Chase HQ 2 appears again

[andycadley]

I'd.take such rumours with a pinch of salt myself. The GX with only official games would seem very niche and the interesting stuff, like modern homebrew or conversions would seem to wander too quickly into odd legal issues.

Not saying I wouldn't like one, just not convinced it'll happen any time soon.

[Shaun M. Neary]

The whole topic is only fascinating BECAUSE it is not available. Once the ROM had been dumped, there will be a 2 week hype around it, several Youtube videos will be made - and all of them will say the same "finally discovered - blabla - thanks to XYZ for dumping it - blabla - Let's play it - blabla - OMG what a shit game".

After that 2 weeks of hype we will just have another shit GX4000 game that nobody wants to play - and we also lost the "saga" around it. Every now and then it will be mentioned as a side note - but all the fascination will be gone.

Not trying to be a smart-ass, genuinely not. But we know that's going to be the case as we know that ICE are the guys behind the dreadful Out Run as well as the barely passable Turbo Outrun, in fact the screen shots literally look like a re-skinned Turbo Outrun.

But you're not wrong, the whole mystique will be gone. But it's a state of mind thing really. You want to know... but you don't want to know... what do you choose?

[eto]

what do you choose?

If I would get a cartridge I would sell it for €2000 to a collector and get on a nice vacation - and would then anonymously publish a mysterious video, every now and then a screenshot, boost expectations - so everyone gets the most fun out of it - before I finally release the dump and the "meh, shit game" moment happens. 

[Shaun M. Neary]

what do you choose?

If I would get a cartridge I would sell it for €2000 to a collector and get on a nice vacation - and would then anonymously publish a mysterious video, every now and then a screenshot, boost expectations - so everyone gets the most fun out of it - before I finally release the dump and the "meh, shit game" moment happens.

Recorded with very shaky hand 360p semi blurred video to keep that retro feel, I would hope. 

[GUNHED]

what do you choose?

If I would get a cartridge I would sell it for €2000 to a collector and get on a nice vacation - and would then anonymously publish a mysterious video, every now and then a screenshot, boost expectations - so everyone gets the most fun out of it - before I finally release the dump and the "meh, shit game" moment happens.

Actually, imho it's a good game. 

[eto]

, imho it's a good game

based on ... what?

[GUNHED]

, imho it's a good game

based on ... what?

Gameplay!

[overange]

The Amstrad brand is owned by Sugar again, so I guess that's off the table anyway. Not sure how much further licensing is required for a GX4000 as afaik the firmware is usually the part that requires licensing- and exactly that is not needed for a GX4000 emulation. Maybe the GX4000 design itself?

Yes, Lord Alan Sugar reacquired the Amstrad brand in 2024 from Sky. 

However, this primarily involved the Amstrad name, not the historical IP for its old products. 
The rights to the firmware, product designs (like the GX4000), and other technical IP likely remain with Sky Group (owned by Comcast), which inherited them after acquiring Amstrad in 2007.

Regarding the GX4000, firmware licensing is typically the most relevant issue when it comes to emulation. If the original firmware (BIOS/ROM) is not used, then licensing may not be required. 
However, using the Amstrad name or branding for the emulation would likely require permission from Lord Sugar, since he now owns the brand. 
In terms of emulating the hardware design, that generally doesn't require licensing unless you're reproducing the exact physical design or trademarked elements. So, as long as the firmware is excluded, emulating the GX4000 itself might not need any direct licensing for the design.

Copying the GX4000 case design would not be an issue for Retrogames, as they have secured many likeness rights for their upcoming products and stopped others from making their own clones.

So if you look at the retrogames products, they never show or use the original manufacturers names, hence why we have:-
The 400mini
The A500mini
The C64
The Spectrum
The Vic20

This is why they can release these products with out having trademark infringements made against them.

And the guys of retrogames only works With the licenses of summit software that was the old "alternativa games" back in the 80. So their catalog are the only can be published with the console.

Regarding software titles included on the Retrogames systems, they do use titles from a lot of retro software houses, this incudes

Ocean
Epyx
Gremlin
Hewson
firebird
imagine

and there are many more.

So I am sure they got their contacts at Ocean, and I am sure they could pull Chase HQ 2 out the vaults.

[andycadley]

Regarding the GX4000, firmware licensing is typically the most relevant issue when it comes to emulation. If the original firmware (BIOS/ROM) is not used, then licensing may not be required.

The GX4000 doesn't have any firmware.

A lot of modern third party cart conversions do include the firmware+BASIC ROM for compatibility though, so if they wanted to include any of those they'd likely have to have to license them.

[dodogildo]

I hope this one remains as holy grail forever. My pain increases every time I see crappy games on a machine as beautiful as the GX4000. And I'm almost sure Chase HQ 2 is no different 

[Nich]

what do you choose?

If I would get a cartridge I would sell it for €2000 to a collector and get on a nice vacation - and would then anonymously publish a mysterious video, every now and then a screenshot, boost expectations - so everyone gets the most fun out of it - before I finally release the dump and the "meh, shit game" moment happens.

Recorded with very shaky hand 360p semi blurred video to keep that retro feel, I would hope. 

A gameplay video of Chase HQ II already exists on YouTube, so you can judge for yourself. Spoiler alert: it isn't very good. (Sorry, the uploader of the video doesn't allow embedding, but the title of the video is "Amstrad GX4000 Chase HQ 2: Special Criminal Investigation").

[amijim]

If you cannot untie a bond , cut it
Alexander the great.
All ideas sounds logical except from the idea I founded penicillin , I will keep it for my self instead of saving milions of people.If.there is no dump, then with such a donation a programmer can phace 2 kind of a game.Altough mystery is nice , we have to live it before we go to the Valhalla zone.Kind of a living miracle .

[Gryzor]

what do you choose?

If I would get a cartridge I would sell it for €2000 to a collector and get on a nice vacation - and would then anonymously publish a mysterious video, every now and then a screenshot, boost expectations - so everyone gets the most fun out of it - before I finally release the dump and the "meh, shit game" moment happens.

Recorded with very shaky hand 360p semi blurred video to keep that retro feel, I would hope. 

A gameplay video of Chase HQ II already exists on YouTube, so you can judge for yourself. Spoiler alert: it isn't very good. (Sorry, the uploader of the video doesn't allow embedding, but the title of the video is "Amstrad GX4000 Chase HQ 2: Special Criminal Investigation").

Well sure, no embedding, but we can link to it😁