CM30

Personally, I'd say it's more like how the police prosecute those with counterfeit goods. They don't bother going after individuals who ended up with them (possibly accidentally), they go after those trying to distribute them/make a commercial business out of it. I guess the same goes for ROMs and the like. Going after individual downloaders is basically pointless and does nothing, whereas going after those hosting the ROMs might theoretically have more of an effect. Of course, theoretically being the right word, since I'd guess that many of the worst offenders are probably based in countries with near non existant laws to begin with, and shutting down one just causes a bunch more to pop up.

I'm assuming they're talking about this in more of a 'don't let the console get hacked to avoid piracy' sense. It's most likely an issue now because the Wii U hasn't even been out a full year and because Nintendo are worried these hackers could be opening up their newest console (and hence current money making venture) to warez/stolen games. Or because that one guy on Twitter went boasting about how if he was arrested, he was going to leak everything about the Wii U including the devkit (as well as that of the new Xbox and PS4): http://kotaku.com/next-gen-hacker-superdae-threatens-to-leak-troves-of-ga-509968073 They're worried about this kind of stuff. I doubt they give a damn about what happens to older games unless people are actually giving them away online (hence why they go after ROM sites). It makes very little difference that people are making hacks of Ocarina of Time or the like, so why even bother doing anything? They likely consider it more worth the effort to go after people trying to break their latest systems. I also suspect they don't particularly want the bad publicity that would occur if they did go after some of these older/smaller communities. Better to try and stop someone from hacking the system in the first place and opening it to pirated games that go after fans of older systems/titles that are doing pretty much sod all to Nintendo's finances.

I really don't think they care much about video game modding. After all, there are way bigger, more popular groups and communities involved here. You've got SMW Central and Super Mario (not just world any more) ROM hacking, which has been around for about a decade and is pretty well known. You've got New Super Mario Bros/New Super Mario Bros Wii modding, which has taken off. People making custom resources for Super Smash Bros Brawl, including a lot of big sites dedicated to it and videos on Youtube. Think Project M. Pokemon ROM hacking is popular in many places and is pretty well known. Zelda Link to the Past ROM hacks are getting more popular. Super Mario 64 hacking is quite well known now. And hey, you've got stuff like this, where people have a whole project going to edit Super Mario Galaxy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iatTKUw00Vo Trust me, if they were going to be all harsh on it, they'd have gone after much of the above way, way more quickly than this site. Hell, some of the communities mentioned are even posted about on big news sites.

Nah, you don't sound like a jerk. The reason I posted a lesser version is because until recently, I didn't know that version wasn't the full soundtrack. Basically, I came across it online where someone had reuploaded it to some free file sharing site, didn't find the GCN download for whatever reason and decided it was better hosted somewhere other than Rapishare or what not. Sorry for any inconveniance caused by that. As for fixing the download, do you want me to link to the one here or reupload it somewhere else? Either is fine. P.S. I'm still looking for anyone willing to give their side of the URA Zelda story and say what happened in the few weeks/months since I last visited. Even more so if it turns out they can shed a light on why Zeth was banned (prior to the 'hacking' incident or whatever it was).

I know what you mean, but keep in mind I do cover lots of active fan projects too. I wrote about the URA Zelda Restoration Project and said how good it was when it was active, I comment a lot about how good games like Mushroom Kingdom Fusion are and I bring a spotlight on many fan works in articles like this: http://nintendo3dsdaily.com/nintendoarticles/fan-made-themes-five-great-sets-of-original-nintendo-style-songs/ and this: http://nintendo3dsdaily.com/nintendoarticles/ten-fantastic-fan-projects-that-rival-official-games/ It's just I also think a more indepth look at one particular project's fate would be interesting too. Heck, if anyone has suggestions for fan projects to talk about (although they'd have to be somewhat... fancy), then go ahead and mention them. I'll send a PM later. And yes, I know people want to forget about it and move on, and once my article is done I'll be doing the same in regards to the URA Zelda thing, but I do think the story of the project, all the behind the scenes events and the things zeth did after it was cancelled are an interesting article subject.

