Delayed Alien VS Predator Miniatures Games

[MonkeySloth]

I like the reference to GW saying if you think they're maddening about previews wait till hollywood gets involved.

[Nocturne]

I can only imagine their deals with New Line Cinema are along a similar line which is why things like a big expensive Smaug kit appears 1 or 2 weeks before release.

 

EDIT: I'm trying to remember how far back GW's absurdly short preview time has been around and if it happened to coincide with the first Lord of the Rings releases or if it's been longer than that.

I guess when GW were doing it no one really considered licensing to be a cause because everyone's used to GW doing apparently mad things.

Edited February 3, 2015 by Nocturne

[MonkeySloth]

Ahh, now I see why. Been reading around and people fear the Chapterhouse vs GW thing in the states now means that concept art is not that protected under copyright anymore. So someone can copy it and sell it and you don't have much recourse. But if there's a finished 3d model that's something they can't copy.

 

Looks like people are trying to be extra cautious.

Edited February 3, 2015 by MonkeySloth

[greyhaze]

Concept art vs final art? or all art? That seems very odd.

[Dai-Mongar]

I can only imagine their deals with New Line Cinema are along a similar line which is why things like a big expensive Smaug kit appears 1 or 2 weeks before release.

 

EDIT: I'm trying to remember how far back GW's absurdly short preview time has been around and if it happened to coincide with the first Lord of the Rings releases or if it's been longer than that.

I guess when GW were doing it no one really considered licensing to be a cause because everyone's used to GW doing apparently mad things.

I have a White Dwarf here from around the Two Towers that has a preview of the Chaos Defiler in it. Not sure exactly how long before it was released, but it's more than you get these days.

I do remember people attributing the rumor lockdown to their contract with New Line, but I don't think I ever heard anything official.

[MonkeySloth]

Concept art vs final art? or all art? That seems very odd.

I just read concept art.

 

Well, in brief... there was a ruling in the US that concept art, whilst copyrighted for its medium, did not, by default, mean that it was copyright for all other mediums, particularly if the concept art only existed in the one medium.

 

Please bear in mind that this is a judges ruling and thus subject to any future ruling that may be of a different stance, however what it essentially means is that if you produce concept art then you are protected if other people copy/use that concept art in that medium, or in a related medium... so digital art would be protected for any copied drawings, digital 2d images and so forth...

 

However nothing says that it would mean that the deisgn within that art was copyrighted for production in another medium: so if you took the concept and produced a 3d model from the 2d image, then, under certain circumstances, that would not be a breach of IPR... particularly if the owners of the 2D art did not have any competitive product or *item* in that 3D medium.

 

So by showing 2d art, another party *might be able to* copy it into a 3d medium and sell that 3d medium item without infringing copyright.

 

But we know from the Chapterhouse v GW case that you can't "copyright" geometric shapes (f.ex), nor functional items that require that function for their purpose i.e. human armour is all pretty much alike, from medieval knights to Storm Troopers, because it has to fit a Human shape - and those tend to have a lot of similarities.

 

Similarly a car is a box on 4 wheels (most often) and an Oil Drum is a drum-shape with oil in it...

That particular quote is from Antenocities workshop.

[Nocturne]

Update on Facebook:

 

 

 

Happy Days! We have just got final approval for all aspects of the game, with the exception of the rules. The rules are in the final stages and just need to be sent to a professional proofing company. We will continue to update when we can, but it's fair to say that today is a good day. I suspect there will be some celebrating tonight in Prodos Towers!

[Nocturne]

Latest:

 

 

Prodos Games Ltd says:

Hello All.
A short update...
We have resubmitted the rules doc for approval, after changing (as requested) the US English to UK English. We have also proofed in-house, picking up a few grammatical issues where they had previously been missed; then finally we have sent to a professional proofing company.
We are expecting the approval back reasonably quickly, to the extent that we are working to officially launch the product to the wider public at Salute 2015. We expect to get the first batch of KS product out at the same time!
As always we thank you for your ongoing support and patience as we complete the final mile of this project. We know it’s been an unexpectedly long journey and we thank you all for enabling this dream to become a reality. The light at the end of the tunnel is bright and getting bigger by the day.
We will update again as soon as we have the approval...

