Hidden Gems!

[Pearly]

Wow I forgot about that funny situation but that's how law works.

Simply put, artists are protected in a very okay way. So despite it's a fan fiction about a universe a company owns like for example Persona video game series, the artist has legal ownership over the original characters, situations and events they wrote therefore fan fiction cannot be owned by the company and cannot be used without the permission of the artist. What matters for the artist to be able to prove they indeed wrote the fan fiction. Date of creation matters a lot. In the end if no one can prove who wrote the fan fiction and if multiple people claims ownership so if no one can prove a date of creation then things get funny because fan fiction itself become a "protected artwork" so no one can use anything about that fan fiction until it hits its copyright expiration date which varies depending on the country's law.

So why he "won"?: While he was working for the company, company had legal right to sell his artwork because it was considered as "the artist gave permission" for it but it turned out after he was not working for the company, company had no legal right to use his artwork to make money because the company couldn't prove his work done in the context of "work for hire" status by legally establishing such an agreement in a proper way that's acceptable by law. It seemed like he was "commissioned", therefore naturally the artist owns their creation. However the artist can transfer copyright by properly establishing a legal agreement by making the agreement proper for law to the person who wants it, which in his case to the company paid money to the artist for his creation but Ken Penders didn't transfer the copyright. Naturally unless he gives permission or his copyright expires no one is legally allowed to use his creations lolol.

If I recall correctly, they couldn't find/reproduce his contract. So they coudn't prove the work for hire which would've made it archies/segas property. I only know this because I loved Archies Mega man and I looked into what happened to the series. I am only familiar with archies Sonic because of the comic covers in sonic mega collection. The UK/Ireland had our own sonic comic and it had some great moments but also some weird ones. We did not have access to archie sonic unless you were living near a dedicated comics shop. Archie needing to license out everything afterwards really tells how much Sonic was keeping them afloat, as their own comics could not recuperate costs lost from the lawsuit.

I am still gutted over the archie megaman series not being fully printed in graphic novel form at least.

 

[qw90700]

If I recall correctly, they couldn't find/reproduce his contract. So they coudn't prove the work for hire which would've made it archies/segas property. I only know this because I loved Archies Mega man and I looked into what happened to the series. I am only familiar with archies Sonic because of the comic covers in sonic mega collection. The UK/Ireland had our own sonic comic and it had some great moments but also some weird ones. We did not have access to archie sonic unless you were living near a dedicated comics shop. Archie needing to license out everything afterwards really tells how much Sonic was keeping them afloat, as their own comics could not recuperate costs lost from the lawsuit.

I am still gutted over the archie megaman series not being fully printed in graphic novel form at least.

Well regarding the contract in general; it may be that the contract was never made, it was made but it wasn't "legally" made that wasn't properly made by law or they couldn't find the contract. This would result in law simply acting like "no valid contract found" which had a huge advantage for him.

In that regard if a person wanna cheat the law they can make some legal papers disappear and thus lack of the paper gives them advantage lol.

 

[ryanftb]

x360 was such an amazing console, truly ps3's rival back there, good times

lets see, some list of games

- tenchu z
- lost odyssey
- lost planet 1
- the last remnant
- enslaved: odyssey to the west
- singularity
- asura's wrath
- vampire rain
- bullet witch
- conan
- beowulf
- onechanbara samurai squad
- turok 2008
- naruto: broken bond
- the jason bourne game
- fracture
- the matt hazard game
- ninja blade
- infinite undiscovery
- eternal sonata
- blue dragon
- magna carta 2
- kameo
- the captain america game

Vampire rain is bad...really bad imo the worstxbox 360 game i ever played

 

[dizzypixel]

Crimson tears thats an easy pick

 

[Leon]

Crimson tears thats an easy pick

Crimson sea 2 i'd also consider a hidden gem, never see anyone talk about these 2 games.
As far as i know they aren't related but their names always had them associated to each other for me.

 

[job32]

I gotta say Resistance: Retribution.

I would say it's nostalgia for me, but I download to pass time in school, and man I forgot how good it was.

I dare say, it feels like playing, uh, Gears of War for the psp? But yeah, I don't see many people talking about it.

Post automatically merged: Mar 24, 2025

LORD OF ARCANA MENTIONED

Yeah, have gone through the prologue of this and it is exciting gameplay. At the town now after forgetting all I knew, of course. Good idea to use the prologue as a hook (Lord of Arcana). We'll see how it goes.

Post automatically merged: Aug 13, 2025

blade dancer is a really hidden gem
in the beginning you may not like the game but it do get bette the more you play it
to bad it never got a sequel

generation of chaos really good
a really god SRPG

medievil resurection
puzzle quest challenge of the warlord
adventure to go
brandish the dark revenant
View attachment 51927View attachment 51913View attachment 51928View attachment 51929View attachment 51932View attachment 51935

Thumbs up for Puzzle Quest. Actually finished it, and that's a rare enough thing for me, these days. Blade Dancer, I tried, didn't grab me but there is probably more meat in it's bones, as you said.

