Weird things done with games/consoles for legal reasons

[Mister Six]

If they were that bothered about the kiddy fiddling allegations, why was he still drafted in for Space Channel 5 2?

[Sonny_Jim]

This is the main copyright protection/license enforcement on the Gameboy. Because it is necessary to copy that image for any GB cart to work, anyone selling GB cartridges without Nintendo's permission can easily be sued for copyright and trademark infringement of that image, a relatively simple and cheap legal mechanism rather than lockout chips and proving infringement when they are bypassed.

Yeah it was quite a clever way of being able to use trademark law as the software copyright laws weren't particularly strong at the time.  Sega did a similar thing with the 'SEGA' logo on the Megadrive.

However, Goldeneye plays like an absolute piece of shit in this day and age.

Aye, it's definitely a case of rose tinited glasses.  Apparently you can set it up to work with a keyboard and mosue, never tried it though.

This whole thread feels like content for Guru Larry, now I think about it.

[popcorn]

If they were that bothered about the kiddy fiddling allegations, why was he still drafted in for Space Channel 5 2?

He was also in the first Space Channel (1999).

Could be for a few reasons. The first is that the first allegations came out in 1993, when 90s Sonic was one of the biggest kids' franchises on the planet, more recognised than Mickey Mouse, which might have given Sega reason to be extra cautious. The second is that the allegations were settled out of court, Jackson was never indicted and he was never really cancelled - and Jackson made a pretty decent comeback afterwards, releasing hits like Earth Song. The third is that by the time of the Dreamcast Sega's American management had changed completely.

This is all speculation of course.

[MojoJojo]

Yeah it was quite a clever way of being able to use trademark law as the software copyright laws weren't particularly strong at the time.  Sega did a similar thing with the 'SEGA' logo on the Megadrive.

To be pedantic, it wasn't really about software copyright, it was about licensing and controlling who could make games for the GB. It gave Nintendo a legal mechanism to stop other people making GB games if they didn't want them to.

[Huxleys Babkins]

<buzby>


Maybe, maybe not.

There are conflicting accounts of why Jackson was scrubbed from the credits. His dissatisfaction with the Mega Drive sounds is one explanation (given by Jackson's keyboardist Brad Buxer). According to Sega Technical Institute director Roger Hector, he was dropped when the first child abuse scandals came up.

Sega management representatives later denied Jackson's team was ever involved, but that's contradicted by an abundance of evidence, including an interview with Sonic creator Naoto Oshima himself in which he merrily recalls listening to Jackson's demo tape.

It seems lots of the music Jackson's team contributed ended up in the game, but Buxer mentions working on the Sonic soundtrack in this recent interview and says Jackson didn't contribute much himself. (He then moves to talking about working on Stranger in Moscow, which we know from other Buxer interviews was first used as the Sonic 3 credits music.)

</buzby>

For anyone who doesn't know this story, it's one of the most fascinating mysteries in games and I recommend an evening investigating on Wikipedia and Youtube. Through work I actually met a Sega employee in Tokyo a couple of years ago and he brought up the fact that Sonic 3 was left off the recent Mega Drive miniconsole due to some kind of rights dispute with Sony. He had never heard of the MJ story but I checked and Sony was MJ's label at the time. I've no idea if they'd have a stake in any of the music Jackson's team created for the game, maybe it was just a coincidence or just confused company gossip, but it was interesting.

Common wisdom now is that Jackson's estate are targeting anything with the slightest trace of Wacko in it and demanding royalties, thus making re-releasing Sonic 3 commercially unviable.

[JamesTC]

Sonic 3 has the Beta\PC music which was pre-Jackson involvement. They should just use that for any rerelease going forward.

[Mister Six]

Or just pay some no-mark a but of cash to compose some sounds like tunes. Can't cost that much.

[C_Larence]

The Ace Attorney spinoff "Great Ace Attorney", which is set in late 18th century Japan, was just announced as being localised for the West after coming out in Japan 5 years ago. One reason for the delay, apart from Capcom being annoying, is that the game apparently features Sherlock Holmes, an IP with well documented rights issues. The way the localisation team appear to have got around this for the Western release? Changing his name to Herlock Sholmes.

[MojoJojo]

The Ace Attorney spinoff "Great Ace Attorney", which is set in late 18th century Japan, was just announced as being localised for the West after coming out in Japan 5 years ago. One reason for the delay, apart from Capcom being annoying, is that the game apparently features Sherlock Holmes, an IP with well documented rights issues. The way the localisation team appear to have got around this for the Western release? Changing his name to Herlock Sholmes.

I was completely unaware about the copyright issues, and it seems like it's only in the US (although the copyright was apparently in the UK before expiring again in 2000), but remembering that Arthur Conan Doyle was a bit pissy about copyright, it makes sense.

[C_Larence]

I was completely unaware about the copyright issues, and it seems like it's only in the US (although the copyright was apparently in the UK before expiring again in 2000), but remembering that Arthur Conan Doyle was a bit pissy about copyright, it makes sense.

Yes, in fact Herlock Sholmes is actually a name that was used before in a 1910 collection of Maurice Leblanc's Arsene Lupin stories, "Arsene Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes". Originally when the story was published, Holmes was referred to by his usual name, but after Conan Doyle complained it was changed. In the US the name was changed even further to Holmlock Shears.

[Phil_A]

There was also August Derleth's Holmes' pastiche character, Solar Pons, who is not actually supposed to be Holmes, but a separate character that exists in the same universe who just happens to emulate the real Holmes in almost every respect.