SNK Execs On Game Piracy, Sony Approval Issues

Thanks to SPOnG.com for its interview with SNK's Yoshihito Koyama and Shinya Morishita about the veteran developer/publisher, with topics including the death of the classic Neo Geo MVS cartridge system ("There is no reason why the system could not be used now and in the future... we have not been held back by the hardware platform we use. The main problem is the pirates"), and the scale of the piracy that prompted it ("We released King of Fighters 2003 in Japan. Within two days we were seeing copied versions of our [cartridge] from China hitting the open market across Asia... Our game [ROMs] have also been spread across the Internet, another reason why enhanced hardware technology will help us.") Eurogamer also has another SNK interview, similarly conducted on the occasion of SNK's European publishing deal with Ignition, which talks PlayStation 2 game approval issues, mentioning: "With Sony you have to think about SCEA [Sony America] approval because they don't like 2D games, but SCEE [Sony Europe], they accept 2D games for release, but SCEA say 'no, they must be 2 in 1', or something like this."

Comments

Re:Pride and Prejudice

[bear pimp]

Of course 3D games are better! they have an extra D! I'm not going to pay the same price for a game that has one less D in it!!!

This mentality amongst (particularly young) gamers drives me nuts. I have nephews who won't even play a game if it was released last year. If a game is good, it doesn't stop being good over time.

Piracy really did kill the Neo Geo

[chrispyman]

Personally I agree entirely that as of late piracy has been the number one problem plaguing the Neo Geo. To be honest, there's so many pirated MVS games and especially when you get one off eBay, you just don't know what you're gonna get.

Re:Piracy really did kill the Neo Geo

[Lonesmurf]

When a game (JUST THE GAME) costs $200, you can bet that people will pirate them. Nevermind the hardware. If there is demand for something, there will always be a % that will pay for it, a % that will not and a % that will steal it. Price point is all about making sure those %'s are reasonable.

$50 a game is expensive, but reasonable. No?

-rami

Re:Piracy really did kill the Neo Geo

[supabeast!]

I agree wholeheartedly! I have purchased plenty of SNK games for non-SNK systems where the cost was reasonable, but at ~$500 for the Neo Geo system and $150-$250 for each game, I have never been in a position to afford SNK's native stuff. Anyone at SNK who thinks that piracy, and not price, is the problem is an idiot-which explains why they went under and had to be bought out by Sammy.

SCEA

[metamatic]

It confirms what many gamers already know, which is that SCEA are a bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.

I mean, SCEA declined to distribute Vib Ribbon, Wipeout Fusion, Dropship... It's not just 2D games they reject, it's just about anything that isn't a FPS or movie tie-in.

Maybe they're right from a commercial standpoint; maybe Joe Sixpack is only interested in playing Unreal Syphon Quakesplitters 3. But it's pretty sad for gamers.

Re:Pride and Prejudice

[hibiki_r]

I am impressed by your high game quality standards. Viewtiful Joe has to be a pretty bad game to get a weak 92% in Gamerankings.This clearly indicates that the game is no good.Sony's US refusal to distribute VJ had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the game is a 2D side scroller, as TFA says.

I guess somebody will have to tell the guys at Capcom that if they want to be able to sell their PS2 games in NA they better start learning from the companies that made Big Motha Truckers and Army Men:Green Rogue

Nintendo Seal of Approval, All Over Again

[Visigothe]

Remember back in the NES days when (I think it was) Tengen came out with several games that Nintendo didn't like, and so did not receive the Nintendo Seal of Approval? Games like Gauntlet, Tetris (a Tetris that more closely resembled the arcade version than Nintendo's own) and others were available on the shelves. Nintendo tried to get them removed through the court system, and lost.

The SCEA is clearly doing the same thing, "if we don't like your game, you can't distribute it". How about letting *THE PUBLIC* decide if they like a game by purchasing it (or not). I prefer 2D games over 3D games, as the game-play tends to be better. Consequently I sold my PS2 a long time ago, and purchased a GBA SP.

Quit telling me what I want, let me decide for myself.

The funny thing about all of this is that the game makers are putting up all the risk, and they *still* have to pay Sony for each game sold. Why does Sony *not* want additional income?

Perhaps the SNK people should release an "un-approved" disc. If the SCEA takes them to the courts, SNK may have legal precedent on their side.

Re:Naomi-based AtomisWave is a ROM based Dreamcast

[Stormwatch]

The Dreamcast has...
RAM: 16MB
video RAM: 8MB
sound RAM: 2MB.

[source: GameFAQs]

The Atomiswave has...
Main RAM : 32 MB
Main Memory : 16 MB
Graphic Memory : 16 MB
Sound Memory : 8 MB

And the NAOMI has...
Main Ram : 32 megs
Main Memory : 32 MByte
Graphic Memory : 16 MByte
Sound Memory : 8 MByte

[source: System16.com]

Now, I don't know what's the difference between "Main RAM" and "Main Memory", that's just what the site says... can anyone clarify?

Well, anyway. It is clear that the hardware is very similar, but not the same. Of course, a good developer come with arcade-perfect ports in a very short time - as Sega, Capcom, Treasure, Sammy, GRev, and Success have done; but I don't believe it is as easy as you make it sound.