Sorry to bump the topic, but I'm still looking for absolutely anyone who has records of what happened since I last visited since I want the article released fairly soon.

Meh, wouldn't the easiest solution here just to be get your own video hosting or find a different video host without the same type of monetisation? That's what the Angry Video Game Nerd and the staff over on That Guy with the Glasses did to get away from Youtube's systems. Or use Youtube and have your videos accessible on a website like raocow's one or the like. Add adverts to the side of it, and voila! Personally, I think the whole idea of this is patently ridiculous, simply because video games are not like other media. Watching someone play them is no substitute for playing them (and if it is, you weren't the kind of person to have bought the game to begin with), and I consider it right to be able to do anything I like with anything I buy, end of. Screw licenses or other crap, I prefer the old way where you buy something, company never sees you again and you do whatever with it.

Personally, I think there are many reasons I want to write an article about this and why I think it should be discussed: 1. There's a lot of things you can speculate from the source material that was leaked, like the soundtrack, the concept art and screenshots, the levels, etc. I don't think anyone has really done that (most sources which show this stuff are just posting it in slideshow or video format and leaving it at that). 2. People don't really know what even happened with the project or why it was cancelled. I think it'd be both interesting to show the mainstream what happened behind the scenes and also what happened both before and after the project hit big. Like what led to it being created, those old interviews, and then these guys on Youtube who are trying to revive it themselves. There's a lot of story there that could be told in an article. 3. Closure too. I have no idea what happened between me returning to these forums after its cancellation and the time I left prior to trailer 3 or whatever, and I also have no idea why Zeth went from being sort of popular to... well not (other than hearsay from developers). 4. I've been asked about the project before by people on other sites. And the amount of people wondering about the project on videos like this: makes me think an article is probably in order.

But obviously, because it's cancelled the official Youtube channel and site have been deleted. So could someone fill me in a bit on what order certain updates were posted and what date that was? Because I really want to write an article on my news site about the whole debacle (including the project's cancellation, some of Zeth's actions afterwards and those guys trying to restart it independantly), and hence I want a timeline of events to go with it. So yes, if anyone could help with that it'd be fantastic. Same if anyone on the dev team wants to come forward and give their side of the story (since the only evidence I have now of behind the scenes stuff is from that ex URA staffer who posted over on Zelda Informer) Thanks!

Meh, it's not particularly interesting any more, but if anyone cares, this guy is playing through the game (or what was left when it was released): http://www.youtube.com/user/retrojuegoschile/videos?view=0 You'll need to have a bit of free time though, he's at about halfway through and its taken him about 3 and a half hours to get there.

I honestly suspect adding the dungeons back is more likely than a Master Quest. After all, a Master Quest would mean having to redesign... about six dungeons whereas adding one or two ones would probably take less effort. Because hey, keep in mind one thing. That the only reason they ever added a Master Quest in Ocarina of Time 3D was because they'd made it back some many years ago for the bonus disc, and probably made most of it before then as part of one of the old URA Zelda games/addons. There's no existing Master Quest for Wind Waker, so adding it would be practically like adding another six or more dungeons.

Well, if you just want high quality music and want compatibility, just sample the music so it sounds mostly the same as the MP3 version. Like they do with fancy SMW hack custom music. After all, these ports aren't too... different/low quality: Of course, they're not note by note identical, but they're so indistinguishable from the original that no one would figure the difference unless they had quite the ear for music. No idea how you'd do such a thing for another SNES game, but it'd theoretically be possible. Hell, you can even use short voice samples if you know how. But yeah, that's about it. Either use MSU-1 and be sure that everyone is using BSNES or a real SNES with an add on, or just sample the music to an extent that it sounds like it's MP3 but that it's still truly MIDI/SPC format.

They've it for SMW hacks with the MSU-1 add on/chip, although I wouldn't know how.

