Hi gamesas, I've been trying for about a year now to get in touch with you guys about the possibility of making a video game based on Brian Fargo's Neuromancer released in 1989 by gamesas. I've tried contacting the correct parties involved with the original release (EA, gamesas and even William Gibson's Publisher.. I've been looking into contacting him through his agent should I make substantial progress). I realize that gamesas owns the rights to the video game adaptation and I respect that right, My attempts to make a new version of the game (and yes I am aware there was an attempt to do this before) are strictly voluntary and not-for-profit I'm doing this for educational reasons because I want to first prove to myself that I'm more than capable of developing a full fledged video game, I just feel that Brian Fargo was a good place to start with as everyone is well aware of the great works he did during his time at gamesas (Neuromancer, Wasteland, A Bards Tale, Fallout.... and the list goes on and on and on).

I suspect no one is presently aware that there is already a film adaptation of William Gibson's novel in production however its production company doesn't seem to have any idea what they are doing (which I find an INSULT as does the entire fanbase, not just that but they couldn't even spell the damn protagonists' name properly!) So I feel that perhaps due to demand that I should really do this game to pay respect to Fargo, Gibson and the fanbase of both the game and novel.

I'm going to try and follow the novel much more closely compared to the original game and I'm not going to follow the game design directly (I've got some great ideas that may feel similar to the original but will be more modern and intuitive). The entire game will be made using my own content and a commercial engine that I have purchased a commercial license to (and have spoken with the creators, they are fine with it). I will be more than happy to promote gamesas by placing a "This game is based on the intellectual property of William Gibson and gamesas Interactive and is no way associated with either of them" which I have been doing so all along. I have also stated that I presently do not have permissions to go ahead with this game (hence it prohibits me from releasing anything and deters me from working on it due to the risk).

I would really appreciate it if gamesas would be willing to give me permissions to develop this game. If you do so I will immediately try to contact Gibson's agent who will hopefully give me full permissions to work on this game for free distribution to the public.

My website for the game can be found at:

http://www.neuromancer.moddb.com
and
http://www.moddb.com/games/neuromancer

If you wish to contact me feel free to PM me via this forum or alternatively use the contact link on the ModDB profile. I have released a small tech demo which doesn't work nor does it reflect the final product in anyway (as the scope of the project has changed SIGNIFICANTLY.. I was aiming just to remake the gamesas game).

I'd also like to stress how serious I am about this game and I'd like to hopefully avoid any legal issues gamesas may have with me doing this. Thanks and Welcome Back

I am prepared to stop work if gamesas or any of the legal parties involved wish it.

Was it published by EA or Mediagenic (the old name of Activision)? One is given by MobyGames and the other by Wikipedia, and neither is a particularly reliable source. I do think the rights to the older titles are probably owned by the publisher, not by IPLY, anyway, and even the publisher probably no longer has the Neuromancer license from Gibson). Good luck, though!

Also, Brian Fargo himself is no longer at gamesas. He is currently the head of InXile Entertainment. The Vault - Fallout Wiki * Fallout Online * Fallout IRC Channel * Fallout: New Vegas

Yeah that's what EA told me as did Activision. I can definitely get in touch with Gibson's Agent.
I was already aware that Fargo went to InExile (he took the rights to Wasteland with him). Neuromancer's Wikipedia article also states that the rights were owned by another person who is now deceased (which makes it painful to find out who has the original rights or even cares about it enough to do something about it).

Thanks for the support.

It was Mediagenic that distributed Neuromancer. I think gamesas published it. (Neuromancer and Dragon Wars were about 1-2 years before my hire date.) You can barely read the legal text on the back of the Neuromancer box scan at Mobygames:

http://www.mobygames.com/game/amiga/neuromancer/cover-art/gameCoverId,66881/

Hmm I can probably clean it up a bit using my l33t Photoshop skills, I have a feeling that I can just try and get permission from Gibson himself that should give me enough protection. (given some of his reactions to this new film version and my comments I suspect he actually wants me to do it, I'm actually more worried about SevenArts (the guys making the new film) getting in the way and I guess I can contact them too. However they're a big budget Hollywood studio and we know how they can be sometimes so I don't know how much luck I'll have.)

Thanks Chris.

Oh I just discovered something, on the box it states Cabana Boy Productions owns the trademark to the game. This is interesting as Cabana Boy Productions was the same company that collaborated with Chris Cunningham and William Gibson on the original Neuromancer film that never happened. Sadly I can't find any info on the company but I think I may be able to find out. Strange that most places have neglected to add that important bit of info.

It would be good to see another neuromance game - it's been long enough since the original!!

I wasn't aware that a film was in production, though as is usually the case they seem to have taken a few artistic liberties.

Good luck in tracking down the rights. After this long, and with so many acquisitions, mergers and closures it's hard to know who owns what. Hopefully it isn't stuck in a legal limbo between 2 companies as happened to some games.

I just started playing Neuromancer last night, once again documenting the experience in my blog, if you're interested:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/blog/54/entry-6480-neuromancer/

I never played the game, but Neuromancer was a great book that I would love to see in game form. Best of luck to you developing it.

What was lacking in the original game? It was pretty challenging.