Vic Tokai

I e-mailed Vic some years ago out of curiosity regarding how they feel about people downloading their ROMs. A representative said they didn't mind, so long as it wasn't for profit. They have now switched to doing internet-related business and are no longer in games. However, I do think there would be some potential conflict regarding games they did under contract for others (such as DeCap Attack and Psycho Fox for Sega) versus their original games. Original being titles like Magical Doropie and Battle Mania 1/2. That being said, I think they may even be willing to license legitimate releases of these games in question, since I don't think they'd actually be very savvy about others making unauthorized bootlegs of their titles and profiting from them.

Still, if someone did this, I would like to see a compilation cartridge of Battle Mania 1 and 2 using a selector programmed into the game similar to the Sonic Classics menu. Doropie (the original version of Krion Conquest) would also benefit from a legit release. I can't think of any other games Vic did on their own that I would really want to see released in this way, but those are two that come to mind. Maybe we should get SFT or Piko Games on board to help make this happen.

MIJET worked on Battle Mania 2's translation, and I told him about what they told me in e-mail, and if he could still be contacted, maybe he'd authorize his translation to be used in an official release, as would the translators for Doropie (Shih Tzu from the romhacking scene might still be around).

It is an interesting idea for a translator to take on publishing rights, but we are talking about titles from twenty, even thirty years ago - what translation outfit would be willing to put in the efforts of obtaining license and further risk the money? I just don't see the market for it and especially with representatives claiming 'so long as it wasn't for profit.'

Too high a risk, too small an audience in my mind.

But let's say these developers that are still current in what ever instance they still operate in, even if it they could care less and this was just for the love of it, who wants to buy 'official' releases of games from yesteryear when people can get the same game from reproduction venues for significantly cheaper.

Romantic idea, but the novelty of it all wouldn't be able to sustain itself.

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Originally Posted by Lync

It is an interesting idea for a translator to take on publishing rights, but we are talking about titles from twenty, even thirty years ago - what translation outfit would be willing to put in the efforts of obtaining license and further risk the money? I just don't see the market for it and especially with representatives claiming 'so long as it wasn't for profit.'

Too high a risk, too small an audience in my mind.

But let's say these developers that are still current in what ever instance they still operate in, even if it they could care less and this was just for the love of it, who wants to buy 'official' releases of games from yesteryear when people can get the same game from reproduction venues for significantly cheaper.

Romantic idea, but the novelty of it all wouldn't be able to sustain itself.

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Well, you're probably right. I don't buy unauthorized bootlegs myself, but the fact that they are fine with people downloading them and enjoying the games at no-cost is certainly reassuring. These games didn't get much exposure to begin with. That's good enough, for the most part.