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General discussionThe search for game rights (a diary-esque thread)(952 posts)(952 posts)
(952 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted August 13, 2013
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Piranjade: Same here. I received a VERY nice and long message from the guy who maintains the German Thalion fan site today.
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tfishell: Very cool! I assume it's different from the one Alex Holland is maintaining? *checks* okay, yeah, this a UK one: http://thalion.exotica.org.uk/
This is the German site: http://home.wtal.de/gmb/
And the owner, Gerald, sent me a really nice email. He doesn't know where the rights are either and says that Erik simon also doesn't know.
He recommends asking Jurie Horneman who once hinted that he knew something about the rights being sold to "LBS" (which is a German bank - or is it a common abbreviation in English also?).
This is Jurie's blog: http://www.intelligent-artifice.com/
The last possibility Gerald mentions is the one I'm following right now (you know, the one I'm not giving you details about).
It was a really nice mail and long and detailed on top of that. Gerald would be happy to hear from us if we can solve the riddle of the Thalion rights.
I tried to send him a thank you mail but apparently his mail server is down right now.
Posted August 13, 2013
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E_A: I have an acquaintance that works at Bigpoint. Will try to tap him tomorrow.

In the meantime: Would you guys be interested in using a database to compile the data you collect? It seems to me that the thread structure here makes it very hard to judge what has already been done on which projects/games.
Some sort of organization would be fantastic, but I have no idea how to do all that. Thus far I've been keeping my info in Wordpad documents and sharing it via Dropbox with those who PM me. I can also put a link to it in my original post here, if it will be something that's linkable. :)

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Piranjade: ...
Very cool. I'll keep trying to search for info on "Thalion Publishing" if you want.
Post edited August 13, 2013 by tfishell
Posted August 13, 2013
Found some more info on Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition. Tracking the creators, 3D People s.r.o., I discovered that most of them went on to found Games Farm, s.r.o.. A visit to their company website reveals that they may still be in business. Furthermore, they list Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition (under its European title Kult: Heretic Kingdoms) under the Games and have a page for it.

If someone wants to call them and speaks the language (they are located in the Slovak Republic), here is the contact information.

Games Farm, s.r.o.
Zizkova 30
Kosice, 04001
Slovak Republic
Contact phone: +421 905 397 017

It would be lovely if whoever calls can find out if they are still in business and are selling Kult: Heretic Kingdoms. If so, then we can let GOG know. Thanks!
Posted August 13, 2013
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IAmSinistar: It would be lovely if whoever calls can find out if they are still in business and are selling Kult: Heretic Kingdoms. If so, then we can let GOG know. Thanks!
Hmm, yes, they're still in business - they work on games like this - http://store.steampowered.com/app/95900/
Posted August 13, 2013
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IAmSinistar: It would be lovely if whoever calls can find out if they are still in business and are selling Kult: Heretic Kingdoms. If so, then we can let GOG know. Thanks!
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triock: Hmm, yes, they're still in business - they work on games like this - http://store.steampowered.com/app/95900/
Good deal! Well, if anyone knows how to bring this company and Kult: Heretic Kingdoms to the attention of the GOG bluetexts, that would be lovely as well. Much ta!
Posted August 13, 2013
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triock: Hmm, yes, they're still in business - they work on games like this - http://store.steampowered.com/app/95900/
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IAmSinistar: Good deal! Well, if anyone knows how to bring this company and Kult: Heretic Kingdoms to the attention of the GOG bluetexts, that would be lovely as well. Much ta!
You want me to send an email to these people and to GOG, or just one?

EDIT: Lol, where's the email address? ;) Eh, I'll just send a message to Turnipslayerr, I guess.

