Reproductions that look like original games

You can talk about almost anything that you want to on this board.

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
DRW
Posts: 2225
Joined: Sat Sep 07, 2013 2:59 pm

Reproductions that look like original games

Post by DRW »

I've got a question:
Reproductions.png
How come people get away with these?

Who creates those games and why aren't they clearly marked as reproductions?
Why do they even use the Nintendo Seal of Quality?
My game "City Trouble":
Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/Eee0yurkIW4
Download (ROM, manual, artworks): http://www.denny-r-walter.de/city.html
tepples
Posts: 22708
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:12 pm
Location: NE Indiana, USA (NTSC)
Contact:

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by tepples »

I smell trademark infringement at the very least. Consider reporting thei' @$$es to Nintendo and Konami, owners of the brands being misused.
User avatar
DRW
Posts: 2225
Joined: Sat Sep 07, 2013 2:59 pm

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by DRW »

For this to be done, I'd need to know who produced those.

I don't mind reproduction cartridges of games that don't exist as western versions, like the above two Famicom- and FDS-only games.
I would even say that it's kind-of o.k. to do reproductions of ultra expensive games like "Little Samson".

But if those reproductions attempt to look like genuine official releases, then that's the end of my tolerance.
Especially since people on eBay seem to think that they have some ultra rare prototype or limited release game on their hands.
My game "City Trouble":
Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/Eee0yurkIW4
Download (ROM, manual, artworks): http://www.denny-r-walter.de/city.html
User avatar
Sogona
Posts: 186
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 7:54 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by Sogona »

With how much retro games have gone up in price in the last 5 years or whatever due to it being trendy, I honestly get kinda paranoid whenever I buy anything used that’s a well-known title and under $50. I know a lot of the time they do cleary state that it’s a repro if it is, and it’s not super hard to tell (when you’ve already bought it, that is), but is it actually common for people to sell blatant repros as the real thing? Maybe I’ve just been living under a rock.

Also, even though people may clearly be selling a repro (as in not trying to pass it off as legit), they still don’t always say. I’ve noticed this a lot on sites like Etsy (which comes up often if you go to the “shopping” tab on google), and that also kinda bothers me because it seems it’d be easy to still fool someone who isn’t knowledgeable.

Really the only time I’d be okay with buying a repro is for something like Nintendo World Championships (since I can’t think of anything less cliché), or for games that are still like >$200 used (like Earthbound or Megaman 7 for instance.)
User avatar
koitsu
Posts: 4201
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 9:28 pm
Location: A world gone mad

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by koitsu »

Money.
User avatar
DRW
Posts: 2225
Joined: Sat Sep 07, 2013 2:59 pm

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by DRW »

Looks like these games are from NintendoAge. So, not some random Chinese seller who's going for a few quick bucks, but a community that is really into NES games and who really takes a huge effort to create high quality boxes and manuals.

So, why do they do this? Why do they create reproductions that can be clearly considered fraud by making them look like legitimate releases?

Using the original artwork is fine. After all, it is a 1:1 copy of this very game, so it can just as well have a copy of the artwork.

But why do they include the Nintendo Seal of Quality and why don't they put a big, fat "Reproduction cartridge, created by NintendoAge" on the front? Are these people fucking nuts?
This is the fandom? A community who has no problems creating authentic-looking, but non-authentic NES games that regular people then confuse for rare releases?
My game "City Trouble":
Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/Eee0yurkIW4
Download (ROM, manual, artworks): http://www.denny-r-walter.de/city.html
FrankWDoom
Posts: 260
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:27 pm

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by FrankWDoom »

these two have no proper NES release and there's no attempt to pass them off as such. it's more like fan art than anything else. people generally don't mind those and a basic search would tell someone what they are. if someone gets fooled by that it's kind of their own fault at that point. they're a world apart from someone pumping out straight counterfeits.

i don't have any issue with creating something new in established styles. again neither of these has real world NES release artwork. although the guy that did the f1 race has done a bunch of black box style runs like that and I do find the whole thing pretty tasteless. low effort and it just seems like a cash grab.

the seals are clearly misuse but so is everything else about this legally speaking. again nobody should be fooled into thinking these are legit releases because it has a seal on it.
User avatar
DRW
Posts: 2225
Joined: Sat Sep 07, 2013 2:59 pm

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by DRW »

