Cube Technology

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codeman38

Dec 31 2010, 07:53:18 PM

I'd wondered if "Harry" on the MiWi was supposed to be some sort of Harry Potter knockoff. Well, my question is answered: on the CubeTech site, the game is listed as Harry Peter.

Wonder if they changed it because of the near-copyright infringement or the unintended double entendre? Probably the latter, since they used music from a freaking Chemical Brothers song in one of their games...[/quote]Not entirely sure on that, could be that the second player is called Peter and the creators happened to pick a couple of names that happened to sound like a famous fictional character. Then again, it's made by pirates so that seems about as probable as Daniel Radcliffe going to China to make the creators of this game disappear.

Also, since when did pirates care about copyright infringement to begin with?

BTW, Monkey King seems to be loosely based off the Journey to the West story.

[codeman38]

Oh wow, I just decided to run SoundHound on some of the songs in the MiWi video. First of all, I'm really impressed by SoundHound-- it recognized these songs from clips that were only a few seconds long. And secondly, it appears that Cube Tech really likes Italian '80s electro:

• The opening theme to Rugged Hammer is "For Your Love" by Albert One.
  
• The in-game music in Harry is "Hey Hey Guy" by Ken Laszlo.
  
• The in-game music from Farm Keeper is "Talk About" by Phaeax.
  
• The in-game music from Pets Crossing is "Give Me Up" by Michael Fortunati.
  

Alas, SoundHound couldn't identify the tune from Pro Crack. Probably an Amiga MOD or something. And the openings from Smart Bomber and Farm Keeper were just too short.

It also claims that either the opening or the in-game music to Apex Fighter is "Round & Round" by Heller & Ohlen, but the one YouTube video of that song has been removed, so I can't confirm it... Oh wow. Found a stream on a dodgy Russian site. The opening music is "Round & Round". I am utterly impressed.

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codeman38

Dec 31 2010, 08:13:44 PM

It also claims that either the opening or the in-game music to Apex Fighter is "Round & Round" by Heller & Ohlen, but the one YouTube video of that song has been removed, so I can't confirm it... Oh wow. Found a stream on a dodgy Russian site. The opening music is "Round & Round". I am utterly impressed.[/quote]With Soundhound, I'm guessing. With all of these Italian songs, I'm surprised they didn't steal Running in the 90's, which is a pity because that would've made the system a lot more epic than the other Wii ripoffs at least.

[codeman38]

Cheetahmen

Dec 31 2010, 08:30:58 PM

With Soundhound, I'm guessing. With all of these Italian songs, I'm surprised they didn't steal Running in the 90's, which is a pity because that would've made the system a lot more epic than the other Wii ripoffs at least. [/quote]Yeah, impressed with SoundHound. Not so impressed with Cube Tech!

And yeah, "Running In The '90s" would indeed have been hilarious. But that one probably would've been caught, unlike these more obscure selections, thanks to the whole Initial D thing...

[taizou]

codeman38

Dec 31 2010, 06:18:19 PM

Waixing definitely bought games from Cube-- the Waixing version of Zuma is indeed the same one listed on Cube's site. Like, literally, it even has Waixing's copyright registration number.Speaking of Waixing connections, check out the guy on the title screen for Soccer Ball. He's clearly a close cousin to the guy on the 8-bit Vii's "Penrlty Kick". This despite the fact that they're completely different games, even.[/quote]Waixing's Table Tennis (the Pong clone) seems to be connected too - the title screen has the same ping pong ball with a face from this .. which also happens to have the same options as the Waixing Ping Pong game built into the iSports.

& I just downloaded SoundHound the other day, I never thought of using it to identify stolen music i'll have to try it on some stuff.

[codeman38]

The opening theme to Pets Crossing is "Shooting Star" by Roy.

Yes, I'm actually listening to the ZYX Italo compilations on iTunes to see if I can identify any more songs. -_-;;Not sure if CubeTech developed Highway Racing, but whoever did stole the music for that one too: "Wall of Shame" by Course of Nature.

SoundHound continues to impress me.

Edit: LOL, "Wall of Shame" is on the Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 soundtrack. Wonder where the developers got the idea to use that in a racing game, hm...

[taizou]

found another one, from my ABL Ping Pong console (which contains this game, and not a damn thing else) - the title screen/menu music is Fable (Dream Version) by Robert Miles.

[davidstech]

On my MiWi 2 soccer's game, one of the "advertisements" is for YMK Software, and gives the site ymktvgames.com; which no longer works. I can't find any other branding though - on the box it is branded as "UKayed" because I bought it from internetshopuk.

[MLX]

The site cannot be found on Internet Archive either...