 

[kalvin80]

2nd Super Robot Wars Z series, too bad it only got chinese translation.

 

[KittenLikeYou007]

Since the PS2 was my very first console, I thought I’d share some of my hidden gems from back in the day that I think are still worth checking out:


Secret Weapons Over Normandy : A lesser-known WWII flight combat game by LucasArts. Not the most famous title, but surprisingly realistic for its time and very well made.


Prisoner of War : From Codemasters, this one puts you in the role of an Allied soldier captured in Germany. The goal is to escape various camps and even a castle. It’s heavy on infiltration, sometimes frustrating, but overall a unique and memorable experience.


Air Ranger: Rescue Helicopter : A pure helicopter simulation by Midas Interactive where your mission is to rescue civilians in 3D environments. Fun fact: this was actually the very first PS2 game my parents gave me as a kid. At the time I was a little disappointed (it’s tough and not the easiest to handle!), but looking back, it’s quite special. It only released in Europe, and much later I learned there was a sequel, Air Ranger 2, released exclusively in Japan with extra missions.


Shadow of Rome : (already mentioned by others here) Easily one of the few Capcom games I loved. I was never much into Resident Evil or Onimusha, but this gladiator game hooked me right away. Sadly, Capcom barely promoted it, so it ended up forgotten, which is a shame because it deserved much better.


Indiana Jones & the Emperor’s Tomb : Released in 2003 by LucasArts. I finished this one when I was about 12 years old and loved every minute of it. In my opinion, it’s the best Indiana Jones game of the 2000s. Sure, the PS2 version wasn’t as pretty as the Xbox one, but it still looked good and played well. Not sure if it counts as “hidden” since it had some recognition, but I decided to include it anyway.


Curse: The Eye of Isis : A survival horror title that went under the radar back then. I’m usually not a big fan of the genre, but I enjoyed this one despite its flaws. It manages to pull you into its atmosphere quite well.

 

[Bakuma1997]

I came to suggest a nice licensed game, kinda short and easy, still a jam:

GHOST RIDER, a Hack and Slash that translates pretty well the Rider's abilities into a Dante-esque battle system, intercalating with Bike scenes

 

[Retro Doomer]

Rygar
Monster Lab maybe ?
Urban Chaos Riot Response
Red dead Revolver
probably more but I am not sure if they would be hidden gems.

 

[MarisaKirisame]

Kisou Ryouhei Gunhound EX, the final boss music is better known as "The Justice Ray Part 5" in the shmup community.

Also, Yggdra Union for PSP is an improvement of the GBA version. Upgraded music, new stages for hard mode and extra characters hidden during the stages.

 

[KittenLikeYou007]

A hidden gem on the PS2 that I highly recommend, whether you’re a fan of the series or just into action games, released exclusively on the PS2.

 

[Miles Miles]

This is still the best home port of SEGA Rally:

 

[Bakuma1997]

A movie game yep, but one that actually follows up the movie as a pesudosequel instead of crudely recreating it

 

[TinRattler]

Found a copy of beat down fist of vengeance yesterday at a garage sale
It's pretty good and it's by Capcom

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

This is still the best home port of SEGA Rally:
View attachment 105339

Which is better since the Saturn was hard to emulate and the PC port was apparently shoddy.

 

[eyixon]

• Samurai Jack: Shadow of Aku
• Shinobi
• Ape Escape 2-3
• Monster Hunter Dos

I'll leave these few to marinate and hopefully get people to try them. I'm currently playing Ape Escape 3.

 

[KenShjIN]

Downhill Domination
Mark of Cre
Shadow of Rome
Hulk
Zone of the Enders
Vietiful Joe
Psi Ops
Okami !

 

[DjQuick2008]

pal version the handling is way better

 

[.arkasth]

Dead Head Fred.

 

[Maximecool]

hidden gem

 

[Deleted member 560402]

Rayman 2 is getting a remake

 

[VidiyaGaemer]

State of Emergency comes to mind, it's an obscure Rockstar Games game that.....feels pretty arcade-ey. It's fun to play in bursts and is a good game to emulate on handheld emulation devices like Retroids

 

[Deleted member 868270]

Ys Seven (USA+UNDUB) PSP ISO – RGT Repository

Ys Seven (USA+UNDUB) PSP ISO Game ID: ULUS-10551. Languages: English, Undub. For Sony PlayStation Portable.

retrogametalk.com

 

[Deleted member 868270]

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (English Patched) PSX ISO – RGT Repository

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (English Patched) PSX ISO Game ID: SLPS-00742. Languages: English Patched, Japanese. For Sony PlayStation.

retrogametalk.com