EA/Mythic Entertainment mount Ultima's corpse so they can kill it again

[taxalot]

Maybe they are witholding it because they want to remake U9 into a turn based awesome game and pretend that piece of shit doesn't exist.

Maybe.

 

[Morgoth]

EA kept canceling games that we really wanted (Ultima X, Sshock3, etc.) while making sequels to games that nobody needs or wants (MoH 2, DA2, etc.). And then those stupid fucks are wondering why they're losing confidence among fans? And what's the reaction to that? An Ultima IV remake for iPad. This is hopeless.

 

[Jaesun]

EA does not own the rights to System Shock by the way. Some bank owns the rights to it.

 

[Morgoth]

Some bank owns the rights to it.

How the fuck could this ever...sigh. Never mind. I don't wanna see a Shock 3 in this day and age anymore.

 

[Infinitron]

How the fuck could this ever...

When LG went bankrupt, they took the IPs they owned down with them. (they didn't own Thief, that went to Eidos, hence Ion Storm's Thief 3 and vaporware Eidos Montreal Thief 4)

EA does own the trademark for "System Shock" though (not the same thing as full rights)

 

[Jaesun]

EA does own the trademark for "System Shock" though (not the same thing as full rights)

No, the trademark of System Shock is owned by Meadowbrook, Inc (seriously, look it up). And seems to have been renewed as well, in Aug 25 2011 for what ever reason.

EA owns its intellectual content of System Shock, but not the trademark.

 

[Infinitron]

EA does own the trademark for "System Shock" though (not the same thing as full rights)

No, the trademark of System Shock is owned by Meadowbrook, Inc (seriously, look it up). And seems to have been renewed as well, in Aug 25 2011 for what ever reason.

EA owns its intellectual content of System Shock, but not the trademark.

You have it backwards http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/713030/the-lost-history-of-system-shock/

But even if EA wanted to publish another System Shock, the company didn't have the rights to do so. Back when the original game was made, producer Warren Spector negotiated a deal in which EA got the trademark to the series, while the developers at Looking Glass Studios kept the rights. To create another System Shock game, you need both. "My thinking was it would force us to be married so it never would be that either party should be able to say we own that, we’re making the next game, screw you," Spector told the San Jose Mercury News last November.

 

[Jaesun]

What is weird is that the US Copyright shows the entire trademark to ANY video game with the trademarked name System Shock is owned currently by Medowbrook:

IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Multimedia software recorded on CD-ROM featuring computer games; video and computer game programs; Computer game software and video game software for personal computers and home video game consoles; Multimedia software featuring computer games, downloadable audio files, multimedia files, audio material, video material featuring computer games; downloadable motion pictures, television shows, computer game software featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation; downloadable graphics, and electronic games via a global computer network and wireless devices; computer game and video game software; audio video discs, and digital versatile discs featuring music, comedy, drama, action, adventure, and/or animation

It also shows in May 8, 2007 EA Abandoned the trademark. This fucking shit is confusing.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Doesn't seem all that confusing next to Miracleman. Now that shit is a legal clusterfuck.

 

[evdk]

Doesn't seem all that confusing next to Miracleman. Now that shit is a legal clusterfuck.

I thought it was straightened out and Marvel will have Gaiman produce new issues?

 

[Phelot]

Goyoshi12
Posted Aug 31, 2010 2:55 pm PT

I have a question for 5,452 people. Who IS The Guardian?

rbdeal
Posted Aug 31, 2010 11:24 am PT

What the hell is Ultima?

If you could speak to random NPCs in Pagan, this is what they'd say.



"YES AVATAR, SEEK A WAY HOME"

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Doesn't seem all that confusing next to Miracleman. Now that shit is a legal clusterfuck.

I thought it was straightened out and Marvel will have Gaiman produce new issues?

