Aftermarket Guide: Difference between revisions
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Additionally, if the original game was unlicensed (like it was a Chinese bootleg game initially), every subsequent ROM re-release would also be unlicensed too (NOT aftermarket). That inherited unlicensed status carries over indefinitely. | Additionally, if the original game was unlicensed (like it was a Chinese bootleg game initially), every subsequent ROM re-release would also be unlicensed too (NOT aftermarket). That inherited unlicensed status carries over indefinitely. | ||
Now if a brand new retro console port was commissioned that never previously existed, that's a scenario where its ROM no longer has the essence of an original release and is considered both unlicensed and aftermarket. | Now if a brand new retro console port was commissioned that never previously existed, that's a scenario where its ROM no longer has the essence of an original console release and is considered both unlicensed and aftermarket. |
Revision as of 14:19, 13 August 2024
tl;dr
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:
- It's licensed, just add the appropriate distinguishing tag instead, like (Limited Run Games) or (SNES Classic) or (Steam)
If they never approved it:
- 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 first distributed after the last-known original licensed game released for that platform. All aftermarket games must be unlicensed because they were all originally released after the console's licensing period ended. Aftermarket is intended to be a general barometer of console lifespan to help us distinguish unlicensed indie homebrew games released after the console was discontinued.
- (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 originally released within the platform's lifespan
- with unique assets
- = (Unl)
- with unique assets
- that originally released within the platform's lifespan
- with stolen assets
- = (Pirate)
- with stolen assets
- that originally released after the platform's lifespan
- with unique assets
- = (Aftermarket) (Unl)
- with unique assets
- that originally 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 programs:
- 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
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 II 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
But if Aftermarket is just a measure of lifespan, then why aren't re-releases considered aftermarket?
Here is a thought experiment. Consider Super Mario Bros. for NES, which has seven re-releases all with the same checksums:
- Super Mario Bros. NES cart -> CRC32 of d445f698
- Super Mario Bros. Animal Crossing Gamecube Bonus -> CRC32 of d445f698
- Super Mario Bros. NES Classic -> CRC32 of d445f698
- Super Mario Bros. Wii Virtual Console -> CRC32 of d445f698
- Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch -> CRC32 of d445f698
- Super Mario Bros. FamicomBox -> CRC32 of d445f698
- Super Mario Bros. FamicomStation -> CRC32 of d445f698
- Super Mario Bros. Switch Online -> CRC32 of d445f698
If we were to consider re-releases as aftermarket, then despite having the same checksums, we would need to duplicate the files and add the (Aftermarket) tag to them, which is antithetical to No-Intro. Our database is structured around efficiency, which means avoiding unnecessary duplicates and bundling the same ROM with the same content in the same DAT where possible.
Considering re-releases as aftermarket doesn't work with alternate checksums either. Take GoldenEye 007 for N64 for example:
- GoldenEye 007 (Japan)
- GoldenEye 007 (Japan) (Switch Online)
- GoldenEye 007 (Europe)
- GoldenEye 007 (USA)
- GoldenEye 007 (USA, Europe) (Switch Online)
GoldenEye 007 was recently re-released for Switch Online. Its ROM is an exact bit-perfect replica of the original cart ROM, just like the rest of the Switch Online Nintendo 64 re-releases. Except this time for whatever reason Nintendo scrubbed out all the old Bond licenses that were left over, which you can't even access normally in-game without an Action Replay.
So the CRC32 hashes will technically differ, but the person playing GoldenEye 007 will have the exact same bit-perfect experience whether on the Nintendo 64 cart or the Switch Online re-release. So why should we assign the (Aftermarket) tag to this one and separate it out but not all the other Switch Online re-releases? Because this time around a tiny, inconsequential part of data was scrubbed that the player can't even access in-game? Just because it's technically a re-release? That makes no sense. It's the exact same ROM, so it should be treated like the original.
Imagine if we had to deliberate about the merits of every single re-release like this. It would be endless, inconsistently applied, and confusing. We want to avoid these types of pointless discussions for re-releases by having them always inherit the licensed status of their original releases, and by considering the Aftermarket tag as as games originally released after the console's lifespan. That gives us a consistent and straightforward application that is useful to end-users of No-Intro DATs.
Additionally, because all aftermarket games are considered as originally released after the lifespan of the console, every aftermarket game must be unlicensed by proxy. There can be no such thing as a "licensed aftermarket game" for DOM's purposes and that combination has been disallowed to ensure consistency.
Why aren't re-releases considered unlicensed?" They were released after the console died out!
We consider licensed status on a per-game basis. If the original game was licensed, every subsequent ROM re-release is also licensed. On a philosophical level, it's still the same game that was once approved by Nintendo / Sega / etc. Just because it gets re-released or has minor changes or has additional content added to it doesn't invalidate the core experience that was once licensed. And as stated above, it's much more efficient for us to structure our database this way.
Additionally, if the original game was unlicensed (like it was a Chinese bootleg game initially), every subsequent ROM re-release would also be unlicensed too (NOT aftermarket). That inherited unlicensed status carries over indefinitely.
Now if a brand new retro console port was commissioned that never previously existed, that's a scenario where its ROM no longer has the essence of an original console release and is considered both unlicensed and aftermarket.