Around 20 games have been removed from the Retro Game Room after I received an email from Atari, Inc.

Some of the games include:
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=1144
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=13834
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=1409
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=14668
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=14751
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=1477
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=15090
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=17000
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=2155
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=28195
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=3890
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=3948
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=4198
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=4518
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=4532
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=8914
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=9381

Any game from the following franchises will no longer be playable on vizzed:
Pong, Atari, Warlords, Asteroids, Centipede, Combat, Lunar Lander, Missile Command, Adventure


EDIT: More games they wanted me to remove:

Alpha-Beam with Ernie
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Alpha-Beam-with-Ernie
Asteroids 2600
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Asteroids-2600
Asteroids Deluxe
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Asteroids-Deluxe
Berzerk
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Berzerk
Bowling
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Bowling
Break Out
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=msx&name=Break-Out
Caverns of Mars
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Caverns-of-Mars
Crystal Castles
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Crystal-Castles
Dig Dug
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Dig-Dug
Dodge’em
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Dodge-em-
Flag Capture
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Flag-Capture
Football
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Football
Gauntlet
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Gauntlet
Gravitar
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Gravitar
Hangman
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Hangman
Haunted House
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Haunted-House
Human Cannonball
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Human-Cannonball
Hunt and Score
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Hunt-and-Score
Kangaroo
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Kangaroo
Moon Patrol
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Moon-Patrol
Night Driver
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Night-Driver
Off the Wall
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Off-The-Wall
Outlaw
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Outlaw
Radar Lock
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Radar-Lock
Real Sports Baseball
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=RealSports-Baseball
Real Sports Basketball
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=RealSports-Basketball
Real Sports Boxing
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=RealSports-Boxing
Real Sports Football
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=RealSports-Football
Real Sports Soccer
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=RealSports-Soccer
Real Sports Tennis
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=RealSports-Tennis
Real Sports Volleyball
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=RealSports-Volleyball
Sky Diver
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Sky-Diver
Slot Racers
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Slot-Racers
Space Duel
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Space-Duel
Space War
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Space-War
Star Raiders
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Star-Raiders
Star Wars
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Star-Wars-The-Arcade-Game
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Star-Wars-Return-of-the-Jedi-
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Star-Wars-The-Empire-Strikes-Back
Street Racer
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Street-Racer
Super Breakout
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Super-Breakout
Superman
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Superman
Tempest
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Tempest
Video Checkers
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Video-Checkers
Video Chess
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Video-Chess
Video Pinball
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Video-Pinball
Warlords
https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/game.php?id=&system=a2600&name=Warlords

I understand they why they would want to take them down considering they are playable on their site however they are millionaires already and I highly doubt Vizzed is milking them out of money on dead games from 30 years ago that no one probably even plays. Plus this is the internet, the more you try to copyright something the more people will upload it and distribute it.

that's too bad that you had to do that but understandable. If they are providing access to those games themselves then I say they are still making use of the copyright on those games. The more obscure ones that very few people play anyway aren't as big of a deal.

There not really making anymore money so what is the big deal if you just have a couple of games on this website

hmm I gess they still own the rights so mabye they will try and get back in the bussiness of games seriously again

They got back to me again and requested me to remove about 47 more games, all atari 2600 games.


geeogree : If they're making use of those old games by putting them on their website to be played than it's understandable but a lot of Atari 2600 games are quite crappy so I'm real surprised that they'd even care.  Most people who play the games on vizzed probably play them very briefly just to give themself a reminder of what the game was like, I doubt many people actually put a lot of time into playing these atari 2600 games on vizzed.  I think it's the 3rd least popular system on vizzed so it's not a huge loss.  I just hope they don't request me to take down more games from other systems.

Aww, that's a shame. I did enjoy playing a few of those games. At least it's just old Atari games and not N64 games... yet.

Davideo7 - yeah, but in the end they own the copyright to those games and have the right to ask you to take them down. It sucks, but at least it's not Nintendo or Sega asking you to take stuff down. You're not losing a lot right now.

geeogree : Well I don't have to worry about Sega asking me to remove the games because they've already gone through the RGR and the only thing they asked me to remove at the time was a java emulator that they had license too, they didn't ask me to take down anything else.  Nintendo on the other hand, that's a potential company who would demand their stuff taken down and the stuff they'd want taken down makes up the majority of the traffic which includes Pokemon and Mario games.  That would suck

yeah.... that would cause a lot of damage to the RGR if it happened.... hopefully though you're small enough on the radar that a company like Nintendo won't bother.... Atari on the other hand probably isn't making money like Nintendo is right now so they want traffic as much as you do.

I'm looking at Atari's Revenue for the first quarter of this year. Apparently they are loosing lots of money and their focus now is shifting to the mobile/online market instead of relying on 3rd party retail distributors. That would probably explain why they are putting an effort to having you remove stuff.

I might as well let them know of other sites that let you play atari games online, if I gotta remove them than it's only fair that competitor sites do to.

No Atari? Well, that takes out one of the good classics, but its alright, that is what you have to do, we still have some cool gaming systems here.

Sega is usually cool on their games and copyrights. For example, they're letting people host their own Phantasy Star Online private servers; they gave everybody free rights to do so since they don't host their own server of that game anymore.



Nintendo on the other hand, I think the only thing they are not very strict about is the English translation of Mother 1 and 3. At least, that's what I can only think of at the top of my head. I remember how hard they worked to fight against piracy with Mother 2 and some other games. The piracy protection in that game was absolutely devilish and some of the other games as well before emulation came around.

Unfortunately, Nintendo does crack down on rom sites. So the only thing we can do is hope for the best.

I do have one question. I am not remotely knowledgeable on how the copyrights laws work, but on the Facebook page, someone said they were sure this site was illegal due to copyright. The reply to that was that there were loopholes such as having people play games on the site instead of offering them to download via emulator. So are those loopholes really considered null and void if the company simply decides to request them to be taken down?

It's not technically legal but at the same time its not technically illegal. Many sites that have copyrighted content on it have gotten away with having it on their sites. Youtube, Project Playlist, RapidShare and more major names have violated millions more copyright infringements then Vizzed has. Copyright is mainly about money and not actually about whether its theirs or not. If a company feels they can profit from it they will sue you, if no profits can be made they will request you take it down.

What Vizzed is doing is just as legal as what Youtube is doing. Who truly decides if its legal or not is the company who owns the copyrights. If you go on youtube you will see how it works, some companies are real pricks and others are not. With youtube you are basically borrowing a digital copy of a video, on vizzed you are borrowing a digial copy of a video game. It's really no different and Vizzed should be safe under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act cause that is what Youtube used when Viacom tried to sue them. But like I said, the only time its technically illegal is when a company notices it and wants to take action. If they are like Sega and don't care then your safe because they are basically agreeing to allow you to have their content on the site.

"Who truly decides if its legal or not is the company who owns the copyrights."

I think JigSaw put it best when he said that.  To add to it, it'd be illegal for me to have those games if the companies requested me to take them down but I kept them up anyway.  I take the games down if they get requested to be taken down so that I can't get into trouble.

So does that include hack versions of games as well, or are those not under copyright?