 

 

 

 

They've clarified on Facebok that when they say launched, they don't mean for sale. There will be some available for backer pick up.
Salute is April 25th.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Nocturne

[Maledrakh]

Just in from prodos via kickstarter:

 

This is rumour control...IT IS NOT a rumour!

X has finally marked the spot...that last elusive signature is in. We at Prodos Games have wasted no time: all outstanding components for the Alein vs Predator The Hunt Begins board game have been put into production. Once we get back from the printers we will look at giving a clear schedule...BUT all is good, all is actually great...and it’s Friday...and finally its about time to celebrate with some beer...

AND ALIEN vs PREDATOR, THE HUNT BEGINS the board game is in production!

Edited May 15, 2015 by Maledrakh

[HornedTurtle]

Yay! I didn't pledge for the kickstarter because I didn't want to put together the resin figures.  I'm excited for the mass produced plastic game pieces.

[Girot]

the injection molded plastic looks like it will be second printing.  the resin line will be going to retail initially though.  it's a contractual thing with FOX.

[strawhat]

I'm not even sure that the injection plastic will happen.

 

Reading between the lines of some of Rob's comments, it looks like Prodos were going to go with Plastic Soldier Company but that is no longer the case.

 

But the project soldiers on.

[Darsc Zacal]

Is any version available at retail yet?

[Girot]

As of the last few updates here is what's goin on:

1. KS Wave 1 (boxed games) ship worldwide first.  EU is shipping now and US/Canada is coming soon via Ninja Division (they'll be handling all domestic AVP business for the foreseeable future).  UK is kind of a mess but is getting worked out.  Reasonable expectation for delivery is end of summer/early fall.
2. Retail Wave 1 starts up after all KS has shipped.  This needs to happen for legit business reasons (see below for specifics).
3. KS Wave 2 is waiting on packaging approval from FOX.  As far as I recall almost all of the minis have approved and manufactured.  Backers will get the entire balance of their pre-orders once Wave 2 goes out.  This is a very good thing because...
4. Retail Wave 2 will get released a few products at a time every few months or so.  Getting in on this via KS was definitely worth it in this case.

Because they are dealing with a multinational corporation (ironic if you think about the IP in question) things slowed to an incredible crawl early on.  It's not just PRODOS's reputation on the line here so one could reasonably expect a damn fine product when it's all said and done.  Once FOX really started paying attention they took control of a lot.  Rather than just gank the entire project from PRODOS they are allowing them to put the work in to produce their labor of love but within some very tight boundaries.

 

As to the KS page still being down I suspect it will remain that way indefinitely unless FOX has them rebuild it from scratch using "finalized and approved" art and photographs of finished product.  This eliminates the potential threat of "you didn't send me what I saw in the pictures" drama from opportunistic lawsuit a-holes after release.  Sound silly?  Flashback 1996: Man sues Pepsi for not giving him a Harrier Jet

Edited August 5, 2015 by Girot

[greyhaze]

Retail Wave 1 starts up after all KS has shipped.  This needs to happen for legit business reasons.

 

Actually, this is not correct, unless I'm reading this sentence wrong. 

 

Prodos shipped skids of the base box game (Wave 1) out to retailers and they got distributed by regular distribution channels which were immediate because they were under legal obligation from FOX to send it out to retailers.

 

Prodos has been shipping direct to customers that placed pre-orders before Backers, because they are basically being extorted as it is considered a sale and EU law which states something along the lines of they have to get it within a certain amount of time or the customer can request their money back.

 

They have been shipping to Backers, but they are slowly getting it done.  Backers are still waiting on their shipments, but this expected to be completed shipping by end of August.

 

They partnered with Ninja Division to hand out Boxes @ GenCon for Backers, and to finish the shipping to USA/Canada, this is also anticipated to be done in August.

 

HOWEVER

 

Wave 2 is going to ship to Backers first, and then be shipped to retailers afterwards.