Zombicide: Night of the living Dead – CMON announcement

[coxjul 13301xp 0]

Having acquired the license over a year ago (https://www.beastsofwar.com/board-games/cmon-licence-night-of-the-living-dead/) CMON have just announced the KS will be kicking off December 10th.

https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/1699/landing

If it’s just another skin for the original, usual Zombicide rules then I’m not that interested, but will be interesting to see if they give the gameplay a significantly new feel.

[redbenParticipant 9415xp 0]

NotLD famously was never copyrighted due to an admin error and the way US copyright law worked at the time. Wonder how it impacts getting a license for it?

Whilst I haven’t backed or played a Zombicide since Black Plague, I am feeling the pull of this one.

[limburger 21685xp 0]

I suspect that’s there’s way to re-assert that copyright by now.

@coxjul it does look like a slightly modified Zombicide game. Or at least the survivor cards shown appear to have 2 versions (one black&white and one coloured) with different stats for the same person.

The one problem this game has (for CMON that is) is that it will be difficult to add hundreds of npc/survivors to this one.
They only have the main cast, unless they’re including sequels as expansion packs …

[redbenParticipant 9415xp 0]

There isn’t. It was never registered under the law at the time so has never been held under US copyright. You can legally download it from the internet as a result.

[limburger 21685xp 0]

That’d be the 1968 version only :

https://archive.org/details/Night.Of.The.Living.Dead_1080p

There is a 1990 version, which is a remake. However that is not public domain.

 

[redbenParticipant 9415xp 0]

Isn’t this game based on the 1968 version? Also known as the only version people care about lol.

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 0]

Not a reskin! (:

No abominations or runners (that was 28 Days later). They’ve added Breakers (destroys barriers) and loved ones (force a sanity check when a dead family or friend attacks or something).

No info about the scenarios, yet, although Walter Matthau spotted. 😀 https://cmon.com/news/melding-undead-classics-together.

[limburger 21685xp 0]

@redben it could be that the coloured version of the characters are a reference to the ’90s variant (which would mean they got the license to that one as well).

Given that CMON tends do kickstarters with a ton of unlockable stuff that makes sense.

[redbenParticipant 9415xp 1]

I believe the coloured parts are to do with playing a more trad version of Zombicide with them. I’m not suggesting CMON don’t have a license of some sort, especially as the IMAGE TEN logo appears. I was just curious about the impact that the lack of copyright would have on it.

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 0]

> NotLD famously was never copyrighted due to an admin error and the way US copyright law worked at the time. Wonder how it impacts getting a license for it?

Some companies will pay a fee, even if legally they have no obligation to do so. I *think* that’s what CMON is doing.

If you’re talking about the double-sided survivor cards, you’re right — one side is the more powerful Zombicide version, and the other is the weaker Romero side, which is closer to the characters in the movie. If you fail some sort of something against a Loved One ghoul, then you flip your card to the Romero side. If you do some sort of teaming up (eg. giving a weapon to another player), you flip to the Zombicide side.

From the recent trailer, each character has at least one alternate sculpt, and the zombies are taken from the zombies in the movie. Sorta like the Daily Unlocks from the CMON 2nd edition KS, I guess. I do see some red-colored zombies, such as the couple’s little girl. Speaking of which… : http://www.ghoulnextdoor.com/

 

[phaidknott 7023xp 1]

How many times are CMON going to reskin Zombicide?

Sure there might be a tweak or two in the rules between editions, but basically it’s the same game. I’m beginning to see what Warren was driving at in that the big companies should be looking at bringing us new content and games (rather than just doing another “retread” of something tried and tested). The fact they are continuing to use Kickstarter for these reskins (which have no risk other than gamers just getting tired of the formula) just adds insult to injury 🙁

[fightcitymayorParticipant 2104xp 1]

“Image Ten Inc.” was George Romero’s production company that he set up at the time.  CMON slid them (his estate now) some cash so as to “do the right thing” with this version, so the product feels more “official” and legitimate.  Not to mention using all of the official likenesses and names might bring down Romero’s lawyers at some point, it is a good idea to at least get the original creator’s folks on your side before you set out to monetize his film (which was indeed not copyrighted at the time, because the original distributor never put the copyright line on the actual film prints.  So technically the original film remains in the public domain as a result.)

[redbenParticipant 9415xp 0]

I figured it’d be something like that. Wasn’t casting any aspersions or anything. Was genuinely interested in how it would work. Hopefully it lets them do Dawn of the Dead as well.

[soulman 2945xp 0]

Somebody stop giving them money for this…. zombicide 2 ended a few weeks ago. !!   milk you like a vampire they will over and over… i got death may die last week.. nice to see a new system from them… lets see all the suckers cough up again…

[fightcitymayorParticipant 2104xp 0]

Dawn Of The Dead would definitely involve paying for the rights.  Although it would be super fun, although I’m biased because the mall it was filmed in (Monroeville Mall, in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA) was the mall I grew up shopping at, and at one time working at.

DotD FUN FACT #1: Monroeville Mall, decades ago, used to give secret group tours around the back hallways and the secret portions of the mall where Dawn Of The Dead was filmed.  Sometimes they would let folks act out entire scenes back there, if you were cool about it.

DotD FUN FACT #2: There was never actually a gun store in that mall, it was added in the film because… well.. because they needed firepower to fight off a zombie apocalypse!  But the rest of what you see was mostly how it was back then.

 

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