No, it turns out that Mick Anglo only owned the rights for the original character and strips, which he may not have owned because of his contract with L. Miller & Sons, while MacFarlane owns the 80's logo rights, Garry Leach owns the rights to the Warpsmiths and part of the 80's series, Dez Skinn owns Big Ben and may own some rights to the 80's series, Neil Gaiman owns Alan Moore's share of the 80's series, Alan Moore gave his rights to the character to Neil Gaiman but may hold some rights to his own issues, Jon Totleben owns a part of the 80's series, Warrior may not have had any rights to begin with, which Eclipse Comics then bought from Warrior with Alan Moore and artists retaining their shares, Marvel threatens to sue over the name Marvelman and the name Miracleman is trademarked as the new name, Eclipse Comics possibly not-real rights being bought by Todd MacFarlane, who had a verbal agreement with Neil Gaiman about giving him the rights in exchange for his rights on Angela and Cogliostro, but then he never gave Neil Gaiman the rights and tries to use them, Neil Gaiman starts a legal foundation and fights MacFarlane to a standstill over the hypothetical rights, Marvel comics then purchases the rights to Marvelman from Mick Anglo, but apparently these rights only cover the original stuff, Alan Moore gives his blessing for using the rights, no one knows about Garry Leach, Dez Skinn insists he has rights while selling Warrior back issues on E-Bay, Todd MacFarlane claims all the rights are his, Neil Gaiman says he's willing to negotiate with Marvel about finishing his work, Mark Buckingham is somewhere in this mix-up, Marvel joins the fray as everyone tries to figure out if anyone actually legally owns anything.


(read this stuff with Benny Hill theme playing)

 

[Infinitron]

 

[mindx2]

Oh, those hearts in the town's square are BEAUTIFUL!!! It looks like Disney World threw up on my Ultima... Cinderella's castle would not be out of place in that picture.

 

[Infinitron]

The real WTF is that Britain is west of the ocean instead of north-northeast of it.

 

[Jaesun]

ITS THE CITY OF COMPASSION OF COURSE IT HAS HEART FFS!

They couldn't even get the location of Britain even right?

 

[RK47]

Uh..what happened to the moat around the castle? Is that the castle just by the gates? What is this? What is that arena in the north? And that tree house...so many wrong.

Hmm. Close enough.

 

[SinVraal]

Uh..what happened to the moat around the castle? Is that the castle just by the gates? What is this? What is that arena in the north? And that tree house...so many wrong.

Hmm. Close enough.

That's not an arena, that is a theater where you can use your costumes bought with money to put on plays that must be advanced by 501 total strangers friends clicking the "Applause" button

 

[taxalot]

Is this a joke, Infinitron? After playing the game you actually think geographical inconsticencies are of importance ?

I was wondering what was wrong with the graphical design but mindx2 got it right : it's Disneyworld.You just wait until you see the character art straight out of a mix of bad 50s conan comic and some Naruto crap.

 

[RK47]

I dont mind the geographic inconsistency like that monocled cat said, but the biggest issue is the art style, as predicted, it's a fessbuk game, hence the cartoony shit. It's casual shit.

 

[Infinitron]

RK47: Castle British wasn't directly adjacent to Britain in U4 and U5.
It moved into the city starting from U6.

 

[Jadeite]

The mage is no Raistlin, Merlin or Gandolf, that's for sure. They can't seem to figure out how to modernize fighters either. Better just make it a girl in tight pants. Then she could be a "one-man army", er, woman army. Wait, why is a fighter a "one-man army"?

 

[Morgoth]

No matter how hard BioWare will try to faithfully re-create Ultima IV, they'll terribly fail (duh). Because they just don't get what made this series (and old cRPGs in general) so great. I'm not even talking about gameplay terms here, but just about the fact that BioWare's recent efforts of player characters are about some pop-culture induced thug that can break the law arbitrarily and then pull some "cool" shit. Their PCs don't have any trail of any classic virtues like honor, truth, sacrifice, humility etc. Modern RPG heroes don't provoke any thoughts in the player, don't stimulate imagination, can't stand on their own feet. They are all copies of pathetic action movie heroes plus some Justin Bieber to expand the audience some more. Even if the devs were genuine about creating a faithful remake, the suits eventually would look at it and enforce change to "maximize the audience". It's totally pointless to look forward to Ultime Forever as long as EA owns all rights to it. This is why EA needs to crash, so that the remnants then can be picked up by interested companies.

 

[circ]

Map looks fine. Suck it haters. I'd like to live in that Britain, so pretty.

 

[Infinitron]

It's too bad that taxalot was so busy freaking out about the art style that he couldn't give more insights about the actual gameplay when he violated his NDA.

Is this a joke, Infinitron?

Well, yes.