The Goonies - an unreleased NES title - why?

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Here's why I think Goonies didn't happen on the NES:

1. Konami of America couldn't afford or didn't want to pay the license fee required to Warner Bros. to use their property. This is very likely also why King Kong 2 Ikari no Megaton Punch was never localized. Konami didn't want to pay Universal for the license. (in that case though, the game was substantially better than the film on which it was loosely based)

2. Nintendo of America had at the time a clause in third party licensing agreements that they could only produce five titles for the NES a year. The five games Konami produced on the NES for 1987 were:
Rush'n Attack
Contra
Double Dribble
Castlevania
Gradius

Now assume your Konami. Would it really have made sense to replace one of those games on a game based on a two year old film?

That is what I believe is the bigger reason why Goonies didn't happen on NES. But it did come to North America anyway, as it was in fact a Nintendo Play Choice 10 title.

[Blitzwing256]

I thought it was only on the VS system? isn't the playchoice just a hacked rom like mario 3 ?

[SparTonberry]

2. Nintendo of America had at the time a clause in third party licensing agreements that they could only produce five titles for the NES a year. The five games Konami produced on the NES for 1987 were:
Rush'n Attack
Contra
Double Dribble
Castlevania
Gradius
That is what I believe is the bigger reason why Goonies didn't happen on NES. But it did come to North America anyway, as it was in fact a Nintendo Play Choice 10 title.

Contra was 1988, the last 1987 game was Top Gun. But I see your point.

Indeed, PlayChoice 10 was an NES with a time limit.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

and RGB.

[Immutable]

Would it really have made sense to replace one of those games on a game based on a two year old film?

Time might not be a major factor - there is at least one counterexample. "Star Wars" for the NES was released on the console over a decade after the film's theatrical release.

[XYXZYZ]

If The Goonies was not released for licensing issues, wouldn't the the vs. Goonies arcade game have been subject to the same issues? The five title limit seems like the more probable culprit.

Time might not be a major factor - there is at least one counterexample. "Star Wars" for the NES was released on the console over a decade after the film's theatrical release.

You know you can't compare the popularity of The Goonies to Star Wars. But it's also interesting to note the recent Ghostbusters games being released this long after the first film. So the point is, they should make a new Goonies game for the Xbone.

[Jorpho]

Eh, it would probably be just another boring licensed 3D platformer, like, say, A Series of Unfortunate Events. I never got around to playing the Ghostbusters game (one of these days...), but at least it looked like it was trying to do something vaguely original.

[The Dord]

Once I get a famicom converter, this game is probably going to be the first one I'll get.

[xelement5x]

Once I get a famicom converter, this game is probably going to be the first one I'll get.

I'm waiting for my copy right now as I won a fami converter in a raffle a bit back. The worst part is waiting the 6 weeks or so for the slow boat to arrive.

[Zap!]

Eh, it would probably be just another boring licensed 3D platformer, like, say, A Series of Unfortunate Events. I never got around to playing the Ghostbusters game (one of these days...), but at least it looked like it was trying to do something vaguely original.

Yeah, I'd love to see Goonies on the Super Nintendo instead. Now that would be impressive.

[Jorpho]

I did stumble upon this just now – not that the US Gold game was particularly good.

[Zap!]

I did stumble upon this just now – not that the US Gold game was particularly good.

Is that real? The graphics look amazing for 1987. The only machine that could have done that at the time would have to have been the Amiga. I would love to play it.