Nostalgist's Archive

im furious that ✨ has become the default symbol for GenAI. IT USED TO BE ONE OF MY FAVORITE EMOJI. I loved using it to give my sentences a cute lil vibe.

Now I see it and grimace in disgust. Small casualty in this ongoing slopocalypse but im personally aggrieved and I will NOT stand down

Gamera 2000 mentioned!

My newly arrived SH MonsterArts figure of Gamera 1996 makes the perfect display companion alongside my copy of GAMERA 2000 (cue the ZUNTATA OST)

Two previously-lost #Sonic keitai minigames and the original i-mode version of Sonic Jump were preserved by @yuvi.app! The minigames are Sonic 7 Narabe and Sonic Reversi Hyper. Sonic Jump was later released for Western phones, but the original keitai version was lost until today.

A scan of the cover, with one of the colossuses (colossi?) looming down, over a rider. It's a huge monolithic being made up of classical structures and grassy stone forming a face. 1,020 games rated in buyers guide format, with Resi Evil 4, Soul Calibur III, and Burnout Revenge some of the headline games.

Looming large on the cover of Official PlayStation Magazine US's October 2005 issue: Shadow of the Colossus.

The PS2 was a well-tuned machine by the time 2005 rolled around. And even as next-gen rivals such as the Xbox 360 and Wii also loomed, there was still plenty to get excited about.

YouTube video by Peter Gabriel Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer (HD version)

FRANK CIFALDI IS...

If you come at us you better come correct

The biggest copyright troll in gaming since the EDGE guy finally stomped, you guys are the best

For years, Graceware has gotten away with abusing the DMCA because they've targeted large platforms that comply quickly with takedowns, or individuals without the resources to push back.

Then they fucked with us, a non-profit organization with a special interest and an expert legal team. Whoops!

Graceware could still attempt to send out more DMCA notices manually, without Ukie doing it for them.

They should review their legal obligations under 17 U.S.C. § 512 before doing so. We have not ruled out legal action if we are harmed by future spurious takedown requests from Graceware.

So, where does this leave things?

The actual copyright owner of Cookie's Bustle remains unknown. In the copyright world, this is what's called an "orphan work." It's still protected by copyright, but with no verifiable owner.

We don't know what exactly transpired between Ukie and Graceware. But as a result of their conversations, Ukie tell us that they have suspended Graceware's DMCA takedown services.

So we're calling it: We've freed Cookie.

After we brought these findings to Ukie, they told us they would follow up with Graceware for additional clarification about their copyright claims.

After all, if they do own Cookie's Bustle, it should be easy to prove that, right?

…right?

This takedown service, provided to Ukie by Web Capio, is aggressive and designed for dealing with large-scale piracy and data leaks. That is, of course, totally inappropriate for Cookie's Bustle. There could have been serious legal consequences for this!

It is shockingly cheap to become a member of Ukie, running about £60 per month for a small company. So for the price of three cups of coffee a week, it sure looks like you can get takedowns sent en masse on your behalf in the name of a major professional organization.

The big question is: Why so many takedowns?

Turns out, it's because Graceware was abusing a legal resource for game devs! The UK trade group Ukie offers free legal services for their members, including "real-time" automated takedown notices.

Do you see where this is going?

When asked through their representative, Graceware repeatedly failed to provide us with any actual evidence that they owned any rights to Cookie's Bustle.

If Graceware does own the game, they don't seem able or eager to prove it.

A napkin (or paper towel) with "I own Cookie's Bustle" written in Sharpie.

Here's the thing: The "copyright registrations" for Cookie's Bustle are legally meaningless.

The "registrations" were made with INTEROCO, a private company with no authority over copyright law in any country. They're about as enforceable as writing "I own Cookie's Bustle" on a napkin. (eg., below)

We retained digital rights lawyer @kendraserra.bsky.social to help us get to the bottom of these takedowns and determine just how bogus they were.

Answer: They were very, very bogus.

Some background: For several years, a copyright troll has been claiming ownership of the game Cookie's Bustle and sending out mass takedowns for anything related to it on the internet.

Unfortunately, our digital archive was impacted by this as well, which is why we decided we had to fix this.

We've freed Cookie's Bustle from copyright hell. Here's how. | Video Game History Foundation We've stopped a persistent copyright troll who was trying to impede our work. Here's everything we learned—and how we beat them.

BREAKING: We've freed Cookie.

Following an investigation by VGHF, Ukie and Web Capio have suspended DMCA takedowns for Cookie's Bustle on behalf of Graceware, SL.

More info:

A scan from a scan of the self-published manga, with four anime gals with designs representing PS1, Saturn, Dreamcast, and N64. The PS1 giril, a spiky redhead with a PS1 themed bodysuit and sleek pauldrons like a transforming robo-suit stands off to one side and behind the fanned out Saturn blue-haired catgirl, a lamb-like elfish DC girl with doe eyes and a blep, and the serious looking grey-haired tomboyish N64.

Console moemorphism in 1998: the artwork featured on the cover of Mine Yoshizaki's Bit Fighter 2 doujinshi.

New gal on the scene front-and-centre, all in white and ready to bring some 128-bit orange-swirl power. 🌀<imagine is orange instead

I might have a bit of a head start 👀

In the Beginning was a JP/IT coproduction directly commissioned by the Vatican and created by Osamu Tezuka. After his death, directorial duties passed to Osamu Dezaki.

CCC is a Mexican-American video distributor associated with the Regnum Christi Federation and has not distributed any anime since.

25 In the Beginning VHS tapes

Kizuna from cover

Kizuna rear cover FROM THE POPULAR BE-BOY COMIC "KIZUNA" KAZUMA KODAKA IS ALSO WELL KNOWN FOR HER KUSATTA KYOSHI NO HOTEI-SHIKI AND SESSA TAKUMA. Ranmaru Samejima is a very handsome and legendary school fencing champion whose sports career comes to an abrupt end after he is mistakenly run over by a car intended to kill his boyfriend, Enjoji, the son of the mafia don in Osaka. Because of Enjoji's unwavering love and encouragement, Ranmaru is able to successfully recover. After a few years of living and loving together, they happen to learn that Enjoji's half brother, Kei Sagano, is not only living near them but has enrolled in the same college to be closer to Ranmaru his secret love. Kei's presence causes some conflict for the happy couple. After a long talk with Masanori Araki, Kei's substitute father, Kei realizes that he has no chance whatsoever of stealing Ranmaru from Enjoji. CULTURE Q CONNECTION AND DAIEI CO. LTD. PRESENT KIZUNA

I’ve been on a multi-year quest to get at least one release from every company that’s ever sold anime in the US, and today’s arrivals are an interesting contrast. 2 anime from similarly named companies that couldn’t be more different:
In the Beginning - Bible Stories from CCC and Kizuna from CQC

Kizuna is a romance series that holds the distinction of being the very first non-pornographic Yaoi title ever sold in the US with its 1996 VHS.

CQC is a division of LGBTQ+ film distributor Ariztical.

It would later be rescued by CPM and released under their Be Beautiful label with a dub.

Composing Uematsu-ass 70s prog rock JRPG boss fight music using mid-90s hardware, but with no game to put it to...

Hire me imo 🫵

Final Fantasy VII artwork from EGM, 1998.

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