According to the article they'll be kind enough to provide PDF documentation to "get around" the copy protection (i.e., not removing it). Definitely nothing for long-time fans to see here...
That's pretty lame. I guess it would be tough to take it out, though. It should have never been put in, but so it goes. I bet if they'd just pump up the production a bit, they'd get a lot more reaction. Just making legally available what's already widely available...Kinda "so what" reaction. "Now you have to pay to download Loom instead of just downloading it for free from the fan community!" Whoopee.
I'm really wondering how they're going to do the Indiana Jones one, because as you'll recall it had the color filter and those stupid code tables. I guess they'll just have to give you a pdf with all of the codes in it.
It seems to be a pattern I'm seeing:
1. Wait for fan communities to build up a huge online community around an "abandoned" product
2. Let them develop apps, emulations, etc. and wait for it to get to 100% efficiency with really good interface
3. Release an "official" package using or borrowing the community's stuff
4. Charge for it
5. Go after the fan communities and shut them down.
That's pretty disgusting. I'd be much, much more impressed with a company that didn't do 1-3. How about re-releasing something that no one has successfully emulated? That'd be a lot more exciting to me. I think the Amiga Forever team did that well. Sure, there was emulation available, but it was hard to use. They did a service by simplifying it. I don't see that kind of thing here.
According to the article they'll be kind enough to provide PDF documentation to "get around" the copy protection (i.e., not removing it). Definitely nothing for long-time fans to see here...
That's pretty lame. I guess it would be tough to take it out, though. It should have never been put in, but so it goes. I bet if they'd just pump up the production a bit, they'd get a lot more reaction. Just making legally available what's already widely available...Kinda "so what" reaction. "Now you have to pay to download Loom instead of just downloading it for free from the fan community!" Whoopee.
I'm really wondering how they're going to do the Indiana Jones one, because as you'll recall it had the color filter and those stupid code tables. I guess they'll just have to give you a pdf with all of the codes in it.
It seems to be a pattern I'm seeing:
1. Wait for fan communities to build up a huge online community around an "abandoned" product
2. Let them develop apps, emulations, etc. and wait for it to get to 100% efficiency with really good interface
3. Release an "official" package using or borrowing the community's stuff
4. Charge for it
5. Go after the fan communities and shut them down.
That's pretty disgusting. I'd be much, much more impressed with a company that didn't do 1-3. How about re-releasing something that no one has successfully emulated? That'd be a lot more exciting to me. I think the Amiga Forever team did that well. Sure, there was emulation available, but it was hard to use. They did a service by simplifying it. I don't see that kind of thing here.
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com