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Post by Nester the Lark on Sept 27, 2011 19:22:57 GMT -5
According to Sega's official North American blog, the Master System version of R-Type is being removed from the Virtual Console this Friday, September 30. Last July, all of Irem's games were removed from the PlayStation Store, so even though Sega only mentions this one game (since it's on a Sega console), it might be the case that all Irem games are about to be removed. A Sega rep mentions in the comments that it's a "licensing issue", but it might also have something to do with Irem's financial problems stemming from the earthquake and tsunami disaster earlier this year. Anyway, now might be the time to grab some of their games if you haven't already.
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Post by Fryguy64 on Sept 28, 2011 3:11:44 GMT -5
Do you think Irem flogged off their back catalogue to raise funds? That would be quite an extreme step!
Saw your post on this yesterday. Keep up the Twitter activity! It's the best way to get me to read articles ;D
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Post by nocturnal YL on Sept 28, 2011 7:46:11 GMT -5
That'd be silly if financial issus is the reason. How much does Irem have to pay SEGA to get their games hosted?
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Post by parrothead on Sept 28, 2011 15:12:52 GMT -5
Got every Irem game downloaded just a while ago before this comment was posted, except for Vigilante, because I already downloaded it some time ago. First, my team up with Drew Maniscalco in creating a couple of reliable sources to use in writing Ninja Baseball Bat Man's Wikipedia article. Second, hearing about Irem's Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4: Summer Memories being announced for release about a week before the earthquake and tsunami. Third, hearing about Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4 being canceled. Fourth, hearing James "Angry Video Game Nerd" Rolfe uploading a special message about Ninja Baseball Bat Man. Fifth, noticing that the MAME version not being as perfectly accurate to its PCB arcade board counterpart (requires account to view). And now, this? What's next? Hopefully a compilation of most (if not, all of) the company's library.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Sept 28, 2011 17:31:34 GMT -5
Do you think Irem flogged off their back catalogue to raise funds? That would be quite an extreme step! I hadn't thought of that. I thought maybe they were just on the verge of going out of business, and thus the downloadable software would no longer have an owner, and couldn't legally be provided for download. But then, I don't understand all that legal stuff. That'd be silly if financial issus is the reason. How much does Irem have to pay SEGA to get their games hosted? Actually, I'm not sure who licensed what in this case. I think Sega programmed the port, but they would've had to license it from Irem. I assume the rights reverted back to them, so I would guess Irem submitted it to the Virtual Console (and thus had to pay Nintendo's fees and such). What's next? Hopefully a compilation of most (if not, all of) the company's library. I think there was actually a downloadable compilation released for PC's several months back, but it included a lot of strange and rare games, like R-Type Leo.
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Post by Nester the Lark on Oct 1, 2011 19:25:04 GMT -5
I just checked the Shop Channel, and I'm happy to report that I was wrong! Only the Master System version of R-Type was removed. All other Irem games are still available! ...For now, anyway. Now go download Ninja Spirit!
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