Back in 97 I was 4 years old and for my b-day I got a game “BlastCorps.” The idea of the game is to clear a path for an out of control vehicle carrying nuclear missles. To this day Its’ one of my all time favorite games. Sadly RARE never released a sequel. I would like to recreate blast corps using the same theme/idea but with considerable new features, vehicles, etc.
tl;dr - I want to recreate an old favorite game.
How close can I get to the original theme without causing an uproar between me and Rare?
About 1 week ago I started working on it. I stopped though because of not having a definitive plot.
If things go to plan and my product is worthy of public use then sure ill release it. I forgot to add this to my OP but I did try to contact RARE about potentially obtaining the Blast corps name,IP, etc. They wont return calls or my emails.
There’s no solid definition, but the general rule is, as long as the two can be distinguished from each other (not copied or derivative work), then technically you’re ok.
For instance, you can’t call it Blast Corps. I would stay away from any unique mechanics they used in their game, and probably stray from the art style (I’ve never played it, so I can’t help much on advice there).
As long as its YOUR work and not a copy or clone, you should be fine. However, that won’t necessarily stop them from suing you anyway and burying you in legal fees. Most likely, though, you’d just get a C&D.
Take a name like Blast Wreck or something crazy like that… just don’t use Blast Wreck because I came up with it first and now its mine!!! MINE!!!
Motivation? You simply own a company that is hired to do large scale demolitions. Not just single buildings, but perhas entire abandoned towns, but on a deadline.
I know how you feel, I had a similar problem last year. I’m a huge fan of Wacky Wheels! So off I go to find myself an Android version of WW, or sequel or something…and I found none. No remake, no sequel, no nothing new. Ah damn…
Then a lightbulb in my head turns on telling me why not create a game like that? It’s simple enough, should be quite easy to do the programming stuff (without 2d/3d art). But I could not think of anything original, every thought was copy from WW and so eventually I stopped pursuing that idea. I mean, yeah, I could’ve created it under different name, use different animals but then again, you simply can’t replace the legendary hedgehogs or the part when you fall in water and little periscope with an eye pops up. Using those same things might be interpreted as copying/stealing of content/design, I think…right?
You control the Vogon Destructor Fleet. Your goal is to cut a path through space by destroying planets in order to make room for an intergalactic super highway.
Companies cannot copyright gameplay, so you can recreate whatever with a different face on it, i.e a different face, name, enemy NPCs, etc. You are good to go. The only draw back about being exactly like the original is the fan comparisons, and that might cause some friction. You could always add something into the game BlastCorps didn’t have that you wished was in there!!
I know this will be a difficult question but… What do you guys think, how much would it cost to obtain rights/license for “retro” games like BlastCorps for example? Would the cost be measured in dozens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars?
If you know any example or an article about someone obtaining the license for some other “retro” game, I’d beg you to attach a link.
Well, it really depends on the power of the name. Homefront, for instance, ended up selling for just a bit more than the cost of a decently sized house in Toronto. Generally though? It’s out of the price range of most indies and depends heavily on whether or not the company holding the rights wants to part with it. If it’s not part of a liquidation sale, it’d probably be a looooot higher though.
It will be anywhere from a few thousand to a few million (just to license the name). As Marigold said, it depends entirely on the company and the power of the IP.
I don’t know much about Blast Corps, so I can’t say for sure. However, me not knowing about it certainly would bring the price down
It was one of the better games on the N64 (despite the bullshit dump truck segments), but yeah, given the install base of the N64, it didn’t really leave a huge impression in the cultural mindset. That said, Rare is a subsidiary of Microsoft Studios now, which would DEFINITELY affect things.