Add in the scrapped dungeons and as many of the beta things as mentioned here: http://nintendo3dsdaily.com/nintendoarticles/five-fantastic-beta-features-that-would-have-improved-nintendo-games/ (see number 3) and The stuff said about the game that was obviously cut out that's mentioned here: http://nintendo3dsdaily.com/nintendoarticles/hitting-an-anti-climax-five-nintendo-games-that-failed-to-reach-their-potential/ There are so blatantly cut areas in the game that need to come back, and I hope Nintendo considers adding much of the cut/beta content as to give us a truly 'finished' game.

Captain Rainbow? You know, that obscure Japan only Wii game where a retired TV superhero has to help forgotten Nintendo characters. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Rainbow Maybe Mad World too, that ultra violent Wii game which is pretty much everything the media seems to think a video game is and taken up to eleven. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MadWorld

Thanks. I guess I'm used to there being some debate over tools like that in the same way there is on some sites about engines like the Hello Engine (and presumably some people towards Toad's Tool) I do have all of carol's assembly hacks and resources from Brutal Mario prior to about the last demo. That means nothing from Bowser's Castle, but everything beforehand including the Mega Man stuff, Marx, Dr Wily, Super Mario Galaxy style disappearing/appearing blocks and all kinds of other stuff. So in theory, I have everything in these videos: However, it's not particularly easy to use, most later sprites require some little asm file called suboffscreen.asm to be inserted in a certain place in the ROM (or the address edited to where it's added), as well as some lines at the top changed since the behaviour of the Mega Man, Mirage Palace, Mario Galaxy and Bowser's Castle sprites is both level, extra bit and screen number specific. Also, Brutal Mario wasn't dropped. Carol is still working on it, I talked to him a few months back about it and he sent me a recent demo with all kinds of neat asm and gimmicks. He did say not to post it online though, so I can only really give it out by PM, but it exists and has stuff like Baseball Boys, Chomp Shark (layer 3), Vivian's Shop, a new Lemmy boss based on New Super Mario Bros Wii and some other stuff. He also tested the game shown in the trailer. Liked the GFX, thought the difficulty a bit high. The project got dropped for various reasons, mostly time constraints, real life issues and limitations relating to technology. Most patches and tools don't seem to work well together, it was too much hassle, and with the very small team working on it, took way too long. Here was the last ever beta: http://www7.atpages.jp/smw/view.cgi/1357490197/ It's how the game was when it was cancelled, more or less (with only a few critical bugs fixed).

Myself included. But before you think 'why the heck is this guy showing a SMW hack, Lunar Magic makes these less impressive than other hacks', keep in mind this is a very fancy and advanced one: It has: Custom ripped graphics for tilesets, backgrounds and sprites, from a few games. Sampled music that sounds identical to that in games like Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario 64. Custom enemy and boss sprites Custom blocks Patches, level asm code and other code modifications And quite a few other things. Generally reception of it has been pretty good so far, although the main/only criticism tends to be the difficulty level being too high. It's influenced by games like Mushroom Kingdom Fusion, Super Mario Fusion, Mario in Parallel Worlds, Brutal Mario and Super Mario LD. It's not really meant to be all too 'logical' or close to canon, more like a crazy crossover title with a paper thin plot and the like. Oh, and I forgot. The reason I posted 'were' in the title is because frankly speaking, everyone involved in the project quit recently. Didn't want to spend forever working on the same game, were missing out on more important things in life as a result and could see very clearly that the likes of SMW Central were about months away from completely dying off as the community lost interest. And the minor tech issues just drove me to insanity. So yes, what does anyone think? And should I post it on Fusion Fan Gaming some time?

I registered because it was the only way to see the discussion forum for the Ura Zelda Restoration Project, which I've got quite a bit of interest in. I have to say, for a ROM hack of Ocarina of Time, that game looks seriously impressive. Heck, it's already technically better than most Mario 64 mods I've ever seen and seems like it will eventually be good enough to almost be seen as its own game. But yes, I'm new here.