FrankWDoom wrote:these two have no proper NES release
And you think every person knows the list of all the 700+ official US releases by heart?
FrankWDoom wrote:and there's no attempt to pass them off as such.
Yes, there is. That's the whole point of this discussion: Those games are designed to look exactly like a legitimate release.
FrankWDoom wrote:it's more like fan art than anything else.
If you want to do fan art, do it and upload it to DeviantArt or whatever. But don't use it for actually selling reproductions. And if you do, mark the boxes and cartridges with a big, fat "Reproduction" note.
FrankWDoom wrote:people generally don't mind those and a basic search would tell someone what they are.
This assumes that people get the idea that those games might be fake in the first place. Some non-hardcore NES gamer stumbling over "Miracle of Almana" might not suspect anything to begin with.
FrankWDoom wrote:if someone gets fooled by that it's kind of their own fault at that point.
No, it's not. Not everybody has deep inside knowledge into everything Nintendo-related. Not everybody is an expert. You cannot treat a random Joe Anybody the same way as you treat people on this forum. If somebody knows "Castlevania" and "Contra", he might not get the idea that this box of "Miracle of Almana" is not an authentic release.
FrankWDoom wrote:they're a world apart from someone pumping out straight counterfeits.
According to this logic, printing an authetic-looking 300 dollar bill is not producing counterfeit money becaus a 300 dollar bill doesn't exist in reality.
FrankWDoom wrote:the seals are clearly misuse
Not only the seal. Also the note "Licensed by Nintendo for play on the Nintendo Entertainment System" and "Made in Japan" are clearly lies. And using the Nintendo and Konami logos is dubious as well. As is the complete omitting of the real source of creation.
My game "City Trouble":
Gameplay video: https://youtu.be/Eee0yurkIW4
Download (ROM, manual, artworks): http://www.denny-r-walter.de/city.html
User avatar
Memblers
Site Admin
Posts: 4044
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:04 am
Location: Indianapolis
Contact:

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by Memblers »

I've heard from both collectors and resellers that the large amount of fakes are taking the fun out of finding stuff. Not stuff like F1 Race, but usually late-release and rare stuff like Panic Restaurant, Little Samson, etc. Wouldn't be surprised if there are fake copies of stuff like Contra out there too, even though it's extremely common it still sells for more than it costs bootleg makers to make it. If you're selling something rare these days, you pretty much need to open up the cart and take pictures or people won't take it seriously. And there has been a fake Stadium Events board found that look nearly identical to a real one, fake maskROMs and everything.

Even some homebrew stuff is getting a little confusing-looking. Check out the box for Dead Tomb:
https://twitter.com/CollectorVision/sta ... 3902931968
Says Nintendo Entertainment System, no trademark/endorsement disclaimer? Has Acclaim logo, I guess they bought the rights to it, but I think most people who grew up playing NES consider that a warning label, haha. Not the same as what's being discussed here, but I thought it was interesting.
User avatar
Sumez
Posts: 919
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 6:29 am
Location: Denmark (PAL)

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by Sumez »

Collectorvision actually have the rights to brands like Activision and even LJN.
tepples wrote:I smell trademark infringement at the very least. Consider reporting thei' @$$es to Nintendo and Konami, owners of the brands being misused.
The problem is that they most likely wouldn't care. There's a ton of that stuff going on, and it's very easy to find.
It's sad to me that people get away with this kind of obvious plagiarism.
Oziphantom
Posts: 1565
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2017 2:03 am

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by Oziphantom »

Nintendo are the kind of company that go after pornstars because they listed LOZ as one of their favorite games. The big N love their C&Ds, Konami probably won't give two hoots, but putting a Nintendo seal of Quality on it is probably enough to make Nintendo go after it.

People want to live the dream, people love the box more than the game, so people make the box to sell the dream.So you can have a nice neat box of your favorite game siting on the shelf. Then as soon as there is coin their is people making a scam.Then people who own the rights and then make proper new releases get yelled at because they are scamming the community and that others do the work for free and release it for free :roll:
User avatar
Dwedit
Posts: 4924
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by Dwedit »

Sumez wrote:Collectorvision actually have the rights to brands like Activision and even LJN.
I hope you meant Acclaim and not Activison, otherwise Activision Blizzard would be coming down like the force of 1000 suns.
Here come the fortune cookies! Here come the fortune cookies! They're wearing paper hats!
User avatar
rainwarrior
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:03 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by rainwarrior »

Oziphantom wrote:Nintendo are the kind of company that go after pornstars because they listed LOZ as one of their favorite games.
Is that something that happened?
User avatar
Kasumi
Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:09 pm

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by Kasumi »

The closest I can think of is them buying the rights to Super Hornio Brothers.
tepples
Posts: 22708
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:12 pm
Location: NE Indiana, USA (NTSC)
Contact:

Re: Reproductions that look like original games

Post by tepples »

I thought it had something to do with the Suicide Girls incident from 2004. ("Nintendo sues porn user for listing Zelda as an interest" by Wil Harris) Nintendo later apologized for this incident. ("Nintendo Warms to Fans' Online Speech" by Wendy Seltzer)

But the fact remains that many entertainment publishers are not interested in collaborating with fans.
Post Reply