Dizzy in “Mothballs in the desert” shocker
Can we buy rights to a classic 8-Bit game in the UK?
Following Jester Interactive coup in acquiring the rights to Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner for a reported (but unconfirmed) £500, we decided to see how many other 8-Bit classics were going for a song.
First port of call was Codemasters, owners of the massive Dizzy games. For you young ‘uns, Dizzy was an adventuring egg who travelled around various 2D environments, such as desert islands and, errr, Russia, collecting things and solving puzzles.
We had heard on the grapevine that the idea of releasing a next-generation Dizzy game had been laughed out the Codies boardroom. Unfortunately this turned out to be a fruitless exercise. Although Codemasters have no plans to update Dizzy, the company said it wasn’t mad keen on selling the rights. We were however, told that if we were to make an offer it would be considered. We offered $500. It was declined.
“Dizzy is not dead and buried 6-foot under,” we were told, “He is covered in mothballs in the middle of the desert.” Unsure what this meant, we thanked Codemasters and put down the phone.
Next port of call is the classic collector/shooter Wizball. The last version of this fantastic game was on the Amiga. Surely time for a change. The game was made by Sensible Software and published by Ocean. Coincidentally, Codemasters swallowed up Sensible, so it was back on the phone to them.
“Wizball is not a brand that we were thinking of resurrecting,” Codemasters said. “We would though consider, any proposal for a new game if it were to come from the right source.” Got a good idea for an old Codemasters’ game? Give them a call and you could be the designer and producer of a hit game!
Here’s one for when you are down the pub. What is the most successful 8-Bit game series of all time? It makes sense when you think about it, that the answer is Pokemon. There was nothing else to do other than call Nintendo. We explained that we are in the business of buying up classic 8-Bit gaming titles and wondered if an offer of around £500 would be acceptable for the Pokemon brand. Nintendo asked if we were joking. We informed them that we were deadly serious. Nintendo said that the Pokemon rights are not for sale, nor would they ever be. We upped our offer to £600. Nintendo said they were very busy, thanked us for our interest and hung up.
Never mind. Not be deterred we turned our attention to Repton, the mining puzzle game from Superior Software that, along with Elite and Citadel, was the killer app for the BBC Micro. As it turns out, Superior Software has just re-released a huge compendium of its old games, which have been re-written for the modern Acorn platform. This is harder than we thought. How come Jester Interactive manage to swipe Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for £500 and we can’t buy anything?
It seems that the average developer is slightly more prudent than Matthew Smith, the creator of Miner Willy.
First port of call was Codemasters, owners of the massive Dizzy games. For you young ‘uns, Dizzy was an adventuring egg who travelled around various 2D environments, such as desert islands and, errr, Russia, collecting things and solving puzzles.
We had heard on the grapevine that the idea of releasing a next-generation Dizzy game had been laughed out the Codies boardroom. Unfortunately this turned out to be a fruitless exercise. Although Codemasters have no plans to update Dizzy, the company said it wasn’t mad keen on selling the rights. We were however, told that if we were to make an offer it would be considered. We offered $500. It was declined.
“Dizzy is not dead and buried 6-foot under,” we were told, “He is covered in mothballs in the middle of the desert.” Unsure what this meant, we thanked Codemasters and put down the phone.
Next port of call is the classic collector/shooter Wizball. The last version of this fantastic game was on the Amiga. Surely time for a change. The game was made by Sensible Software and published by Ocean. Coincidentally, Codemasters swallowed up Sensible, so it was back on the phone to them.
“Wizball is not a brand that we were thinking of resurrecting,” Codemasters said. “We would though consider, any proposal for a new game if it were to come from the right source.” Got a good idea for an old Codemasters’ game? Give them a call and you could be the designer and producer of a hit game!
Here’s one for when you are down the pub. What is the most successful 8-Bit game series of all time? It makes sense when you think about it, that the answer is Pokemon. There was nothing else to do other than call Nintendo. We explained that we are in the business of buying up classic 8-Bit gaming titles and wondered if an offer of around £500 would be acceptable for the Pokemon brand. Nintendo asked if we were joking. We informed them that we were deadly serious. Nintendo said that the Pokemon rights are not for sale, nor would they ever be. We upped our offer to £600. Nintendo said they were very busy, thanked us for our interest and hung up.
Never mind. Not be deterred we turned our attention to Repton, the mining puzzle game from Superior Software that, along with Elite and Citadel, was the killer app for the BBC Micro. As it turns out, Superior Software has just re-released a huge compendium of its old games, which have been re-written for the modern Acorn platform. This is harder than we thought. How come Jester Interactive manage to swipe Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy for £500 and we can’t buy anything?
It seems that the average developer is slightly more prudent than Matthew Smith, the creator of Miner Willy.
Games:
Dizzy
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