So XBOX360 arcade got me thinking about the 60-in-1 cards

ArcadeKO

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So XBOX360 arcade got me thinking about the 60-in-1 cards

If MS can license and sell these titles, why can't they make a 60-in-1 classic card that has licensed games on them? From what I understand the multi game boards are not licensed, but I see licensed classic games going for peanuts on other media.

They released the little PacMan/Galaga joystick gmae for 19.99
They released several "Arcade Hits" on multiple systems 360, PS2
Namco museum for PSP, etc. etc.

So why cant they release a freakin 60-in-1 PCB that's legal?

I mean - it's not like they can stop the games being distributed and used - they code is all over the net, so why don't they make a licensing arrangement so they could make a little money off of it and allow people to own legal licensed games.

I can understand if they don't want them in arcades - but for home use where your not collecting quarters - how would it be any different than the ones they sell now?

- Sorry if this topic has already been dealt with but I searched and didn't find anything about it when I searched.
 
So why would they charge so much for two games on a board when they don't charge a fraction of that for the games on a CD or in XBOX Live - They don;t even have to make the hardware - just license the 30 year old game code.
 
So why cant they release a freakin 60-in-1 PCB that's legal?

They could but it all comes down to money. They don't care to make a little money they want a lot. The collector home market is way too small to be profitable enough to consider it. The other products you mention are wide spread and available at stores every where. If they were to license a product of this type they would know it would also get used in arcades so the idea that they only market it for home use wouldn't fly. Therefore they would price it as if were a new product being sold to operators and that would put it far out of reach of home users.
 
Not to mention.. with the home consoles.. you probably arent making money off each game play

A game board in a fullsize cabinet could potentially make money..

Thats why the reunion PCBs are so high.. they want a cut off the top of what you might earn


Maybe Im looking at it wrong =)
 
Just seems wrong - I can buy the games for a home system and spend under $100 and get almost all the games on the multi-card yet I can't use them in a home arcade cabinet.

They don't even sell rom licenses so there is essentially no way to have a legal multicade without converting a playstation or xbox into a cabinet...

So lame
 
I work in the licensing field and can give you some very general thoughts on this...
Microsoft is publishing on arcade not licensing. For instance Atari (or a company it employees) is doing the minor developing (menus, cabinet art, achievements, etc.) on the Atari owned games and then it is put up in a marketplace that Microsoft has created. Licensing fees can be more substantial than you might think too, and even though there is a community of arcade collectors it is a limited community that never falls into a mass market category. This fact could make it very difficult to spread out the cost of different licenses with out retail becoming VERY expensive. You would also run in to competition between licensees on this kind of small niche product; for instance it could be possible that Nintendo might have no interest in having its' IPs mixed on a board with Namco products. A good example of this is the Jakks Pacific games, notice that there is no unit that mixes games from different licensees.
 
So have any of the game companies come out and made a statement about these multi boards that are everywhere? I see them on ebay and on US websites - but they don't seem to have anything to say about it

- I would think that Capcom or someone would make a complaint to ebay or the site owners but is it that they just don;t care cause its too small to matter?
 
They wouldn't make a public statement. That is what the legal ownership copy on products is for. They would start by having their legal department contact a seller with a cease and desist. If the problem persisted with the same seller or company they would pursue the issue more aggressively according to situation. Unless it became an issue that a news outlet was interested in, the entire situation would simply be resolved under the radar.

So have any of the game companies come out and made a statement about these multi boards that are everywhere? I see them on ebay and on US websites - but they don't seem to have anything to say about it

- I would think that Capcom or someone would make a complaint to ebay or the site owners but is it that they just don;t care cause its too small to matter?
 
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