Licensed, or not to be licensed: that is the question.

UbiShinnUbiShinn
in Help Wanted!
Hey guys! I’m new to the forums here and have a question about 5 NES games that lost their license from Nintendo.



I work Technical Support for Nintendo and I was comparing the amazingly detailed list NintendoAge has of all 677 Licensed NES games to the 668 that Nintendo has in their database.



I then thought how can Nintendo make a mistake and miss 9 of their own licensed games??? Nintendo does not have any information on the following games that were once licensed:



1943: Battle of Midway

Cyberball

Deadly Towers

Miracle Piano Teaching System

RoboWarrior



The other four have brief explanations in Nintendo' database but not much..



Mike Tyson's Punch Out! (Contract ended)

R.B.I Baseball (Tengen)

Pac-Man (Tengen)

Gauntlet (Tengen)



My question is, what was the reason behind the top five games listed above losing their license? Any information would be of great help! I love the history.



Very impressive site.



Thanks!!

Comments

  • NistleNistle
    Welcome to NA. Its great to have a Nintendo employee here.



    Those last 4 games I can certainly understand, but no clue on the first 5. Will be great to see what others think.
  • K.ThrowerK.Thrower
    Cyberball was developed by Atari (Tengen) if I remember correctly, so it was guilty by association. If MTPO is omitted from their listed due to licensing, wouldn't Stadium Events be in the same boat? For that matter, wouldn't a ton of sports games with anyone's name attached on them?
  • K.ThrowerK.Thrower
    from wikipedia:

    Cyberball was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992 by Jaleco. Tengen intended to release it unlicensed, but Jaleco purchased rights to publish it first. It has also been ported to numerous other platforms, including the Commodore Amiga, Atari Lynx and Sega Genesis.
  • Braveheart69Braveheart69
    I'm pretty sure Nintendo didn't want to be associated with Iron Mike anymore. Hence why they changed the game to just Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream instead.
  • UbiShinnUbiShinn
    Thanks Nistle!



    As far as MPTS goes, Mattel stopped their license for merchandising for Nintendo a while back but in mid-2005 they returned as a merchandise licensee. Nintendo does still consider them as a former license for all software titles produced for Nintendo systems but that doesn
  • UbiShinnUbiShinn

    Originally posted by: Braveheart69



    I'm pretty sure Nintendo didn't want to be associated with Iron Mike anymore. Hence why they changed the game to just Punch-Out!! featuring Mr. Dream instead.



    I beleive you are correct. Rumor only: with all the convictions around the time his contract was ending, Nintendo did not want to be involved so they didn't even consider.


  • scaryicescaryice
    I don't believe any of the games actually lost their license. I think the only reason they mention it for Punch Out is because they wanted to re-release it, and they specifically lost the rights to Tyson. I'm sure there's plenty of games that would have issues now if they were re-released, but that doesn't mean they've lost their official Nintendo license.



    Miracle Piano probably wasn't on the list because it's more of a peripheral than an actual game. The Cyberball explanation is a decent one. The other three are likely just oversights.
  • K.ThrowerK.Thrower
    I was just looking at the last available pdf list I saved from Nintendo's website and the missing Games are:



    Cyberball

    Gauntlet

    Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

    Miracle Piano Teaching System

    Pac-Man

    RBI Baseball



    I'm wondering when and why the others were added.

  • UbiShinnUbiShinn

    Originally posted by: scaryice



    I don't believe any of the games actually lost their license. I think the only reason they mention it for Punch Out is because they wanted to re-release it, and they specifically lost the rights to Tyson. I'm sure there's plenty of games that would have issues now if they were re-released, but that doesn't mean they've lost their official Nintendo license.



    Miracle Piano probably wasn't on the list because it's more of a peripheral than an actual game. The Cyberball explanation is a decent one. The other three are likely just oversights.



    In Nintendo' database, they call ELMO, the only two games out of the nine that clearly state "No longer licensed" are MPTS and Mike Tyston's Punch Out. The 3 from Tengen are guilty my assosciation as K.Thrower stated. As far as the other 4, I talked to my supervisors and they all state that they are not licensed anymore. They dont know why but if the information is not in "ELMO" then it is most likely not licensed.



    Cyberball is a Jaleco title, they still give credit to several games made by Jaleco except for Cyberball.


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