Aftermarket Guide: Difference between revisions
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# The (Unl) tag should be auto-added to the entry | # The (Unl) tag should be auto-added to the entry | ||
'''Homebrew | '''Homebrew released the same year the console was discontinued''': | ||
# GBA homebrew Anguna: Warriors of Fate released in 2008 via the developer's website | # GBA homebrew Anguna: Warriors of Fate released in 2008 via the developer's website | ||
# Nintendo never approved of Anguna, so it's unlicensed | # Nintendo never approved of Anguna, so it's unlicensed |
Revision as of 19:37, 16 February 2024
tl;dr for the lazy
When adding a game to DAT-o-MATIC, ask yourself the following question: did the console manufacturer (Nintendo/Sega/etc.) approve the game you're adding at some point, even if it never ended up releasing during the original console's lifespan, or even if the game you're adding is a re-release with new content?
If they approved it at some point:
- Don't worry about Aftermarket and just add the appropriate distinguishing tag instead, like (Limited Run Games) or (SNES Classic) or (Steam)
If they didn't approve it at some point:
- If it has stolen assets and it's old: (Pirate)
- If it has stolen assets and it's new: (Aftermarket) (Pirate)
- If it has unique assets and it's old: (Unl)
- If it has unique assets and it's new: (Aftermarket) (Unl)
For systems with no approval process, just go by the year the platform was discontinued instead.
Public vs. Private Entries
New platform
- = Private DAT
Legacy platform
- Licensed game
- = Public Entry
- Unlicensed game
- <10 years old
- Free build at time of datting
- = Public Entry
- Paid build at time of datting
- = Private Entry
- Free build at time of datting
- >10 years old
- = Public Entry
- <10 years old
Licensed vs. (Unl) vs. (Aftermarket) vs. (Pirate)
- Licensed = The original console manufacturer approved that game for sale at some point. Official re-releases inherit the licensed status of their original release, and have an additional tag to distinguish them.
- (Unl) = Short for Unlicensed. Any game that wasn't approved for sale by the original console manufacturer at some point. If there was no approval process, then go by the Aftermarket Start Year (see below).
- (Aftermarket) = Any unlicensed game that was distributed after the last-known original licensed game released for that platform.
- (Pirate) = Any unlicensed game that contains stolen assets.
- The (Pirate) and (Aftermarket) tags are both subsets of the (Unl) tag and are applied in tandem.
- If the (Pirate) tag is present, the (Unl) tag is omitted for brevity because an unlicensed status is implicit.
- If the (Aftermarket) tag is present without the (Pirate) tag, the (Unl) tag is added to emphasize that the (Aftermarket) tag only applies to unlicensed content.
- All unlicensed content in DAT-o-MATIC (DOM) span these four tag combinations:
Unlicensed Game
- that released within the platform's lifespan
- with unique assets
- = (Unl)
- with unique assets
- that released within the platform's lifespan
- with stolen assets
- = (Pirate)
- with stolen assets
- that released after the platform's lifespan
- with unique assets
- = (Aftermarket) (Unl)
- with unique assets
- that released after the platform's lifespan
- with stolen assets
- = (Aftermarket) (Pirate)
- with stolen assets
Aftermarket Start Year
- For consoles, the Aftermarket Start Year reflects the year that the last-known, original licensed game released for each console. This definition applies to the normal licensed software ecosystem for the console, and is inclusive of licensed regional variants (e.g. Brazilian Tec-Toy games for Genesis).
- Open computing platforms without a defined lot check system for licensing have an Aftermarket Start Year that matches the year of worldwide hardware ecosystem discontinuation. This is the year that hardware manufacturers for the computer family formally abandoned the platform.
- Each platform has a unique lifespan, and therefore the Aftermarket Start Years vary per platform and are aggregated in the below list.
- If a platform doesn't appear in the below list, then the Aftermarket tag is not yet applicable at this time. Entries are only included below for No-Intro sets that currently contain the (Aftermarket) tag. New systems will be added as necessary.
List of Aftermarket Start Years
Platform | Year |
---|---|
Atari - 2600 | 1992 |
Atari - 5200 | 1987 |
Atari - 7800 | 1991 |
Atari - 8-bit Family | 1992* |
Atari - Jaguar | 1998 |
Commodore - Commodore 64 | 1994* |
Microsoft - MSX | 1993* |
Microsoft - MSX2 | 1993* |
NEC - PC Engine - TurboGrafx 16 | 1994 |
Nintendo - Family Computer Disk System | 1992 |
Nintendo - Game Boy | 2001 |
Nintendo - Game Boy Advance | 2008 |
Nintendo - Game Boy Color | 2003 |
Nintendo - Nintendo 64 | 2002 |
Nintendo - Nintendo DS | 2016 |
Nintendo - Nintendo Entertainment System | 1995 |
Nintendo - Satellaview | 2000 |
Nintendo - Super Nintendo Entertainment System | 2000 |
Nintendo - Virtual Boy | 1996 |
Sega - Game Gear | 1997 |
Sega - Master System - Mark III | 1998 |
Sega - Mega Drive - Genesis | 2002 |
Sega - SG-1000 | 1987 |
*Year Discontinued
Datting Algorithm
A licensed status means the original console manufacturer approved that game for sale at some point. Official re-releases inherit the licensed status of their original release.
