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Atari 2600 Lord of the Rings Discovered

Posted by Hemos on from the unearthing-the-past dept.

TheAlchemist writes "Eighteen years ago a Lord of the Rings game appeared in a Parker Brothers catalog for the Atari 2600. Unfortunately, the game was never released, along with several other titles that appeared alongside it. Just in time for the first Lord of the Rings movie release next week, AtariAge.com has discovered a long lost prototype of this game, probably one of the most sought after 2600 vaporware titles. You can look at screenshots, a picture of the prototype box, the prototype cartridge, and download the binary image that you can then run in one of several Atari 2600 emulators. More information about the game can be gleaned here."

3 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. Another site by the_radix · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is another site with a screenshot and box cover (and is not /.ed yet).

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  2. Sonny Bono says it's still illegal by yerricde · · Score: 5, Informative

    Its interesting, though, that apparently the binary image can be posted w/o fear of copyright infringement.

    Wrong. Much abandonware falls under the "no suitor, no judge" rule. For example, it's OK to distribute the "Zero Wing" ROM because Toaplan, its publisher, no longer exists and therefore can't sue. However, in this case, both Hasbro (Parker Bros parent) and Tolkien's estate (licensor of LotR franchise) still exist and still maintain legal departments.

    Are all 2600 games 'free' now?

    Copyright on corporate-authored works lasts ninety-five years plus the rest of the calendar year. Blame Sonny Bono and Di$ney for such a counterproductively long copyprivilege term.

    I recall that for SNES games and the like the ROMs are still considered warez or bootlegged.

    You're probably thinking of mask work copyright, which Nintendo claims prohibits even fair-use backups of software that happens to be stored on a semiconductor ROM chip. (A careful reading may show that it prohibits only burning the data back onto a ROM chip; however, this depends on how the courts interpret "reproduction" of a mask work and whether or not ROM is a "commonplace design" that goes unprotected.) Such copyright lasts only ten years plus December 31.

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  3. Other LOTR games: 1979 to 2000 by mccalli · · Score: 3, Informative
    Go here for a look.


    The first Tolkien game I played would be The Hobbit. The next? Shadowfax, on the Spectrum. Great animation for its day.


    Cheers,

    Ian