Toejam & Earl 3 - Dreamcast Beta

Would you want to find out? They still have the obligation to protect their assets, so if they find that people aren't respecting them, they have to take action. Companies are more or less willing to turn a blind eye most of the time, but when a lot of attention is placed, they have no choice but to act.

 

I'll go ahead and concur, SEGA won't give approval at all. Anyone asking them is just wasting their time and asking for a lawyer to send them a cease and desist simply for asking.

On the other hand if you simply released something like this I'd find it very unlikely SEGA would be knocking on your door at all. It's pretty clear this property is in hibernation mode and I'd find it unlikely that they'll be creating another game anytime soon. On top of that they clearly abandoned most of this version of the game in favor of what they did release for the XBox version. Chances are they'll not give a damn on the basis that it's old, not worth anything commercially on its own, and isn't even a complete game.

Whoever spooked him probably doesn't have the legal authority to do anything spookery.

 

True dat.

 

Let's be honest though, how much attention is this going to get? The only people interested in this sort of thing are collectors and retro enthusiasts, which are a pretty small and reserved population. If the beta gets out, it's not like it's going to be the latest HOT gaming news. We're talking about an unfinished build for an unreleased version of a game that wasn't exactly successful or well-received. I just can't see Sega giving a damn whether it gets out or not.

 

My 2 cents: it's easier to beg for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.

I would suggest going ahead, leaking it online, and then pulling the original download links if you get hit with a cease and desist.

Hopefully Sega would do like Capcom did with their recent Res Evil GBC leak and just let it slide.

 

It was posted on some fairly large technology sites.

 

PLEASE RELEASE IT!!!!!!!

 

doesnt this game already went out ( on other consoles ) ? I might just wonder if yes then it probably is a neat copy of the game just ajusted for the dreamcast.

well, congrats for your finding !

 

Still fairly niche. A new Da Vinci painting was recently discovered (or something?) under 17 layers of paint; this made the mainstream news in a number of places beyond art history forums. Video Games will never likely strike a chord in such a fashion as 400 year old paintings in our lifetime. Obviously video games are an extremely lucrative and profitable part of the world's economy but it pales in comparison to movies or music especially when you factor in social acceptability.

In our lifetimes you will see more coverage of NASCAR on the BBC in a year than video games on any national American outlet in a month. At least positive coverage. Good god I hope I'm proven wrong.

 

Still doesn't change the fact that all it takes is one person related to Sega to see it and shut it down before it gets off the ground.

 

This is true. I'd imagine in most cases they're just going to send a strongly worded letter for someone not to release something publicly and if it happens anyway not do anything anyway because it isn't worth their resources to go after someone releasing an old, unfinished version of a game they canned of a property they haven't touched in a decade. On the other hand I've seen people throw copious sums of cash down a hole on principal before.

If I was SEGA I wouldn't bother with anything more expensive than a cheap cease and desist form letter that isn't even signed by an actual human. Allows them to say "we're protecting our trademarks and IP!" and prevents you from leaking something bigger on the top and being unable to say that nobody gave a damn.

Either way it's up to he who possesses this data to decide to release it or not. Damn shame it seems like we won't get to see it.

 

Id wager the same thing. I mean, look at all the Hidden Palace prototypes that have been released, mostly Sega, and they turned a blind eye to that. But going up to them and saying "I have this, watch me release it" isn't going to help them ignore it anyway.

 

Someone verified to be in the game industry, asking about the legality of all this. I can say he doesn't seems that much interested in money, as he almost released it freely right when he got freaked out. Hopefully this will turn well, or it will mysteriously reappear in a few years...

 

That's pretty much what I'm waiting for at this point. As cool as a guy he seems, I think contacting Greg about it before ever releasing anything complicated things and was a mistake. The whole proto scene is in the grey area to begin with, playing the nice guy and showing developers that you found their old unreleased work really seems like a bad idea unless you wait till after the proto is already out there. I know the OP has good intentions so I don't want to hold anything against him, but hopefully other potential proto "leakers" in the future will use this incident as a reference of how to be a bit more careful.

Shame since TJ&E2 was one of the biggest games in my childhood, and I remember waiting forever for the DC version to come out. By the time the Xbox one came I was already out of gaming. Heck, my last console I ever bought was a DC so in a sense, I'm still waiting for the game on DC here

 

So who is this person 'verified' to be in the gaming industry?

Surely their name isn't a secret? Tell us and I might believe it.

The more I think about it, the more absurd this story is...

A day or two ago it was "I'm contacting Sega for approval"

Yesterday it was "He was contacted by a verified member of the gaming industry"

You expect us to believe this? Two wildly different reasons in the space of two days?

Anyways, great the vids got made and posted around, existence verified, that IS a good thing.

 

From the start it was obvious that the OP want's to follow all the rules, he repeatedly tried contacting Assembler regarding the green light for a possible fundraiser, and while doing so he also got in contact with one of the creators to ask for their blessing. Regardless of SEGA possible not caring about this or not, it's not you or me that is releasing data, but the OP. Every person releasing data is balancing on a thin gray line, and it's obvious that not everyone is comfortable with that. So instead of speculating any further lets just count our blessings (seeing extensive footage of an never expected to surface build of ToeJam & Earl for Dreamcast) and hope for a release later down the road. At least we know it's out there.

 

Look, I can testify the OP is a good guy that wants it released just as much as everybody here, but some concerns popped up "on the road to release". He's still working behind the scene into getting it released.

As far as flaming goes; you've got the right to be dubious or deceived by the turns of events, but please be respectful. Nobody here it entitled to anything, nobody has put even a cents. Even just sharing the findings instead of hoarding was kind enough, this community knows that better than any other.

 

Nobody's flaming anyone, I just pointed out that in the space of (just) two days we've seen two very different reasons why this release has suddenly stalled (see my post above, text highlighted in bold)

I don't think it's fair to lie to people, that's all.

By the way, I don't 'expect' him to release it - he can do what he wants with the iso, and I've never suggested otherwise - not in this 'possible release' or any of the past proto releases that have been discussed on these forums.

 

There is no evidence of lying though, things do happen quick. And the fact that he doesn't say everything isn't evidence of lying either, we have quite a few industry professionals here who don't go around saying who they are.

 

Re-read you're two highlighted sentences. Both aren't incompatible, you simply didn't have the informations linearly in time, no lies there.