OpCode Games Down ?

[ten-four]

Hi.

 

It was a very sad reading about OpCode Games newest blog on their site.

 

My Pac, and Road Fighter is delayed for an nondescript time.

 

[Rick Weis]

so that's why Eduardo has not replied to my e-mails... i thought we pissed him off some how...

 

sorry to hear he's not well! i wish him well...

 

Rick

[PressureCooker2600]

I wish him well and hope everything goes okay.

 

Just try to think positive.

[Jess Ragan]

Trying to rationalize his depression is a mistake. As a frequent sufferer myself, I can tell you that trying to explain it away won't work. We all know he's a smart and talented guy, but HE isn't going to see that until he deals with his personal issues. Medication could help as well.

[classics]

 

Best wishes Eduardo, I hope you are feeling better soon.

 

Steve

[PressureCooker2600]

Right now, I'm on 300mg Effexor XR for my depression.

 

And I totally agree with Jess on this one.

[Murph74]

Shame reading about Opcode's future. The games that they did put out seemed to be some of the best ever on the Colecovision. I wish there was something more we could do to help fix things to get it back on track.

 

While the blogs tend to convey quite a sense of frustration, let's keep in mind this was a hobby based business, not a multimillion dollar slave driving organization (IE stories of the original 80's Coleco environment). I dare say some involved appear to have been taking it too seriously. So things were moving slower than hoped-- real life sometimes has a way of interfering with other plans. As a legit business with deadlines and such it's pretty much not a viable option. There's just not enough of a market for it to be profitable-- if you sell 300 games at $30 each, that's $9,000. I'd think less than half of that could be profit after raw costs are factored in. So say you come out at $4,500 profit even (being generous with all these numbers mind you-- I'd be surprised if 300 sold is realistic, but I have no clue on that one). To even average $20 an hour for the work, it would all have to be done in under 225 man hours. I'd think that is again fairly unrealistic to get everything from code to packaging done in that time. So, I believe it's NOT nor should be about the money-- it IS still a hobby after all.

 

Oh, but for the love of the game...

 

From just a gamer's point of view, maybe some of the announcements were a little premature-- probably be much safer to just announce projects when they are at or near completion, instead of outlining a to-do list that could take years. But at the same time, those announcements help fuel interest and excitement at what's to come. So they do serve a purpose, but may become a liability as some, even internally it seems, get frustrated at the time it takes to get the product to market.

 

I, for one, believe any work Eduardo gets done is good work, and am willing to wait til he's ready to deliver his projects. Even if some of the listed projects become vaporware, it's still nice to dream and think of what might be or better yet, actually COULD be.

 

Thanks to everyone at Opcode for what you've delivered to us already, and I look forward to seeing more quality games in the future! I think it's safe to say we got your back, Eduardo. Do your thing as you see fit-- I just hope it includes more games!

 

Murph

[Shawn]

Right now, I'm on 300mg Effexor XR for my depression.

 

Ditto, 2 of those big bastards everyday to keep me stable. Sucks eh?

[PressureCooker2600]

Those suckers ARE huge, aren't they?

 

Like fuckin' horse pills.

[Bill Brasky]

Those suckers ARE huge, aren't they?

 

Like fuckin' horse pills.

 

 

Crush them up and snort them.

[Kurt_Woloch]

OK, so which games by Opcode Games are really available?

 

As far as I can see:

- Space Invaders Collection

- Sky Jaguar

- Yie ar Kung Fu

- Magical Tree

 

At least those work with the standard Colecovision... I was pretty sceptical about the planned games requiring additinoal hardware like the memory expansion or the Opgrade module, which is essentially a more powerful video chip.

[Murph74]

OK, so which games by Opcode Games are really available?

 

As far as I can see:

- Space Invaders Collection

- Sky Jaguar

- Yie ar Kung Fu

- Magical Tree

 

At least those work with the standard Colecovision... I was pretty sceptical about the planned games requiring additinoal hardware like the memory expansion or the Opgrade module, which is essentially a more powerful video chip.

 

Those are it for the full releases to the best of my knowledge. I've not seen it, but have heard Konami's Ping Pong is out there somewhere too in cart only form. I agree with you on the extra hardware-- but the Mega Cartridges are a great idea!

