybe start here if you have the time.

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/#comments

[nick3092]

2 minutes ago, MrPix said:

I know nothing of this Cardillo. Is there a short summary of the shenanigans somewhere? I've googled but the results were noisy.

The best I can summarize it in short is they got Ben Heck to make a portable, then used it to claim the name/trademark, then started attacking fan sites. This was at least 2-3 years ago, but my recollection how it went down.