49 replies to this topic

[opcode]

I was just checking my game inventory and realized that I have a ton of dead stock. I probably have more packaging for Road Fighter and Magical Tree than I have for Pac-Man Collection, my most recent game and one which I ordered 100 more packages than usual.

So in order to get rid of all this dead stock I am going to start a game sale.

Soon you will able to buy those games for just $25 each. Games come with nice boxes and manuals. Titles on sale are Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Magical Tree and Road Fighter.

In addition to that I am going to do an experiment, I am going to make the Yie Ar Kung-Fu ROM available for free. Let's see what happens.

Finally, in my last visit to Brazil last year I found some extra packaging for Sky Jaguar, a game I thought was sold out. I just counted and I have 20 packages available, so I can produce 20 more copies and after that the game will be sold out, probably forever. Sky Jaguar will be sold for $30 a copy.

And I still have plenty of Pac-Man Collections, though I suspect it is reaching Space Invaders Collection numbers. I am not sure as I actually don't keep track, but I suspect the game has already crossed the 200 copies mark. Pac-Man Collection still sells for $40.

Edited by opcode, Sat Jun 25, 2011 6:36 PM.

[potatohead]

I've no skin in this game, since I don't currently do Coleco. Thought about it though! Nice system.

Anyway, my thought is that you should get something for the ROM. If it were me, I would post it up, in return for a e-mail address, and maybe some other info. Another idea would be to ask them for a comment, or a short story related to the ROM, such as how they got into Coleco, what game memories they have, etc...

A favorite author of mine, who I found appealing precisely because he does issue PDFs of his books, and allows format translations, fan derivatives and other fun stuff, leading to me buying quite a few hard copy books, does similar things. His reasoning is that you can compete with free, and that becoming the authoritative source for the works trumps piracy, in that people can just get it the right way, instead of the wrong way. From there, the idea is mindshare can be leveraged. Prolly won't work for smaller scale like retro, but his site is http://www.craphound.com Some interesting reading there. Maybe you will score a good idea or two.

Then issue it with permission to use, not distribute, and that the ROM source is your site, where they can get it, and your other titles on sale for, $$$\

Very interested to see how your test goes. Good on you for giving it a go.

Edited by potatohead, Sat Jun 25, 2011 7:15 PM.

[LynxVGL]

opcode, on Sat Jun 25, 2011 6:35 PM, said:

I was just checking my game inventory and realized that I have a ton of dead stock. I probably have more packaging for Road Fighter and Magical Tree than I have for Pac-Man Collection, my most recent game and one which I ordered 100 more packages than usual.

So in order to get rid of all this dead stock I am going to start a game sale.

Soon you will able to buy those games for just $25 each. Games come with nice boxes and manuals. Titles on sale are Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Magical Tree and Road Fighter.

In addition to that I am going to do an experiment, I am going to make the Yie Ar Kung-Fu ROM available for free. Let's see what happens.

Finally, in my last visit to Brazil last year I found some extra packaging for Sky Jaguar, a game I thought was sold out. I just counted and I have 20 packages available, so I can produce 20 more copies and after that the game will be sold out, probably forever. Sky Jaguar will be sold for $30 a copy.

And I still have plenty of Pac-Man Collections, though I suspect it is reaching Space Invaders Collection numbers. I am not sure as I actually don't keep track, but I suspect the game has already crossed the 200 copies mark. Pac-Man Collection still sells for $40.

What are the real numbers for Space Invaders Collection? Are they long gone too?

[opcode]

LynxVGL, on Sat Jun 25, 2011 8:43 PM, said:

opcode, on Sat Jun 25, 2011 6:35 PM, said:

I was just checking my game inventory and realized that I have a ton of dead stock. I probably have more packaging for Road Fighter and Magical Tree than I have for Pac-Man Collection, my most recent game and one which I ordered 100 more packages than usual.

So in order to get rid of all this dead stock I am going to start a game sale.