- If:
- Original console manufacturer approved game at some point
- Licensed -> yes
- Original console manufacturer approved game at some point
- Original console manufacturer did not approve game at some point, and the game has unique assets
- Licensed -> no
- Original console manufacturer did not approve game at some point, and the game has unique assets
- Original console manufacturer did not approve game at some point, and the game has stolen assets
- Licensed -> no: pirate
- Original console manufacturer did not approve game at some point, and the game has stolen assets
If an unlicensed status is determined, then if the year an unlicensed game originally released was the Aftermarket Start Year or sooner, add the (Aftermarket) tag when datting. Otherwise, omit it.
We intend for the Aftermarket Start Year to be a general barometer of lifespan in order to delineate newer unlicensed games from older ones. Therefore, only the year of original release for the content is relevant to compare with the Aftermarket Start Year.
- If:
- Licensed -> yes
- Aftermarket -> no
- Licensed -> yes
- If:
- If:
- Licensed -> no
- or
- Licensed -> no: pirate
- Then:
- If year content originally released was before the Aftermarket Start Year:
- Aftermarket -> no
- If year content originally released was before the Aftermarket Start Year:
- If year content originally released was the Aftermarket Start Year or sooner:
- Aftermarket -> yes
- If year content originally released was the Aftermarket Start Year or sooner:
Unlicensed Examples
For those who are unaware, a matching build goes on a licensed game's original entry as a redump. These datting examples only apply to non-matching builds that require new entries. This is the logic a datter should follow when creating a new entry in DOM:
Old pirate games:
- NES game 290-in-1 released in 1993
- Nintendo never approved of 290-in-1, so it's unlicensed
- The game has stolen assets, so it's a pirate game
- 290-in-1 released within the NES's lifespan (before the Aftermarket Start Year of 1995)
- Dat as Licensed -> no: pirate and Aftermarket -> no
- The (Pirate) tag should be auto-added to the entry
Old unlicensed games:
- DS application Action Replay DS released in 2006
- Nintendo never approved of Action Replay DS, so it's unlicensed
- The application has unique assets
- Action Replay DS released within the DS's lifespan (before the Aftermarket Start Year of 2016)
- Dat as Licensed -> no and Aftermarket -> no
- The (Unl) tag should be auto-added to the entry
Homebrew released the same year the console was discontinued:
- GBA homebrew Anguna: Warriors of Fate released in 2008 via the developer's website
- Nintendo never approved of Anguna, so it's unlicensed
- The game has unique assets
- Anguna released outside of the GBA's lifespan (in the same Aftermarket Start Year of 2008)
- Dat as Licensed -> no and Aftermarket -> yes
- The (Aftermarket) (Unl) tags should be auto-added to the entry
Unported itch.io homebrew:
- GBC homebrew Swordbird Song: The Iron Owl Tower released on Itch.io in 2021
- Nintendo never approved of Swordbird Song, so it's unlicensed
- The game has unique assets
- Swordbird Song released outside of the GBC's lifespan (after the Aftermarket Start Year of 2003)
- Dat as Licensed -> no and Aftermarket -> yes
- The (Aftermarket) (Unl) tags should be auto-added to the entry
Licensed Examples
Officially ported itch.io homebrew:
- GBA game Goodboy Galaxy released on Itch.io in 2023
- They are planning a Switch port to release in 2024
- Nintendo approved of the Switch port, so the Itch.io build is retroactively licensed
- Dat as Licensed -> yes and Aftermarket -> No
- Add the (itch.io) tag
Other platform re-release:
- SNES game River City Girls Zero re-released on Steam
- Nintendo approved the original River City Girls Zero on SNES back in 1994
- Dat as Licensed -> yes and Aftermarket -> no
- Add the (Steam) tag
Reproduction cartridge re-release with new content:
- SNES game Super Turrican re-released as a reproduction cartridge by Strictly Limited Games with new Director's Cut content not present in the original
- Nintendo approved the original Super Turrican on SNES back in 1993
- Dat as Licensed -> yes and Aftermarket -> no
- Add the (Strictly Limited Games) tag
First-party, same ecosystem:
- SNES game Star Fox 2 released for SNES Classic
- Even though it never released during the SNES's lifespan, Nintendo approved Star Fox 2 back in 1996
- Dat as Licensed -> yes and Aftermarket -> no
- Add the (SNES Classic) tag
First-party, different ecosystem:
- GEN game Shining Force II released for Switch Online
- Sega approved the original Shining Force 2 on Genesis back in 1993
- Dat as Licensed -> yes and Aftermarket -> no
- Add the (Switch Online) tag
Original manufacturer re-release with new content:
- GB game Ninja JaJaMaru: The Great World Adventure re-released for Switch with new GBC-exclusive content not present in the original
- Nintendo approved the original Ninja JaJaMaru game on GB back in 1990
- Dat as Licensed -> yes and Aftermarket -> no
- Add the (Switch) tag
February 16, 2024 Update Note
No-Intro tags are intended to be minimalistic by design, so they should be applied sparingly. When in doubt, we would rather omit tags than frivolously include them and debate endlessly about their status. Therefore, the (Aftermarket) (Unl) tags should be applied to unofficial and recent homebrew which is clear cut, not for games that Nintendo, Sega, etc. approved which is often nebulous. This recently-updated method makes the process much cleaner for datters. Now we are judging games based on whether the game itself was ever licensed, rather than trying to figure out the licensing status of particular builds, which was a fool's errand.