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Thread: Konami too lazy to protect its own IP.

  1. #1
    Peach (Level 3) PC-ENGINE HELL's Avatar
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    Default Konami too lazy to protect its own IP.

    They have been notified and aware of this crap for months now about Tobias Fudoh Reich bootlegging their IP and selling it at high mark up, and they seemed to have done nothing at all about it. His newest release, Dracula X.

    https://pceworks.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/gems_bundle/

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    I've been out of the Duo/PCE CD stuff for a decade, I take it this clown Tobias takes games and re-releases them for too much money without the IP holders permission just to rip off fools and mess with the original stock of the game? Konami is even more pathetic than I figured if this is the case and aren't stopping this toad.

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    Peach (Level 3) PC-ENGINE HELL's Avatar
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    Yeah that is pretty much what is going on right now.

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    Peach (Level 3) Koa Zo's Avatar
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    Some of you guys... really?

    Who's the real rip-off con-jobber?
    The eBay seller who flips Dracula X for $200 OMG RARE!!?
    Or the hobbyist who takes the time and skills to design and produce all new packaging for a limited run of a never released (domestically) game, and sells to a well informed niche group of people?

    The only clown here is the armchair warrior trying to ruin this for those of us who want translated beautifully packaged versions of unreleased games.

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    Alex (Level 15) Custom rank graphic
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    If he only sold fan translations of games it wouldn't be as much of a problem, but he's also making straight bootlegs. This is the same person who sold Sapphire bootlegs which looked identical to the real version.

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    I don't get why anybody would cry about it either. Stuff looks pretty slick, I've seen some respectable youtubers take a look at these pceworks things. Only the rich elitist game collector would care because now other people can play the games on real hardware too. It doesn't make them feel as exclusive or special anymore.

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    Peach (Level 3) Koa Zo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
    If he only sold fan translations of games it wouldn't be as much of a problem, but he's also making straight bootlegs. This is the same person who sold Sapphire bootlegs which looked identical to the real version.
    And how is that a problem?
    Who is losing out here?

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    Eh I got a problem with both. He's stealing and putting it in a nice wrapper for a lot of money, and then you have the other scalpers who just collectively work to keep prices high baiting fools who are impatient and don't care about the value of a dollar. I'm not taking sides.

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    Peach (Level 3) dgdgagdae's Avatar
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    At first I thought it said Tobias Fünke.

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    Peach (Level 3) Koa Zo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tanooki View Post
    Eh I got a problem with both. He's stealing and putting it in a nice wrapper for a lot of money, and then you have the other scalpers who just collectively work to keep prices high baiting fools who are impatient and don't care about the value of a dollar. I'm not taking sides.
    Right on. I can't argue with that.
    Personaly, I don't think it's a lot of money for the work involved in producing such bootlegs.
    Having the graphic design and production skills, as well as the resources, and the translation ability, that is all something that is worth paying someone reasonable compensation for their time.

    Now I do understand that he previously made a repro of Megaman and apparently did not compensate or have the involvement of the coder who ported Megaman to PC-Engine. Now that is shitty and something I might be inclined to disparage and boycot Tobias for. And that was also apparently damaging to the PC-Engine community, as the coder didn't complete or make public his work on porting the other Megaman games.

    But since no one else is doing repro translations of such high quality for the PC-Engine, I'm taking advantage of the availability while I can.
    Last edited by Koa Zo; 07-29-2015 at 10:57 PM.

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    Alex (Level 15) Custom rank graphic
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    Quote Originally Posted by Koa Zo View Post
    And how is that a problem?
    Who is losing out here?
    It's a problem for anyone looking for a copy later on which may or may not be a bootleg, that's what happened with copies of Sapphire turning up as they weren't described as copies back then.

    How is this a big saving for any collector? The bootleg is still over $100, which is what legit copies were selling for a few years ago. For fan translations, at least you know there's not an official version out there(though the price is still too high). For just copies of existing games, why pay so much? No where on his site does he mention that they're bootlegs, he's just ripping people off.

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Koa Zo View Post
    Right on. I can't argue with that.
    Personaly, I don't think it's a lot of money for the work involved in producing such bootlegs.
    Having the graphic design and production skills, as well as the resources, and the translation ability, that is all something that is worth paying someone reasonable compensation for their time.

    Now I do understand that he previously made a repro of Megaman and apparently did not compensate or have the involvement of the coder who ported Megaman to PC-Engine. Now that is shitty and something I might be inclined to disparage and boycot Tobias for. And that was also apparently damaging to the PC-Engine community, as the coder didn't complete or make public his work on porting the other Megaman games.

    But since no one else is doing repro translations of such high quality for the PC-Engine, I'm taking advantage of the availability while I can.

    I remember this guy now people are bringing up sapphire and the megaman ripoff as well and he bugged me then too. The Mega Man one was the biggest loss as whatever got done (maybe all?) will never likely ever show up publicly due to this douche ripping him off and you can not blame the guy one bit. The problem is what can you do? The Mega Man porter to PCE wasn't exactly on the level either so he couldn't sue over it, and the crook knew it, so he robbed his work blind. Having worked also on honest reproduction and also helping a little with some GBA bootleg level stuff trying to track down parts and price of things, you are right, they don't cost that much, especially when you buy in bulk (like 100+ pieces.) There's not a lot of $ overall that goes into them, time and effort more than cash.

    Here's a screwy example. I wanted a NES copy of Earthbound since those dicks at Nintendo only put it on WiiU which I do not have, but I also didn't want the broken hack Zero that screws up stuff. As a trade deal helping someone learn how to use the tools and how to work with NES/SNES stuff on another site I made a deal. I got it put on an INL board and got a repurposed shell for the game too from another NES cart. The cost of the INL writer is like $20,25,30 depending how many carts it'll read, and the cost of the board TKROM 256/256K+battery was $20 and the shell cost me a buck, then +2.50 shipping. Earthbound cost me $23.50 (and to get a mass market label will cost me $5 for a one off.) Doing just one game it's like $21 is it minus the label and if I mass ran them maybe a dollar. Yet look what Earthbound carts go for on ebay? Mark up much? Yup.

  13. #13
    Strawberry (Level 2) CDiablo's Avatar
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    I'm with the "I dont have a problem with this" group. The games aren't being release in a manner that they can be confused as bootlegs. Does Konami deserve money from these sales, absolutely.........but we KNOW that no big company would have reasonable licensing for a rerelease of an ancient game on a niche platform(as most old systems become.) If these guys went to Konami and wanted full licensing to make 100 or so of these, they would probably ask for the same amount of money as they would for a rerelease of a game that was being printed in the tens of thousands. Most every large company out there would take a look at this project and think "if I cant earn a fuckton of money on this I am not going to allow it."I fully expect this guy to get sued or something, but I am ok with what he is doing. The price isn't that bad(currently $110 USD) either for 2 fully packaged games with color manual and whatnot.
    Bury me with my money......*dies*

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    Apple (Level 5) Gamevet's Avatar
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    I think that Konami has enough bad PR going around right now, that they don't need a story surfacing, about stomping some little repro outfit into the ground.

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