 

I'm also still hoping to hear back from someone eventually about getting rom images for the atarimax cart of the Opcode games. I own each of the opcode games (x2), but usually don't take the atarimax cart out of the Colecovision, so they often get overlooked.

[Bill Brasky]

I don't think you can buy Space Invaders Collection anymore. I recently sold mine on ebay and it for more than new. Opcode says they'll make more but you know how that is.

[Murph74]

I don't think you can buy Space Invaders Collection anymore. I recently sold mine on ebay and it for more than new. Opcode says they'll make more but you know how that is.

 

I don't think I'd use that as a barometer of value or availability. I've seen McGrail get $65 on BIN for most of the Opcode games if memory serves me-- while still readily available from multiple sources. People buying on Ebay get stupid-- it's what makes selling fun on Ebay. I'd say at least half of the ebay shoppers (not necessarily in classic gaming but in general) don't do the 'homework' to make it worth while. In the words of someone probably other than PT Barnum, "There's a sucker born every minute."

 

Of course, there's also plenty of nice collectors around who got multiple copies of the games and are happy to share them for what they paid-- profit isn't everyone's motivator. That was how I got my first 3 Opcode games.

 

(Edit: Ok, maybe plenty is an overstatement. )

Edited October 1, 2007 by Murph74

[opcode]

Hi guys,

 

First of all, thank you so much for all kind words. I cannot describe how I feel happy hearing such words of encouragement during these difficult times.

While I cannot say for sure what is going to happen to me in the next couple of months (my current health condition is kind of a mystery) I have realized that simply trying to stay away from the world isn't going to help. So I decided to resume some of my game activities. My first objective is to finish and release Road Fighter. The game is done, the beta is out, I am also testing it myself. So by the end of this week I hope to have the game ready to production. In terms of packaging, Luc, Dale, Jess and Wu managed to finish the main artwork, the general box layout, label, and the I believe they are now working on the manual, which I suppose should be done in a couple of weeks. I am contacting my printer in Brazil to see how much the package would cost. And that's the problem. When I started with SIC, it was necessary 3.70 BR to buy a US dollar. Now, it is more like 1.80 BR. That means that printing is a lot more expensive now (basically twice as much). That means that I need to sell twice as many copies to see my money back. So I would like to start a reservation list. If I get 50 names, ok, Road Fighter gets a release, otherwise we would need to try to find another way.

After Road Fighter I am not doing any more promises, even cause I don't know what the future reserves to me in a couple of months. If I don’t have anything serious, then I could go for PMC next, probably during the holydays.

I also have being doing some work with TRON, disassembling the arcade game. No promises again, I am just having a good time. I am a huge fan of the movie, hoping to be around when the new sequence comes out.

At last, I would say that I have been a big a**hole for many years, and I really feel bad that I missed the chance to better socialize with many of you here. I believe I had this great, unique opportunity, as a programmer and distributor of homebrew CV games, to make some good friends, to just enjoy people, and I missed it playing the frequently arrogant type. If someone was praising me, I couldn't care, if he/she was criticizing me, I couldn't care either. Somewhere down the road I really missed the point of all of this big time. And I apologize. I apologize for every time I was arrogant. I apologize for every time I did announce something too early. I apologize for not replying emails. I apologize for not caring about people who cared so much about me. I feel really ashamed for all of that, and I apologize. And finally I would like to say that I love all of you guys, cause you kept this hobby alive for 25 years, and I am sure many of you will still be around 25 years from now.

I thing I really want to do in the next few months is to start writing about the CV. It could be technical stuff, it could be simply about the games I like, about how to port arcade games, I don't know. I am sure I will find something to write about...

Well, thanks again guys, and see you around.

 

Eduardo

[128Kgames]

Put me on your list for a copy of Road Fighter. Keep us in the loop also on the Magical Tree recall.

 

Always found you to be nothing but cordial in your emails (when you sent them) so no worries here. Sickness sucks, but then again so does getting old, and both of them tend to go hand in hand.

 

Hope things start looking up for you, MA is a cool place to be and Boston has plenty of sites to see so get out and take advantage of them when you can.

 

Fresh air does wonders.

[opcode]

Put me on your list for a copy of Road Fighter. Keep us in the loop also on the Magical Tree recall.