Soon you will able to buy those games for just $25 each. Games come with nice boxes and manuals. Titles on sale are Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Magical Tree and Road Fighter.

In addition to that I am going to do an experiment, I am going to make the Yie Ar Kung-Fu ROM available for free. Let's see what happens.

Finally, in my last visit to Brazil last year I found some extra packaging for Sky Jaguar, a game I thought was sold out. I just counted and I have 20 packages available, so I can produce 20 more copies and after that the game will be sold out, probably forever. Sky Jaguar will be sold for $30 a copy.

And I still have plenty of Pac-Man Collections, though I suspect it is reaching Space Invaders Collection numbers. I am not sure as I actually don't keep track, but I suspect the game has already crossed the 200 copies mark. Pac-Man Collection still sells for $40.

What are the real numbers for Space Invaders Collection? Are they long gone too?

I stopped counting after the game crossed 200 copies, so I suppose it sold somewhere between 220 to 250 copies. Up to around copy #200, every copy was individually numbered. You can check your copy number by pressing "0" or something in the keypad while in the title screen.

[opcode]

potatohead, on Sat Jun 25, 2011 7:12 PM, said:

I've no skin in this game, since I don't currently do Coleco. Thought about it though! Nice system.

Anyway, my thought is that you should get something for the ROM. If it were me, I would post it up, in return for a e-mail address, and maybe some other info. Another idea would be to ask them for a comment, or a short story related to the ROM, such as how they got into Coleco, what game memories they have, etc...

A favorite author of mine, who I found appealing precisely because he does issue PDFs of his books, and allows format translations, fan derivatives and other fun stuff, leading to me buying quite a few hard copy books, does similar things. His reasoning is that you can compete with free, and that becoming the authoritative source for the works trumps piracy, in that people can just get it the right way, instead of the wrong way. From there, the idea is mindshare can be leveraged. Prolly won't work for smaller scale like retro, but his site is http://www.craphound.com Some interesting reading there. Maybe you will score a good idea or two.

Then issue it with permission to use, not distribute, and that the ROM source is your site, where they can get it, and your other titles on sale for, $$$\

Very interested to see how your test goes. Good on you for giving it a go.

That is a really nice idea. Thanks for sharing!

[sermajic]

Don' t release yie ar kung fu free, put a price on it!, let it roll

[potatohead]

You are welcome. Another interesting idea I saw out there was "pay what it's worth" Put it up there with a box for some amount of money. Maybe it's just a penny. Maybe it's $20? Who knows? Again, maybe not appropriate for a smaller scale thing like retro, but potentially a source of some good ideas, which was the point of my posts. Since you are going to do it, you might as well learn and get some info, etc..

[sermajic]

Please eduardo,
Work things out with steve, forget the past

New rom releases -don't have to be free! Or cheap, or DRM free-
to play on real hardware is a dream for many of us ,
Who don't care for boxes and manuals, just play good games

[rmaerz]

I want Space Invaders Collection, Road Fighter and Sky Jaguar.

Question: does Road Fighter support the driving controller?

[opcode]

rmaerz, on Sun Jun 26, 2011 8:26 AM, said:

I want Space Invaders Collection, Road Fighter and Sky Jaguar.

Question: does Road Fighter support the driving controller?

Nop, because the arcade original also uses a joytick.

BTW, Space Invaders Collection is currently sold out. Once the SGM is out I may think of a re-release. It would be nice to keep all arcade ports always available as there is a lot of demand for them.

[Cebus Capucinis]

I want Road Fighter and Sky Jaguar!

[Murph74]

I'll second the motion to sell the ROM files! I still think there's a market for the ROM's if you sell them at the right price (thinking less that $5), and put a shareware type intro screen on the rom with your paypal info and the game's background.

I suggest the screen because I believe the ROM *will* be redistributed among the masses for emulation and such which may not be your overall intent, and a large part of that audience has no idea what they are doing can be wrong and financially harmful to the original producers. A quick splash, or even a "press * to see how to donate to the author" kind of screen is a welcome addition to get word out about your efforts to those who may otherwise never know A) who made the game B) where it came from C) that there is still an active Colecovision community. In my book, even if you only get 10 people to send ya $5, that's $50 more than ya had!