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IAmSinistar: In the meantime, if anyone else want to try to reach Bernd through Bigpoint or via Twitter, please do.
Tweeted about Project Nomads and Radon Labs. (although your link didn't work; I had to erase the "%"s and such)

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Forgive me if I forgot about doing something to help you guys out (trying to read everything in this thread is pretty bonkers, unfortunately, and we probably could use a "database" like E_A was tlaking about), but I'm kinda interested in turning my efforts towards CyberDreams. Seeing llamas post here - http://www.gog.com/forum/general/the_search_for_game_rights_a_diaryesque_thread/post224 - makes me wonder if we can bring Harlan Ellison and the software rights holders' together somehow to strike a deal, and perhaps H. R. Giger and Dark Seed 1 & 2 (depending on the rights issues there).
Post edited August 13, 2013 by tfishell
Posted August 13, 2013
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IAmSinistar: Good deal! Well, if anyone knows how to bring this company and Kult: Heretic Kingdoms to the attention of the GOG bluetexts, that would be lovely as well. Much ta!
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tfishell: You want me to send an email to these people and to GOG, or just one?

EDIT: Lol, where's the email address? ;) Eh, I'll just send a message to Turnipslayerr, I guess.
Yah, I didn't find an email address, but that's fine, I just wanted GOG to know about it. They can handle it from that point in an official capacity if they are interested in carrying the game. Thanks for contacting Turnipslayerr!

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IAmSinistar: In the meantime, if anyone else want to try to reach Bernd through Bigpoint or via Twitter, please do.
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tfishell: Tweeted about Project Nomads and Radon Labs. (although your link didn't work; I had to erase the "%"s and such)
A sloppy copy-and-paste on my part, most likely. Thanks again for spreading the word!
Posted August 13, 2013
MOTHERF&&KING-A, friends! :D

This may pan out to be nothing, but I discovered Elizabeth Olson, who was Director of Marketing Communications for Cyberdreams! www.linkedin.com/in/ebetho

I just had to celebrate because (and this is pretty vain) I was able to actually use detective work in a way to find her. Searching for Cyberdreams' president Paul Licari, I came across an article related to her on a Free Press site. I took a chance and made a LinkedIn search, and wah-la!

Sorry, just had to celebrate my victory. ;)
Posted August 13, 2013
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tfishell: Sorry, just had to celebrate my victory. ;)
Sweet!
Posted August 13, 2013
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tfishell: Sorry, just had to celebrate my victory. ;)
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IAmSinistar: Sweet!
Thanks man! It may be a hollow victory if SCPM or somebody else comes in and says he already tried to contact her but with no success, but I'm proud of myself nevertheless. ;-)

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So, thus far here's what I've gathered on Cyberdreams (I Have No Mouth, Dark Seed, etc.)
Somebody can help fill in the pieces or correct the misconceptions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberdreams
http://www.mobygames.com/company/cyberdreams-inc
http://www.eobet.com/alternate-reality/files/iaq.txt
http://www.aventuraycia.com/companias/cyberdreams/

Harlan Ellison, who owns the short story rights, has a website here (somebody posted a link in an earlier post, thank you person :): http://harlanellison.com/home.htm. There is contact email for the webmaster here: http://harlanellison.com/contact.htm I sent an email (trying to be extremely professional since the webmaster apparently gets a lot of meaningless messages and has become SERIOUSLY pissed off at people that write), and will wait for reply.

Patrick Ketchum founded Cyberdreams and was president until 1995. Before that he also founded Datasoft, which apparently Ted Hofmann purchased (at least the assets of) once Ketchum left during Datasoft's bankruptcy. I bring that up because this is the same Ted Hofmann I have been in contact with over games like 221B Baker Street, and who seemed interested in bringing Datasoft's games to GOG. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datasoft He may be helpful in getting in touch with Ketchum (though I have doubts about that).

Paul Licari became president or general manager once Patrick Ketchum left. I don't have much info on him yet...

except for this:
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CYBERDREAMS+HIRES+ELIZABETH+OLSON+TO+MARKET+NEW+1996+LINE-UP-a018157076

which talks about him bringing Elizabeth Olson aboard as director of marketing communications in 1996. This is where I'm hoping we can see some results. Mrs. Olson is still in the marketing business for video games, and is now actually self-employed.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ebetho
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EbethO
Business website: http://www.double-forte.com/contact/

I tweeted her (just a short thing, to tag her and GOG together ;) and sent her a lengthy message via her company email.