 

Always found you to be nothing but cordial in your emails (when you sent them) so no worries here. Sickness sucks, but then again so does getting old, and both of them tend to go hand in hand.

 

Hope things start looking up for you, MA is a cool place to be and Boston has plenty of sites to see so get out and take advantage of them when you can.

 

Fresh air does wonders.

 

Indeed, and I just realized that talking to people works pretty well too. Luc was right. Anyway, thanks a lot for all the care and concert. Your name is in my RF list. Two names so far.

About MT recall, do you have a buggy version? If so, please return it to:

Eduardo Mello

136 Glen Meadow Rd

Franklin, MA 02038

 

And I will send you a good copy.

 

Thanks again!

[neotokeo2001]

You can sign me up also. You can put me for two copies if possible.

[Pixelboy]

If Eduardo is going to participate to this thread, I guess I should too.

 

While the blogs tend to convey quite a sense of frustration, let's keep in mind this was a hobby based business, not a multimillion dollar slave driving organization (IE stories of the original 80's Coleco environment). I dare say some involved appear to have been taking it too seriously. So things were moving slower than hoped-- real life sometimes has a way of interfering with other plans.

I understand what you're saying, but let's also keep in mind that I was brought onboard as executive producer and also coordinator, which means it's my job to blow a little steam if things don't move along at a steady pace.

 

From just a gamer's point of view, maybe some of the announcements were a little premature-- probably be much safer to just announce projects when they are at or near completion, instead of outlining a to-do list that could take years. But at the same time, those announcements help fuel interest and excitement at what's to come. So they do serve a purpose, but may become a liability as some, even internally it seems, get frustrated at the time it takes to get the product to market.

Well, I agree with you where very long-term projects are concerned (like Donkey Kong Arcade, Castlevania Redux, Wizard of Wor, Tron and a few others that haven't really been started yet) but the likes of Goonies, Knightmare, Zanac and Yie Ar Kung-Fu 2 are practically complete software-wise, so keeping them secret (or not) on our web site is mostly a moot point.

 

The short-to-long-term problem I'm having right now is that I can't commit to doing the Memory Pack with Eduardo being out of commission. The whole point of the Memory Pack is to get some of our future games released in (relatively) rapid succession, so it would be a waste of money and ressources to make the hardware if the software isn't going to get done.

 

Those are it for the full releases to the best of my knowledge. I've not seen it, but have heard Konami's Ping Pong is out there somewhere too in cart only form.

Only 3 or 4 Ping-Pong carts were produced and given to Eduardo's closest friends, so we can hardly call it an official release... I don't even have one myself in my personal collection.

 

I don't think you can buy Space Invaders Collection anymore. I recently sold mine on ebay and it for more than new. Opcode says they'll make more but you know how that is.

As far as Space Invaders Collection is concerned, Eduardo already has 100 red cart shells in stock (I've seen them with my own eyes), and only two things are holding things up for the release of a new batch:

1) Getting some additional manuals printed. IIRC Eduardo already has some spare boxes in stock at home, but even if he doesn't, we just need to get some more printed, along with the manuals.

2) We need to assemble the carts (soldering chips on PCBs and assembling everything with the red cart shells).

If we could find someone out there who's handy with a soldering iron, we could possibly send the programmed EPROMs, PCBs and cart shells to this person and this would relieve Eduardo of this burden (keep in mind that I haven't discussed this idea with Eduardo yet, he may not agree). Eduardo once told me he could assemble 50 carts together in a single week-end, so it's not so much a question of the man-hours involved, but I believe it would improve Eduardo's motivation if he didn't have to assemble the carts himself. Just finishing the software is enough of a burden for him already.

 

Always found you to be nothing but cordial in your emails (when you sent them) so no worries here. Sickness sucks, but then again so does getting old, and both of them tend to go hand in hand.

 

Hope things start looking up for you, MA is a cool place to be and Boston has plenty of sites to see so get out and take advantage of them when you can.

 

Fresh air does wonders.

 

Indeed, and I just realized that talking to people works pretty well too. Luc was right.

Heh heh...

 

Anyway, thanks a lot for all the care and concert. Your name is in my RF list. Two names so far.

