VC mame?

[Gaffer]

Right, quicky here.

I have recently delved into the murky world of the Virtual Console....

......wwwoooooooooooooo

Suffice it to say, I am SO HAPPY nintendo included this in the Wii.
I used to own Ghosts'n'Goblins (pic below) on my C64, and playing Super Ghouls'n'Ghosts has reunited me with many treasured memories


as you can see from the pic on the right, I also downloaded Super Mario World and have been BLOWN AWAY with how FANTASTIC this game really is











You may think i am content? Oh how wrong you are !
I find myself wondering if I could download any of my old C64 games at some point.
The classics I would LOVE to have (again) to start with are:

ACE: Air Combat Emulator


Arkanoid


Auf Wiedersehen Monty


Bruce Lee


F15: Strike Eagle


Frightmare


Gauntlet


Gunship


Panther


StarGlider


Super Sprint


Yie Ar Kung Fu


Zaxxon


and one of my faves....Thrust

Further piccies and info available from Lemon 64

...to name but a few.

Now, I'm sure there are many of you out there who have similar memories from non-nintendo systems (eg, this or the spectrum etc etc).

So my question is, wouldn't it be great if Virtual Console had a selection of mame games for other platforms available?

I'm not sure about the rights for the games, or how it would work legally, but if they can do it for the TurboGrafx, they can surely at some point work something out and extend this to the other home computing systems?

Failing this, I wouldn't mind a 3rd party offering or even a seperate dedicated channel that allowed you to run any mame file (eg .t64) downloaded from the web (for example, download the rom, transfer to sd card, transfer from card to console and play).

Again, I'm not sure of the legal ramifications but it would be a great idea which I think would fit right in with Nintendo's current "leftfield" approach to the next gen gaming scene

[stupot]

C64 games on the Wii? What a great idea! Of course, it would have to take five minutes for the game to load with only a 50/50 chance of it working on loading!

[captainff]

fantastic idea!

as you say though, the legal wrangles will more than likely prevent this from ever happening............

we will have to content ourselves with the official content (see how that worked?!)

[Tr!toch]

Yie Ar Kung Fu. Now that was a classic I sure do hope they manage to get legal rights to re-distribute it.

[rhyswynne]

With Mame - Very Unlikely.

Other - Possible. Nintendo has promised a homebrew kit, and I'm sure many old developers are whetting their lips with anticipation to update their software.

I'd LOVE to see games like Paradroid, The Detective, Uridium and Creatures 2 (not the crap virtual pet "Creatures" PC Game) come out for the Wii. Educate newer gamers!

Wasn't System 3 promising some games for it? They own the Epyx Library, so games like Impossible Mission and California Games could make their way onto the Wii VC

[wii_man76]

Ah! I'm beggining to see the merits now of the VC - nameley reminiscing your youth!

[Gaffer]

Yep

....and not just for C64 games, but old Spectrum classics and also others like Atari ST and C Amiga.....the possibilites are vast

[weejamer]

Well a lot of C64, Spectrum and Even dos games when they get too old become abandonware...

This means it is now free and legal to distribute these games as either the copyright has expired or the company is more than dead dead....

Most companies resell there games as Classic games (re-branded but still theirs) to avoid this... (yes i mean those games that are too old and sell for 10 quid in a new box)

Did you know you can download the original GTA for dos without the gestapo knocking at your door!!!!!!!!!

So what does this mean for VC... LESS legal hurdles!!!

I stress the word less as it is not always black and white

[rhyswynne]

Originally Posted by weejamer

Well a lot of C64, Spectrum and Even dos games when they get too old become abandonware...

This means it is now free and legal to distribute these games as either the copyright has expired or the company is more than dead dead....

Don't be so sure. Whilst 90% C64 and Spectrum games are not worth the hassle to follow a legal case, it isn't exactly legal. Some cases they do (Have a look at 4Mation, who still release software, and still guards it's copyrights for games like Granny's Garden & Dragon World).

Plus, I'm sure if Nintendo started selling games from - say - the old Thalamus collection from the C64, then somebody would probably be quite entitled to kick off about it.

Shame, as I'd love to play these games for free!

[weejamer]

Originally Posted by rhyswynne

Don't be so sure. Whilst 90% C64 and Spectrum games are not worth the hassle to follow a legal case, it isn't exactly legal. Some cases they do (Have a look at 4Mation, who still release software, and still guards it's copyrights for games like Granny's Garden & Dragon World).

Plus, I'm sure if Nintendo started selling games from - say - the old Thalamus collection from the C64, then somebody would probably be quite entitled to kick off about it.

Shame, as I'd love to play these games for free!

I see your point and your correct!

Is it also the case that if the copyright owner does not actively maintain their property (maintain as in make sure all the copyright stuff is in order once and a while) the properties copyright can expire and no longer apply.

But again back to your point some publishers do guard there games for all dear life.

Also like I said their would be less legal issues. I don't think for a sec there would be none.