And finally, John F Dunne Jr. Law Offices: this page seems to suggest that John F Dunne Jr. - information on them, phone number - helped with the dissolution of the company. There's a phone number provided, but I'm a little nervous about calling because I wouldn't be quite sure what to say over the phone.
Post edited August 13, 2013 by tfishell
Posted August 13, 2013
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tfishell: snip
Good luck! It would be great to see Dark Seed and IHNMAIMS here!
And I know what you mean about cold-calling someone, I have several phone numbers for some people but I'm considering that to be the last resort.

As for my end:
VectorCell apparently has the rights to Future Wars - Adventures in Time:
https://www.facebook.com/LesVoyageursDuTempsLaMenaceFutureWars

- Asked Jerr O'Carrol about Core Design Ltd. games they published/developed and he wrote back:
"Thanks for the enquiry. Unfortunately, core was owned eventually by eidos, who I guess still own the rights. Core has not shut down, so as far as I know ownership has passed onto them.
Sorry I can't be of more help."
He followed up with:
"Tell you what, if you can't get any joy from eidos, come back to me and I'll ask around. It's been a long time, and to be honest the rights might have reverted to us for all I know!
Good luck!"

- I've messaged Nigel Kershaw on Facebook about Daemonsgate but haven't received a response yet. He's presently working on the new Broken Sword game. Someone with a LinkedIn account can try him here:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nigel-kershaw/0/b94/266

- Emailed Andy Riedel about the games he's worked on: Alien Legacy, SpellCraft: Aspects of War, and Shadow of Yserbius. But now that I think about it, I'm fairly certain Alien Legacy is with Activision, like all the other Sierra On-Line games. Hopefully, those Sierra games include Thexder, Slipheed, and Zeliard, though those rights may in part lie with Game Arts Co.

- Asked Joseph Ybarra via his Kickstarter profile about Alien Legacy and Shadow of Yserbius as well.

- Sent AdventureSoft an inquiry about selling Elvira 1 and 2 on GOG. They already have Waxworks here (which uses her likeness) and Personal Nightmare, so I hope we'll get to see more of The Sassy Lassie with the Classy Chassis. ;)

- Sent Sony Computer Entertainment an inquiry/suggestion about Psygnosis' games.

- Sent Sega an inquiry about their older PC titles like Alien Syndrome, Virtua Cop 2, and The House of the Dead

No other replies to any of my previous e-mails, and haven't found any of the other contacts I was looking for. In addition to the others, right now, I'm looking for contact information for:
- Kevin Mullard of Millennium Interactive (now of Mullard Consulting)
- Andrew Spencer of Ecastatica fame. Though, if Psygnosis had the rights to the game, they're with Sony now.
- David Wightman, who made Baldies, though I think the rights to the game may be with Panasonic (although their game publishing arm is defunct now).
- Gary Morris (full name Gary Arthur Mark Morris) of Reality Studios, who made Cyril Cyberpunk.
- Igor Karev, or at least a response from Tatem Games about Chasm: The Rift. I've tried contacting them by Facebook, Twitter, and email for months now and I never got a response.

I've found a link to Kellyn Beeck (through his co-workers blog), who made Centurion: Defender of Rome (though the rights may be with EA).
http://dougsharp.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/celebrating-the-end-of-18-years-of-work/

Sent Marc Albinet of Hexplore a message on Facebook.

Sent Véronique Salmeron an inquiry about Eternam, Drakkhen, and Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet via an email on her personal website.

