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Post what knowledge you have of the more complex situations with gaming licenses...
Atari controls the license for all computer-based D&D games (including those with the infinity engine, AKA Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale), but Hasbro (the owners of the D&D franchise) are suing Atari for breaching the license by distributing games through third party publishers (Namco Bandai)
http://kotaku.com/5428864/hasbro-sues-atari-over-dd-license-atari-responds
Now, who knows the Legal status of System Shock 1&2?
System Shock is entirely owned by EA. Although if I remember rightly they don't have the source code anymore.
Planescape is somewhat disputed. I have the recently re-released boxed copy that has the Interplay logo on it and no mention of Atari. Both companies deny all knowledge of its existence.
I too have the aforementioned re-release, and yes, no mention of Atari, but I've seen that they started selling it in Denmark as well... We have a Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale compilation for sale as well, neither of which should be in stores...
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Duffadash: I too have the aforementioned re-release, and yes, no mention of Atari, but I've seen that they started selling it in Denmark as well... We have a Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale compilation for sale as well, neither of which should be in stores...

But don't those compilations bear the Atari logo? They do here...
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Duffadash: I too have the aforementioned re-release, and yes, no mention of Atari, but I've seen that they started selling it in Denmark as well... We have a Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale compilation for sale as well, neither of which should be in stores...
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Navagon: But don't those compilations bear the Atari logo? They do here...

My baldurs gate compilation doesn't have any Atari symbol and doesn't mention Atari in the trademarks of their respective owners part. It only mentions bioware,interplay and wizards of the coast.
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Salsa_Shark: My baldurs gate compilation doesn't have any Atari symbol and doesn't mention Atari in the trademarks of their respective owners part. It only mentions bioware,interplay and wizards of the coast.

How old is it?
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Salsa_Shark: My baldurs gate compilation doesn't have any Atari symbol and doesn't mention Atari in the trademarks of their respective owners part. It only mentions bioware,interplay and wizards of the coast.
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Navagon: How old is it?

Its fairly new bg1+expansion is on cd and bg2 is on dvd and there vista compatible. I bought it just over a month ago but i have no idea when it was released.After looking at wikipedia it says it was released by atari but theres no mention of it on the case
Post edited April 23, 2010 by Salsa_Shark
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Salsa_Shark: Its fairly new bg1+expansion is on cd and bg2 is on dvd and there vista compatible. I bought it just over a month ago but i have no idea when it was released.After looking at wikipedia it says it was released by atari but theres no mention of it on the case

You might have got an old copy then. Because new ones pretty clearly have the Atari logo on them.
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Navagon: You might have got an old copy then. Because new ones pretty clearly have the Atari logo on them.

I can confirm this. Just checked.
I wonder if the ownership of the games might vary from country to country. They recently released a new version of Planescape:Torment on DVD ROM that is for sale in the UK and Europe, but cannot be bought retail in the US for legal reasons. (Which is why online stores in the UK which usually ship to the US are not selling the game to US addresses).
There are ways around this...Some dealers on EBAY buy a few dozen copies of the game for retail prices (no dealer discount), then techincally they are second hand "Used" games and can be sold to the US legally even though they are still sealed wrapped and have never been opened. That's how I got my copy of Planescape Torment ( I sitll have my old 4 CD set, but wanted the ease of one DVD and the tweaks to make the game run smooth on a modern PC ).
I got a feeling with the legal mess over the Computer D and D game rights, in the US, it will be a while before we see a new retail release in the US.
Post edited April 24, 2010 by dudalb
Is it possible to ask for some detective work too? If so, I would like to know who presently owns the rights to the games Strife, and the games made by Intracorp, like witchaven and such.
If I had to guess, I would say the rights probably went to Intracorp's founder, Leigh Rothschild.
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cogadh: If I had to guess, I would say the rights probably went to Intracorp's founder, Leigh Rothschild.

Damn, i was afraid that would be the case. I looked up Leigh Rothschild's name on the web, what a piece of work.
Rogue, the developers of Strife have died, however many of the people there moved to Nerve Software, so you could try asking there who controls the license...
Ah, Nerve Software, yeah, I remember them. I emailed them some time ago, like years ago about it, i didnt get a reply. Maybe they will pay more attention if GoG sends them an email...