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WiiU

Darksiders II to be Removed from European Wii U eShop on March 31

by Tom Malina - March 28, 2013, 9:55 am EDT
Total comments: 21 Source: (Description), The Nintendo Channel, https://twitter.com/TheNChannel/status/31727910123...

Vigil's last game will no longer be sold digitally at the end of the month.

Action-adventure game Darksiders II will be taken down from the Wii U eShop in Europe on March 31, 2013, according to The Nintendo Channel.

European users who have already bought the title digitally will still be able to re-download it from the eShop, but the game cannot be purchased after this date. Darksiders II has been on sale since launching alongside the system on November 30, and the reasons for its upcoming removal from the store are currently unknown.

This news follows the closure of the developer, Vigil Games, in January, which occurred after owner and publisher THQ filed for bankruptcy and auctioned off its various assets and subsidiaries. Neither Vigil nor the Darksiders franchise were sold during the initial auction, and as of the time of writing, THQ is still seeking a buyer for the Darksiders property.

Talkback

Pixelated PixiesMarch 28, 2013

That's a bummer. I wonder why it's only being removed from the European eShop and not the North American one.

TJ SpykeMarch 28, 2013

It probably will be eventually, like when the DKC games were removed from the European Virtual Console first.

This is probably just because there is no one to send the royalties too right now. Hopefully whoever buys the IP in the next auction will put it back up ASAP.

CericMarch 28, 2013

Their really should be a clause in all the digital game services that a game should be available till explicitaly told to be put down.  The royalties can just acrue with a holding fee.

Pixelated PixiesMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: Ceric

Their really should be a clause in all the digital game services that a game should be available till explicitaly told to be put down.  The royalties can just acrue with a holding fee.


I can't tell if you're making fun of people who make that argument. Are those typos deliberate or not?

pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterMarch 28, 2013

yeah really, in cases like DKC we should see an expiration date but otherwise, not really no.

LudicrousDa3veMarch 28, 2013

This whole situation is a shame. Vigil did a really good job (despite DS2 being a little derivative and buggy); I'm hoping somebody picks them up. Like Nintendo.  ;)

Pixelated PixiesMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: pokepal148

in cases like DKC we should see an expiration date


Huh?

pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: Pixelated

Quote from: pokepal148

in cases like DKC we should see an expiration date


Huh?

Donkey Kong Country was clearly pulled due to the end of a contract, it would be nice to know when that happens so i can pick it up beforehand...

TJ SpykeMarch 28, 2013

"Clearly"? You dont know why it was pulled, you shouldnt assume things.

Pixelated PixiesMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: pokepal148

Donkey Kong Country was clearly pulled due to the end of a contract, it would be nice to know when that happens so i can pick it up beforehand...


I must be missing something here. What contract?

pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: Pixelated

Quote from: pokepal148

Donkey Kong Country was clearly pulled due to the end of a contract, it would be nice to know when that happens so i can pick it up beforehand...


I must be missing something here. What contract?

with rare, the company that originally made the games and is now M$'s bitch, if i gave you a character, told you to make a game with him, who owns the rights to that game...

Pixelated PixiesMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: pokepal148

Quote from: Pixelated

Quote from: pokepal148

Donkey Kong Country was clearly pulled due to the end of a contract, it would be nice to know when that happens so i can pick it up beforehand...


I must be missing something here. What contract?

with rare, the company that originally made the games and is now M$'s bitch, if i gave you a character, told you to make a game with him, who owns the rights to that game...


But surely Nintendo owns those characters. Otherwise they wouldn't be releasing DKCR 3D?

And surely they also own the games themselves, because...well...Donkey Kong was a Nintendo property and Rare was a second party studio when those games were made.

pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: TJ

"Clearly"? You dont know why it was pulled, you shouldnt assume things.

what explanation do you have professor,
because by my logic, since no logical theory to contradict the one proposed, that one would be the one we should go by
and even then tmnt falls under the same logic

LudicrousDa3veMarch 28, 2013

Just read that Crytek will be bidding on the Darksiders IP when it goes up for auction. As a note, 35 Vigil employees migrated to Crytek back in January. Here's hoping.

pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: Pixelated

Quote from: pokepal148

Quote from: Pixelated

Quote from: pokepal148

Donkey Kong Country was clearly pulled due to the end of a contract, it would be nice to know when that happens so i can pick it up beforehand...