I think this pre-order list is a good idea, but you should have consulted me first... Dale and I are already doing some stuff on our end...

 

 

About MT recall, do you have a buggy version? If so, please return it to:

Eduardo Mello

136 Glen Meadow Rd

Franklin, MA 02038

 

And I will send you a good copy.

As you know already, I bought a sizeable collection of boxed CV games recently, and now I have two copies of each Opcode release. I'll be sending my extra MT to you for a replacement, so I can sell it on eBay as a non-buggy edition.

[ten-four]

Hi all your "ColecoVision supporters" out there.

 

Will Eduardo and Luc reserve me a copy of RF too ?.

 

Thank You.

 

[Albert]

2) We need to assemble the carts (soldering chips on PCBs and assembling everything with the red cart shells).

If we could find someone out there who's handy with a soldering iron, we could possibly send the programmed EPROMs, PCBs and cart shells to this person and this would relieve Eduardo of this burden (keep in mind that I haven't discussed this idea with Eduardo yet, he may not agree). Eduardo once told me he could assemble 50 carts together in a single week-end, so it's not so much a question of the man-hours involved, but I believe it would improve Eduardo's motivation if he didn't have to assemble the carts himself. Just finishing the software is enough of a burden for him already.

I'd be glad to help out with this--I should be able to solder and assemble 100 carts in fairly short order.. Just let me know!

 

..Al

[holygrailvideogames.com]

I don't think you can buy Space Invaders Collection anymore. I recently sold mine on ebay and it for more than new. Opcode says they'll make more but you know how that is.

 

I don't think I'd use that as a barometer of value or availability. I've seen McGrail get $65 on BIN for most of the Opcode games if memory serves me-- while still readily available from multiple sources. People buying on Ebay get stupid-- it's what makes selling fun on Ebay. I'd say at least half of the ebay shoppers (not necessarily in classic gaming but in general) don't do the 'homework' to make it worth while. In the words of someone probably other than PT Barnum, "There's a sucker born every minute."

 

Of course, there's also plenty of nice collectors around who got multiple copies of the games and are happy to share them for what they paid-- profit isn't everyone's motivator. That was how I got my first 3 Opcode games.

 

(Edit: Ok, maybe plenty is an overstatement. )

 

At one point earlier this year I did sell most of my Coleco collection because I needed the money to pay some bills. I currently am rebuilding my collection. I did not sell OPGAMES though for $65. I sold Space Invaders Collection for $34.95 but I still have one. I bought another one because my original box was damaged. I did sell Sky Jaguar for $39.95 and YIE AR KUNG FU for $39.95. When you take into account eBay fees and PayPal I would hardly say that I profit was my motivator for these games. Eduardo does excellent work. I sold off every Coleco game that I had because I was really short on money one month but I still kept a copy of Space Invaders Collection.

 

Eduardo, I wish you the best. You have many friends in the community and I hope to see you around here for several years to come. Maybe you should consider raising your price of your games say $5-$10 to help offset the additional shipping cost. I personally would not have a problem paying $40-$50 for a new Colecovision release especially for Pac-Man Collection, Donkey Kong Collection, or if ever decide to make Galaga for the Coleco.

Edited October 1, 2007 by holygrailvideogames.com

[diggs130]

Best of luck with your health Eduardo!

 

Also please add me to the Reservation list.

 

 

Thank you~

[+FujiSkunk]

Put me on the list for Road Fighter. I love that game, and I think it is vastly underappreciated. It gets a lot of play time whenever I pop Konami Arcade Classics into the PlayStation. I would love to see what the Coleco can do with it.

 

Thanks, and thank you for all your work so far, Opcode. I am a happy owner of both Yie Ar Kung Fu and Space Invaders Collection.

[ten-four]

Maybe you should consider raising your price of your games say $5-$10 to help offset the additional shipping cost. I personally would not have a problem paying $40-$50 for a new Colecovision release especially for Pac-Man Collection, Donkey Kong Collection, or if ever decide to make Galaga for the Coleco.

 

Yes, I agree' with holygrailvideogames.com.

 

I think it is the best way to finances all the hard work, also for the package and the manual-work.

People will pay, -trust me, for every arcade-convert to a ColecoVision edition, will always sell.