Little bugs in the database 4

[StooB]

Already listed on the "derived from" and "origin of" fields.

Good point. But I think it's worth it to add a note that it was renamed for copyright reasons

There doesn't seem to be any evidence of that.

[StooB]

All the downloads are from the Currys re-release in late 1986.

If that is the case the case then the release year for the Curry's re-release is wrong as it shows 1984.

The release year for all of the Curry's re-releases is wrong. They were all released in 1986 and bundled with the new +2.

[PeterJ]

There doesn't seem to be any evidence of that.

Super Brat this Tennis game was originally released as Wimbledon Challenge and sold in the souvenir shop during Wimbledon fortnight. It was then renamed in recognition of the American tennis star John McEnroe nicknamed "Superbrat", referring to McEnroe's verbal and physical actions in anger when a line call went against him.

Via Moby Games - No assumptions made as to the accuracy big this. Provided for information only.

Good job Radek unwittingly found the Curry's issue too. Especially as it has not been highlighted previously here.

Reading StooB's signature, maybe Einar should be the Bastion of all things ZXDB No need for anyone to hide their light under a bushel.

✓ Reviewed

[Einar Saukas]

Good point. But I think it's worth it to add a note that it was renamed for copyright reasons

There doesn't seem to be any evidence of that.

"Wimbledon" is a registered trademark. The evidence is here:

https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/about_w ... ivacy.html

Clearly an independent author self-publishing his first game wouldn't be able to acquire an official license. Afterwards a publishing label wouldn't risk using a trademarked name without having the proper license, but they wouldn't miss the opportunity to use this name if they had the proper rights.

PS: Perhaps you would feel better about it if the note explicitly said something like "renamed to avoid using a trademarked name"?

[PeterJ]

[mention]Einar Saukas[/mention],

Assuming the information from Moby games is correct and the game was sold in the souvenir shop during Wimbledon fortnight, then the author would have had to have had permission.

I'm guessing that Atlantis didn't have permission. I've nothing to back that up of course.

[StooB]

Clearly an independent author self-publishing his first game wouldn't be able to acquire an official license. Afterwards a publishing label wouldn't risk using a trademarked name without having the proper license, but they wouldn't miss the opportunity to use this name if they had the proper rights.

Atlantis Software also released Connect 4 in 1985 and that's a trademark too!

[Einar Saukas]

Assuming the information from Moby games is correct and the game was sold in the souvenir shop during Wimbledon fortnight, then the author would have had to have had permission.

Good point. I didn't know about the souvenir shop (I never saw the game page at Mobygames before). Thanks you both for correcting me!

I'm guessing that Atlantis didn't have permission. I've nothing to back that up of course.

Even so, the publisher would have to be insane if they had the rights to call it "Wimbledon" but decided not to use it! Therefore my suggestion still applies.

[Einar Saukas]

Clearly an independent author self-publishing his first game wouldn't be able to acquire an official license. Afterwards a publishing label wouldn't risk using a trademarked name without having the proper license, but they wouldn't miss the opportunity to use this name if they had the proper rights.

Atlantis Software also released Connect 4 in 1985 and that's a trademark too!

There doesn't seem to be any evidence that "Connect 4" was a trademarked name

[PeterJ]

There doesn't seem to be any evidence that "Connect 4" was a trademarked name

https://www.atmedia.net/TWWWEP/noconnec ... o%2C%20Inc.

No idea if that was the case in the 80s though.

[Einar Saukas]

There doesn't seem to be any evidence that "Connect 4" was a trademarked name

https://www.atmedia.net/TWWWEP/noconnec ... o%2C%20Inc.

No idea if that was the case in the 80s though.

I could only find fairly recent trademarks for the name "Connect 4".

[StooB]

https://www.atmedia.net/TWWWEP/noconnec ... o%2C%20Inc.

No idea if that was the case in the 80s though.

I could only find fairly recent trademarks for the name "Connect 4".

1974

[StooB]

Even so, the publisher would have to be insane if they had the rights to call it "Wimbledon" but decided not to use it! Therefore my suggestion still applies.

Not in the context of 1985 though, as far as I can tell there were no licensed sport event tie-ins until the 1986 World Cup. There were plenty of Olympic themed games in 1984 but none were official.

[PeterJ]

Not in the context of 1985 though, as far as I can tell there were no licensed sport event tie-ins until the 1986 World Cup.

Depends on if you class the Grand National as a licensed sport event?

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/2 ... d_National

[Einar Saukas]

Even so, the publisher would have to be insane if they had the rights to call it "Wimbledon" but decided not to use it! Therefore my suggestion still applies.

Not in the context of 1985 though, as far as I can tell there were no licensed sport event tie-ins until the 1986 World Cup.

1884

[Einar Saukas]

Anyway is there any real difference between "Wimbledon" and "Super Brat" besides the title on screen? Otherwise I suggest to merge both entries and add this note:


This game was originally titled "Wimbledon Challenge" and sold by the author in the souvenir shop during Wimbledon fortnight. It was later renamed by other publishers (presumably due to concerns about using a trademarked name) to "Super Brat", a humorous reference to tennis player John McEnroe and his anger reactions against referee rulings.


This way we summarize all this information we raised here, also we make it clear we are only making assumptions about the reason they renamed it.

Does everybody agree?

[PeterJ]

I've lost the will to live [mention]Einar Saukas[/mention]

I'm fine with it. As you say it's all assumptions anyway.

[Einar Saukas]

I've lost the will to live @Einar Saukas

I'm missing your point?!!

I recognize I was wrong in some of my assumptions (I stand corrected!), also I hope I didn't sound too harsh in my arguments, it was not my intent.

Regardless of this, I think my last post summarizes everyone's feedback on this subject, and this discussion resulted in a better note than I originally proposed. Therefore it was a productive conversation! Thanks everyone for their input here!

[PeterJ]

Sorry, [mention]Einar Saukas[/mention]. I was just being humourous about the amount of time we spent on it. I'm agreeing with you completely. Please don't read anything else into my comments!

No offense taken, and no offense meant.

[StooB]

Assuming the information from Moby games is correct and the game was sold in the souvenir shop during Wimbledon fortnight, then the author would have had to have had permission.

Looking at the history of the Mobygames entry, this information added by a "Tim Adcock", presumably the same person as TJ Adcock, the author of the game.

[Einar Saukas]

Assuming the information from Moby games is correct and the game was sold in the souvenir shop during Wimbledon fortnight, then the author would have had to have had permission.

Looking at the history of the Mobygames entry, this information added by a "Tim Adcock", presumably the same person as TJ Adcock, the author of the game.

That's amazing detective work!

Too bad it doesn't seem there's a way to contact him. I wonder if he's really the author or he's a relative?

[PeterJ]

ZX Trek

The TZX is incorrectly marked as 1982 rather than 1983.

✓ Reviewed

[PeterJ]

Journey's End

The TZX is wrong named as 'JourneysEnd(Mastervision).tzx.zip', when it should be Mastertronic.

[PeterJ]

Why are there separate entries for:

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/1 ... yable_Demo

and

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/entry/3 ... _of_Persia

Should they not be merged?

[PeterJ]

Lode Runner

The first two TZX files need English added against them

✓ Reviewed

[PeterJ]

The DroSoft re-release of Super Trolley contains 128K Music.

There is a preserved original release version here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

The Mastertronic re-release version should be marked as featuring Multi Machine Medium

✓ Reviewed