Also found a Facebook page for Carsten Wieland, who made the game Clif Danger. He has an e-mail address there but it was dead, I'll be messaging him and will see if I get a reply.
Edited for clarity.
Post edited August 13, 2013 by SCPM
Posted August 13, 2013
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SCPM: - I've messaged Nigel Kershaw on Facebook about Daemonsgate but haven't received a response yet. He's presently working on the new Broken Sword game. Someone with a LinkedIn account can try him here:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nigel-kershaw/0/b94/266
If you have no luck after a while I can try LinkedIn, though so far I'm batting zero on that front. But hey, if I can get even one to connect, that could be a gateway to more gaming folks. Anyway, let me know down the line if you like.
Posted August 13, 2013
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IAmSinistar: If you have no luck after a while I can try LinkedIn, though so far I'm batting zero on that front. But hey, if I can get even one to connect, that could be a gateway to more gaming folks. Anyway, let me know down the line if you like.
You can go ahead with LinkedIn, I think you'll have better chances there than I will with Facebook.
Posted August 14, 2013
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SCPM: - I've messaged Nigel Kershaw on Facebook about Daemonsgate but haven't received a response yet. He's presently working on the new Broken Sword game. Someone with a LinkedIn account can try him here:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nigel-kershaw/0/b94/266
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IAmSinistar: If you have no luck after a while I can try LinkedIn, though so far I'm batting zero on that front. But hey, if I can get even one to connect, that could be a gateway to more gaming folks. Anyway, let me know down the line if you like.
I recommend providing your email address in the message. That's worked for me at least once or two, I believe.

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tfishell: snip
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SCPM: Good luck! It would be great to see Dark Seed and IHNMAIMS here!
And I know what you mean about cold-calling someone, I have several phone numbers for some people but I'm considering that to be the last resort.

- Asked Jerr O'Carrol about Core Design Ltd. games they published/developed and he wrote back:
"Thanks for the enquiry. Unfortunately, core was owned eventually by eidos, who I guess still own the rights. Core has not shut down, so as far as I know ownership has passed onto them.
Sorry I can't be of more help."
He followed up with:
"Tell you what, if you can't get any joy from eidos, come back to me and I'll ask around. It's been a long time, and to be honest the rights might have reverted to us for all I know!
Good luck!"

- Sent AdventureSoft an inquiry about selling Elvira 1 and 2 on GOG. They already have Waxworks here (which uses her likeness) and Personal Nightmare, so I hope we'll get to see more of The Sassy Lassie with the Classy Chassis. ;)
Thanks man! We'll see what pans out. Great work on your side!

Just FYI: when I was going through Abandonia, I made the assumption that The Big Red Adventure rights still lay with Core (as publisher)/Eidos, and thus since we have Square Enix here it wouldn't be too tough to bring BRA. However, it turns out that the rights stayed with the Paolo Costabel, and he said that Core was just a distributor, not a publisher (at least in this case).

Elvira would be great, but I can't help but wonder if that could lead to more trouble than Personal Nightmare's "likeness" would. (unless GOG could get the okay from ... whoever Elvira's "handlers" are. :P) But I could be wrong.

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Got a response from Bradford Welch regarding Kingdom at War, unfortunately an unhelpful one.

https://twitter.com/tytbone/status/366775858771410945

Me: "Mr. Welch, did u work on an old game called Kingdom at War, and do u know what happened to the game rights, by chance? :)"

Brad Welch: "I did. No idea about the rights, I don't even know if we completely signed them away way back when."

I sent a reply thanking him and asking him to let me know if he figures something out. And since he works for 343, I sent another message asking him to let Microsoft release their classics on GOG if he has or develops "sway" around there. ;)
Post edited August 14, 2013 by tfishell
Posted August 14, 2013
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tfishell: Forgive me if I forgot about doing something to help you guys out (trying to read everything in this thread is pretty bonkers, unfortunately, and we probably could use a "database" like E_A was tlaking about)...
E_A (my husband) showed me what that database would look like and I think it would be good to have.
It's like a table with the game name on the left side and then all the important information in the next columns. We can write anywhere in the table, we can search the table etc. It really looks handy. It has a login page so only we can see and access and change it.
I hope E_A can finish programming it soon. We're out of town for the weekend starting Friday so I'm not sure he can do it this week,


And for everything else you all discovered: That's great!
Due to me living in a different time zone it's always exciting to read what happened over night!
Post edited August 14, 2013 by Piranjade
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionThe search for game rights (a diary-esque thread)(952 posts)(952 posts)
(952 posts)