I mean i remember reading an old newspaper article about Sachen being sued for $200 million. Did this happend or am i thinking of something else? It might have been Bung, but i mean there was some mentioning of other companies in there too.

Hmm, could it have been the NTDEC lawsuit?  I think they were sued for 200 million by Nintendo in the mid 1990's if I'm not mistaken.  

Ah... yes, thats most likely it! I remember the name when you wrote it :) Thanks. Why was they sued btw? Did they release pirate games also or just unlicensed games?

They also released bootleg Famicom games.  The lawsuit IIRC was against NTDEC and the Nintendo Electronic Company (which I would have assumed were the same company given the letters: NinTenDo Ele..Com...).

What other companies did Nintendo sue? I don't seem to remember if Color Dreams was sued or not...

I'm Not sure about Color Dreams.  I do know Nintendo sued Tengen twice.  The first time was after Tengen started releasing unlicensed versions of their games, for copyright/patient infringement, because Tengen cracked the 10-NES chip code.  The court sided with Tengen here.  The second time Nintendo sued Tengen was over the game Tetris, in which case Nintendo quickly won and Tengen was forced to recall their version of the game.

Who was involved with the lawsuit against Camerica regarding the Game Genie in the US?  Galoob?

Speedy_NES wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 11:19:

Who was involved with the lawsuit against Camerica regarding the Game Genie in the US?  Galoob?

Yes. I still remember the ads in magazines that said "THANK YOU CANADA!" with the Galoob and Game Genie logos on it because it was released in Canada first...

FamicomJL wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 22:42:

Speedy_NES wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 11:19: Who was involved with the lawsuit against Camerica regarding the Game Genie in the US?  Galoob? Yes. I still remember the ads in magazines that said "THANK YOU CANADA!" with the Galoob and Game Genie logos on it because it was released in Canada first...

Are you sure it was Galoob and not Camerica?  Galoob had the rights to release it in the US, but Camerica was the one who released it first in Canada (pretty sure at least ;)).  

Speedy_NES wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 23:54:

FamicomJL wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 22:42: Speedy_NES wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 11:19: Who was involved with the lawsuit against Camerica regarding the Game Genie in the US?  Galoob? Yes. I still remember the ads in magazines that said "THANK YOU CANADA!" with the Galoob and Game Genie logos on it because it was released in Canada first... Are you sure it was Galoob and not Camerica?  Galoob had the rights to release it in the US, but Camerica was the one who released it first in Canada (pretty sure at least ;)).

Quick check at wikipedia does say that you are correct. My bad.

Who's Sachen?

mikeroach113 wrote on 30. Oct 2006 at 05:35:

Who's Sachen?

Thin Chen Enterprise is a Taiwanese company that developed several original games for the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom and Game Boy (both without license from Nintendo), and other early cartridge-based handheld systems such as the Watara Supervision. Most were released under the Sachen brand name, although the names Joy Van and Commin were also used for certain early games for the Famicom and handheld consoles respectively. Thin Chen is known for making Sonic-style games such as Jurassic Boy 2 and Chen.

Some of their NES games were sold in the US and other regions by other unlicensed publishers such as American Video Entertainment, Color Dreams and Home Entertainment Suppliers (HES).

The last known Sachen releases were Game Boy Color ports of some of their later NES games, released around 1999, although a compilation of many Sachen Game Boy titles was released by the Australian company Tru Blu Entertainment (a subsidiary of HES), in 2004.

Thin Chen Enterprise's website was offline from 2002, leading many to believe that the company had gone out of business. It was replaced in September 2005 by an online store (which currently only accepts orders from Taiwan) bearing the Commin name, selling several (although not all) games from Sachen's back catalogue, as well as some previously unseen products such as Famicom clone systems and Game Boy Advance accessories. However, no new games (aside from the completed but previously unreleased Huge Insect) have appeared on the site, indicating that Sachen may have ceased game development due to the diminished market for original Famicom and Game Boy Color games and the increasing complexity of developing for current consoles, particularly without a license from the hardware manufacturer.

wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 03:25:

I'm Not sure about Color Dreams.  I do know Nintendo sued Tengen twice.  The first time was after Tengen started releasing unlicensed versions of their games, for copyright/patient infringement, because Tengen cracked the 10-NES chip code.  The court sided with Tengen here.  The second time Nintendo sued Tengen was over the game Tetris, in which case Nintendo quickly won and Tengen was forced to recall their version of the game.

I don't get it Tengen cracked the code, then how could they win the lawsuit, I would think it would be an open/shut case siding with Nintendo.

FamicomJL wrote on 28. Oct 2006 at 04:12:

Speedy_NES wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 23:54: FamicomJL wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 22:42: Speedy_NES wrote on 27. Oct 2006 at 11:19: Who was involved with the lawsuit against Camerica regarding the Game Genie in the US?  Galoob? Yes. I still remember the ads in magazines that said "THANK YOU CANADA!" with the Galoob and Game Genie logos on it because it was released in Canada first... Are you sure it was Galoob and not Camerica?  Galoob had the rights to release it in the US, but Camerica was the one who released it first in Canada (pretty sure at least ;)).   Quick check at wikipedia does say that you are correct. My bad.

Quick check of the box to the Game Genie I got new when I was a kid shows that it was indeed Camerica that released it in Canada...Wikipedia was right...whoda thunk it :P