I must be missing something here. What contract?

with rare, the company that originally made the games and is now M$'s bitch, if i gave you a character, told you to make a game with him, who owns the rights to that game...


But surely Nintendo owns those characters. Otherwise they wouldn't be releasing DKCR 3D?

yes but the question of the hour is who holds the rights to redistribute the original game at a later date, the characters are owned by the big N but what of the games they appear in that were created by Rare...

TJ SpykeMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: pokepal148

Quote from: Pixelated

Quote from: pokepal148

Donkey Kong Country was clearly pulled due to the end of a contract, it would be nice to know when that happens so i can pick it up beforehand...


I must be missing something here. What contract?

with rare, the company that originally made the games and is now M$'s bitch, if i gave you a character, told you to make a game with him, who owns the rights to that game...

Rare is owned by Microsoft, doesnt make them their bitch.

And you assume you know the DKC situation.

Pixelated PixiesMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: pokepal148

Quote from: Pixelated

Quote from: pokepal148

Quote from: Pixelated

Quote from: pokepal148

Donkey Kong Country was clearly pulled due to the end of a contract, it would be nice to know when that happens so i can pick it up beforehand...


I must be missing something here. What contract?

with rare, the company that originally made the games and is now M$'s bitch, if i gave you a character, told you to make a game with him, who owns the rights to that game...


But surely Nintendo owns those characters. Otherwise they wouldn't be releasing DKCR 3D?

yes but the question of the hour is who holds the rights to redistribute the original game at a later date, the characters are owned by the big N but what of the games they appear in that were created by Rare...


Well, if Nintendo were able to use the DKC name and characters with DKCR, I have to imagine they own both the characters and the games. I'm not an IP lawyer, but I don't see how Rare could retain ownership of the games without owning the name or the characters.

None of us really know why those games were taken down from VC. The way you said that, however, made it sound like there had been some acknowledgement that Rare in fact owned the rights to the DKC games. Which is something that I have never seen any evidence of.

Some of the THQ games got yanked off PSN as well, so this might be a European regulation about the operation of a company in bankruptcy.

Pixelated PixiesMarch 28, 2013

Quote from: Shaymin

Some of the THQ games got yanked off PSN as well, so this might be a European regulation about the operation of a company in bankruptcy.


Ah. Unfortunately, that makes sense.

Daaaaammnnn you Europe!!

pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterMarch 28, 2013

removed some clutter here

Quote from: TJ

Rare is owned by Microsoft, doesnt make them their bitch.

when you make nothing but kinect sports, what are you then

Let me repeat that, Rare is owned by MICROSOFT...

now lets look at my philosophical question

If i(nintendo) give you (rare) the rights to create a game using some character under my ownership, who owns the rights to distribute the game

if rare owns them then DKC would be on xbla

if nintendo owns them, why would they be taken down(and they would have had to replace the rare logo i believe...)

however if both must come into agreement to allow the game to be released on VC then two logical things may have happened,

either A. Microsoft realized that rare had some ownership over the 3 games and tried to get the games on xbla (Nintendo refused and microsoft forced rare to void the agreement)

or B. the agreement was timed until the launch of a new generation of hardware and Microsoft refused to allow Rare to renew the agreement.

TJ SpykeMarch 28, 2013

Here is the idea Pokepal, you do what your boss tells you. That doesnt make you a bitch, it makes you someone who does their job. Oh, and Kinect Sports has been a big seller for Microsoft, and sales means far more than reviews

And you continue making assumptions for why the games were taken down. Its happened before, especially in Europe. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was taken down for awhile. The thig is that you are  making assumptions for why they were taken down, doesnt mean you are correct.

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