[the.golden.ax]

I like the idea of a www. or @paypal.com startup screen where you could direct people to pay/donate for the rom if they downloaded it somewhere. When I've got it I'll generally give a buck or three if I end up using something with a donate button for ppl.

AX

[opcode]

Murph74, on Sun Jun 26, 2011 2:58 PM, said:

I'll second the motion to sell the ROM files! I still think there's a market for the ROM's if you sell them at the right price (thinking less that $5), and put a shareware type intro screen on the rom with your paypal info and the game's background.

I suggest the screen because I believe the ROM *will* be redistributed among the masses for emulation and such which may not be your overall intent, and a large part of that audience has no idea what they are doing can be wrong and financially harmful to the original producers. A quick splash, or even a "press * to see how to donate to the author" kind of screen is a welcome addition to get word out about your efforts to those who may otherwise never know A) who made the game B) where it came from C) that there is still an active Colecovision community. In my book, even if you only get 10 people to send ya $5, that's $50 more than ya had!

As I said before, I don't like the idea of selling the ROM for 2 reason:
1) If you already have the cartridge, then you would be paying again for a game you already have
2) If you don't have the cartridge, paying for the ROM may reduce the chance of you buying the cartridge version, and I don't want that

My main concern with distributing the ROM aren't emulators, because I believe that if you are going to play those games on emulators chances are you wouldn't be buying the cartridge anyway. My concern are the flash carts. So I may make sure the free ROM doesn't run on a real CV...

[lucifershalo]

Still doesnt "resolve" the problem,Ed

I buy most of the cartidges
but it would be nice to be able to play the roms on my flashcart
so I dont have to carry all the games but only the multicart
when I go somewhere

[NIAD]

There is going to be no definitive right or wrong way to go with this ROM distribution idea. If you choose THIS method... you might alienate THIS group of people. If you choose THAT method... you stand the chance of alienating THAT group of people.

Oy vey, what a giant black hole this whole subject has become.

Good luck with your decision, Eduardo, and get ready to duck whatever it may be!

[ozma wars]

sermajic, on Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:45 PM, said:

Don' t release yie ar kung fu free, put a price on it!, let it roll

I agree !

[opcode]

Opcode game sale has officially started:
http://www.atariage....e-colecovision/

[phattyboombatty]

Woo hoo! Got my copy of Sky Jaguar today, and it's my birthday weekend! Can't wait to tear it open (read: guardedly transmit the contents away from my work, carefully open the box, preserving all of it's contents, and store said contents in dust-free Sterilite container), and enjoy some Konami-Colecovision game time!!

[ten-four]

Hi phattyboombatty.

Sky Jaguar is a great game, I have a nice high score on 66.770 from okt. '08.

The game looks easy, but i can tell you that is not.

Your adrenaline will come up in the red, and you will hate your original CV Controllers. (I use arcade parts).

Have fun with this game, the aliens will be all over you...

[Cebus Capucinis]

Cebus Capucinis, on Sun Jun 26, 2011 9:19 AM, said:

I want Road Fighter and Sky Jaguar!

I ordered both! Plus Pac-Man Collection!

[Darrin9999]

I`m trying to order the games, but can not get a response..

[Pixelboy]

Darrin9999, on Sun Nov 27, 2011 5:48 PM, said:

I`m trying to order the games, but can not get a response..

As far as I know, Eduardo hasn't been heard from since early September.

[NIAD]

Pixelboy, on Sun Nov 27, 2011 5:56 PM, said:

Darrin9999, on Sun Nov 27, 2011 5:48 PM, said:

I`m trying to order the games, but can not get a response..

As far as I know, Eduardo hasn't been heard from since early September.

Sounds like a good time to auction off some Opcode games on eBAY.

[opcode]

Opcode website is accepting orders again. I apologize for the interruption.