[taizou]

according to domaintools.com it was never registered at all... ymktvgame.com *was* though, although its not anymore. and only the main page is archived. which gives the company's full name as Shenzhen Yimeike Electron Co., Ltd.
edit: chinese name is 深圳艺美科电子有限公司. also known as just Shenzhen Yimeike Co., Ltd. 深圳艺美科有限公司
found a forum post by someone working for them:

google translation

 

The studio specializes in all Vt03 VT1682 8Bit 16Bit video game software development! Has successfully developed a series of no less than hundreds of dozens of game! Welcome to discuss any intended investments, please contact me! [/quote]

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taizou

Jan 29 2011, 03:00:08 PM

which gives the company's full name as Shenzhen Yimeike Electron Co., Ltd.found a forum post by someone working for them:

google translation

 

The studio specializes in all Vt03 VT1682 8Bit 16Bit video game software development! Has successfully developed a series of no less than hundreds of dozens of game! Welcome to discuss any intended investments, please contact me! [/quote][/quote]Presumably, they got the YMK initials from Yimeike seeing as those are the only 3 consonants there, although why they'd shorten it in the first place is anyone's guess.

And on that last bit, the Engrish explains all of the typos in their games and on that website that lists them. Edit: Oh, Google Translate. >_> Still, I somehow doubt they're fluent in English.

[taizou]

bit more info (albeit in chinese) here:
http://yp.hxsd.com/pl/corp.pl?id=21115
http://www.ee34.com/companyldgslff.html
apparently they were founded in 2003. no idea how Cube Tech ended up with their games though.oh this page has Cube Tech's name but YMK's web address. (edit: and their actual address, for that matter) so maybe theyre the same damn thing.
http://china.alibaba.com/company/detail/contact/largesea82.html
Or at least this 刘付宽 guy worked for both companies.incidentally a bit of googling has turned this up:
http://www.hzgsl.gov.cn/auto/s/s.htm?l=&r=0&w=%E6%B8%B8%E6%88%8F%E6%9C%BA%E8%BD%AF%E4%BB%B6%E5%BC%80%E5%8F%91
http://www.hzgsl.gov.cn/auto/s/s.htm?r=0&w=%E7%94%B5%E8%A7%86%E6%B8%B8%E6%88%8F%E6%9C%BA%E8%BD%AF%E4%BB%B6%E5%BC%80%E5%8F%91&l=
they seem to be searches for console developers on some kind of chinese government company listing, or something.
i havent gone through them all but Yimeike is there, theres also someone called Xu Dong Wei apparently operating as an individual. & "Bobby Go", the VT03 SMB hack on Cube Tech's website, has "XDW" replacing Mario's name. hmm. (edit: actually that site's listing for Yimeike has him as the manager too. and heres something linking him to Cube Tech. note the "anthonyxu.html" in the URL, i guess he's the "anthony111111" who posted on that forum)oh and they seem to have had yet another website at some point, imaigoo.com (although its not archived), listed here for cube tech:
http://www.qiye-gd.com/qiye34/468270344270.htm
& here for yimeike:
http://www.xuenzhao.com/hbxuenzhaoarticle/eb/2272.html
http://www.verysoo.com/1072639.html
i also notice basically none of these can agree on when either company was founded.

[davidstech]

Sorry to confuse everyone - ymktvgames.com was a typo. I meant ymktvgame.com

Also, an exact picture of my MiWi 2 appears on VR Technology's product page for the VT168's product page:

http://vrt.com.tw/product_detail.php?Id=53

So this must imply my MiWi 2 is a hybrid 8/16-bit console. BTW I tried a Famicom cart in it and strangely it wouldn't work (it works in another famiclone.)

[MLX]

Then it's http://web.archive.org/web/*/ymktvgame.com but it's pretty much useless (as Taizou said). Unless someone wants to email the guy.

[davidstech]

I have more news for everyone. I have taken down the copyright information and any credits in all the games on the MiWi2, and have made a list. Strangely enough, most of the games appear to be registered to Waixing/Subor but some credit “YMK Software.” I suspect Waixing bought YMK – or at least their software – at some stage.

(games lists in spoiler tags to prevent cluttering)

7-in-1 Sports Cartridge

Spoiler: click to toggle

1. TV Karate         - Credit for YMK
2. Tennis Exciting            - 2007SR00498
3. Extreme Power Soccer -   Credit for YMK
4. Ping Pong       -   2006SR16412
5. Master Golf      -   No info
6. Bowling          -       No info
7. World Series (baseball) -   2006SR0872

   
Tatacon Drum Master + “Arcase Game” Cartridge:

Spoiler: click to toggle

1. Highway Racing      2005SR06249
2. Tank         -   2006SR16416
3. Shudu         -        2005SR14521
4. Hitting Mice      -   2006SR16415
5. Lawn Purge      -   2005SR09636
6. Square (Tetris clone)  -   2005SR12370
7. Edacity Snakes       -       2005SR06209
8. Boxes World       -       2005SR06885
9. Overspeed Racing   -   2005SR11984
10. Diamond      -   2005SR05461
11. Archery         -        No Info
12. Bee Fighting      -        2006SR12600
13. Fish War      -   2006SR15629
14. Shooting Balloons   -   2005SR06208
15. MX Motor Storm   -   2005SR11984
16. Zuma         -        2007SR01498

If anyone wants more info, screenshots, music etc then I can get that.