Design legend Jeff Minter's had his latest game, the psychedelic shooter TxK, blocked by Atari...
NewsFor many readers, Jeff Minter and his company Llamasoft will need little introduction. The creator of such games as Gridrunner, Hover Bovver, and Attack of the Mutant Camelsin the 8-bit age, his work has continued to thrive: the likes of Tempest 2000 for the ill-fated Atari Jaguar, Space Giraffe and Gridrunner Revolution are all great shooters.
But we've now learned that Minter's latest game has suffered a potentially devastating blow. TxK, a shooter released last year for the PS Vita, was set to be ported to other systems - including the PS4, PC and Oculus Rift - this year, but has now been blocked by Atari.
According to Minter, Atari has said that TxK is too similar to Tempest 2000."This has been going on behind the scenes for a while now," Minter writes on his website. "I'd kept it on the down low all this time because I had hoped we could maybe work something out."
Minter has been quite open in the past that TxK is a kind of spiritual successor to Tempest 2000, just as Llamatron was inspired by the classic Robotron 2084. But Minter says that Atari's legal threats go much further, with their claims including that he stole "secrets" from Tempest 2000's source code, and that he "deliberately set out to cash in on Atari's copyrighted Tempest name."
On Twitter, Minter continued, "So yeah, all the stuff we had ready or near ready will never see the light of day. No TxK PC, PS4, Oculus, GearVR, Android."
"It's achingly sad because I loved Atari," Minter continued. "Getting to work there, and creating one of their last great games, was such a joy for me."
What's doubly strange, at least from an outsider's perspective, is that Atari's chosen to descend on TxK. Minter's earlier Space Giraffealso bore a certain resemblance to Tempest 2000, perhaps because the same designer created all three.
We can only hope Minter manages to resolve the situation. TxKreceived glowing reviews in its Vita incarnation, and the ports to other systems would surely have followed suit.
Atari's sudden hawkishness also sets a worrying precedent; imagine if Taito suddenly woke up and realised how many bedroom programmers had made their own twists on Space Invaders since the late 1970s...
More news on TxK as we get it.
