A nice follow up on my Copywrite/Gaming ramble from last July.
Sega - You're doing it right!
Here's the post I'm referencing.
To sum up that previous post I argued that companies could cut down on piracy by continuing to offer their back catalog in a useful manner. Sega did that, they're cutting into the pirate market in more than one way, and they're doing it in a manner that respects the customers!
Retro-Bit is one of those Asian companies that has sprung up as a clone system maker. What sets them apart from other clone system makers is they actually make good hardware - not cheap barely passing fall apart junk. Courts have ruled knock off systems to be legal after patents expire etc... so one way or the other Retro-Bit was going to make(and has made) Genesis/Mega-Drive knock offs. They make the Retro-Duo I use at home to replace my NES and SNES consoles.
Sega actually licensed games to them. Here's the Firecore Genesis System, it's as though they read my post or something. This system comes pre-loaded with 20 games, accepts the old cartridges AND has an SD reader for "licensed ROMS". I don't know what that last part means exactly - apparently there's going to be a way to buy them legally, put them on the SD card and play them in the system. If they do this, then they're doing exactly what I said game companies should do in my previous post. Another company also in on the licensing arrangement is making a "Retro Gen" system which for all intents and purposes is a modernized remake of the Nomad system - and it also takes original cartridges AND SD cards. They both apparently support modern "True Color" games. I don't know what this means exactly, I'm guessing home brew, and there's some good home brew out there.
Arguably, Atari beat Sega to the punch on most of this, but never mind that.
Nintendo needs to get on the ball. They are notorious for hating anything unlicensed, it pisses them off to no end that the Retro-Duo even exist and they have failed lawsuits to prove it. Instead of fighting it, they need to follow Sega and Atari's lead, and while they're at it, Sony needs to get on the ball to. You're not going to beat the pirates, the classic market is thriving, either get into the game or stew on the sidelines. Nintendo - that Wii online classic game market is great, but it can't stop there.
Main post over - babble follows.
I think it's great they're not doing it themselves and they're licensing it. Those companies were going to make knock-offs anyways, I would rather Sega have a little bit of a hand in the process to ensure quality. I also think Sega has produced much better quality games since they've gotten out of the hardware business themselves and decided to just be a publisher.
I wasn't much of a Sega guy back in the day. I loved my Game Gear, but other than that I didn't get a Genesis or Dream Cast until recent years, after both systems were already shelved.
Rachael picked up my Think Geek catalog in the bathroom, set her eyes on this thing which I think is just a renamed Dingoo. I had to explain to her what ROMs were, then I showed her my PSP hacked to play SNES games and SNES9x on my Mac, she played Mario Kart and loved it. I think she's getting a Dingoo for Christmas. (Don't worry, she doesn't read my LJ, I think)
Here's the post I'm referencing.
To sum up that previous post I argued that companies could cut down on piracy by continuing to offer their back catalog in a useful manner. Sega did that, they're cutting into the pirate market in more than one way, and they're doing it in a manner that respects the customers!
Retro-Bit is one of those Asian companies that has sprung up as a clone system maker. What sets them apart from other clone system makers is they actually make good hardware - not cheap barely passing fall apart junk. Courts have ruled knock off systems to be legal after patents expire etc... so one way or the other Retro-Bit was going to make(and has made) Genesis/Mega-Drive knock offs. They make the Retro-Duo I use at home to replace my NES and SNES consoles.
Sega actually licensed games to them. Here's the Firecore Genesis System, it's as though they read my post or something. This system comes pre-loaded with 20 games, accepts the old cartridges AND has an SD reader for "licensed ROMS". I don't know what that last part means exactly - apparently there's going to be a way to buy them legally, put them on the SD card and play them in the system. If they do this, then they're doing exactly what I said game companies should do in my previous post. Another company also in on the licensing arrangement is making a "Retro Gen" system which for all intents and purposes is a modernized remake of the Nomad system - and it also takes original cartridges AND SD cards. They both apparently support modern "True Color" games. I don't know what this means exactly, I'm guessing home brew, and there's some good home brew out there.
Arguably, Atari beat Sega to the punch on most of this, but never mind that.
Nintendo needs to get on the ball. They are notorious for hating anything unlicensed, it pisses them off to no end that the Retro-Duo even exist and they have failed lawsuits to prove it. Instead of fighting it, they need to follow Sega and Atari's lead, and while they're at it, Sony needs to get on the ball to. You're not going to beat the pirates, the classic market is thriving, either get into the game or stew on the sidelines. Nintendo - that Wii online classic game market is great, but it can't stop there.
Main post over - babble follows.
I think it's great they're not doing it themselves and they're licensing it. Those companies were going to make knock-offs anyways, I would rather Sega have a little bit of a hand in the process to ensure quality. I also think Sega has produced much better quality games since they've gotten out of the hardware business themselves and decided to just be a publisher.
I wasn't much of a Sega guy back in the day. I loved my Game Gear, but other than that I didn't get a Genesis or Dream Cast until recent years, after both systems were already shelved.
Rachael picked up my Think Geek catalog in the bathroom, set her eyes on this thing which I think is just a renamed Dingoo. I had to explain to her what ROMs were, then I showed her my PSP hacked to play SNES games and SNES9x on my Mac, she played Mario Kart and loved it. I think she's getting a Dingoo for Christmas. (Don't worry, she doesn't read my LJ, I think)