Chinese Firm Which Ripped Off The NES With Jackie Chan's Help Has Filed For Bankruptcy

Jackie Chankrupt

As punishment, Subor executives will be forced to perform that Jackie Chan handstand walk down the stairs at Tianmen Mountain (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tianmen-shan). All of them.

My Famiclone was a Subor, so I can't help feeling kinda sad for them either. That machine cemented me as a gamer AND motivated me to learn English (I mean, not ALL the bootleg cartridges were in Japanese😅). Gotta admit, I literally wouldn't be here without them.

Well, that's unexpected. I always thought they were doing fine with their pirate consoles.

Good riddance. The lack of concern for patent and copyright in China is absurd.

Headline suggests Jackie was behind them ripping of the hardware. Jackie did a advert for a company in China to appeal to Chinese buyers , that's it. With so many clones in the region i doubt there be missed , other then for nostalgia purposes as it's not as if they actually created a platform . Maybe you should change that headline as it paints Jackie in a bad light. I have met the man and know many who know him very well. Not a good headline i must say. Jackie might pop round if your not careful.

Reminds me, must watch Drunken Master again.

Were the NES and SNES released on China? If not, I don't see a problem with clones.

It's a little sad as I always liked their consoles. Have a famiclone myself which I bought 4 years ago in China. It was a very cheap way to enjoy the old systems again without paying absurd high prices for an original system (which Nintendo will also see no Penny of, because they are used). So yeah, it's the same discussion like emulation. My standpoint is: if the original producer/ company doesn't offer an official way to play the games, it's fine because the original company is not making a single penny with used systems/games and therefore also don't loose a single penny of rip offs are sold. This said, this only goes for systems and games not sold and produced anymore!

That title sounds like a 30 year old grudge. At least Jackie Chan isn't bankrupt (at least I hope he's not)

The Spectrum and Amstrad's keyboards weren't just for show. Both machines had a pretty good programming language (Basic - the Amstrad's was a bit better I think).
The Commodore 64's Basic was a bit barebones though, but I don't think you can really compare either of them to a chinese NES clone.
There were a bit more thought put into them IMO.

@Crono1973 Game consoles weren't banned until 2000. They were available in limited supply and at an expense a lot of Chinese couldn't afford. The tariffs put on them from being imported caused most of the games and consoles to be replicated and bootlegged. Though I think the Chinese governments lack of enforcement is the most to blame.

@KITG_GROUP agreed. The headline sounds like Jackie Chan actively sought out the company to help them pirate the console, where the reality is more likely that his agency was approached regarding a deal and was accepted and he was given the gig with little knowledge of the console’s piracy status. Jackie was a big star in China (probably still is now) so his name was on a lot of stuff.

Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan, Jackie-Jackie Chan-Chan

I wouldn’t be a web developer today if my parents hadn’t bought me a Commodore 64 in the early 80’s. The keyboard was definitely not just for show.

Back then you couldn't even smash a PS4 in protest. Instead you had to wait 30 years for schadenfreude.

@nhSnork that is so cool to read! Seriously. ❤️

@NinChocolate
"Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan, Jackie-Jackie Chan-Chan"

Is it the song ?

@KITG_GROUP
The headline seems correct. He acted in commercials, was paid and his celebrity was used to promote a pirated design. He had to be aware of ramifications and while I love Jackie Chan movies this is not the only shaky business dealings he had. He was involved in a real estate deal that went belly up and people lost big money including Jackie. Maybe he just has poor judgement.

@thiswaynow
I also disagree with the characterizations of the keyboard as a tool that is non productive. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of programmers who started with these systems.

I seem to recall he also appeared in a bootleg Street Fighter movie (as Chun-Li?), and there was a scene where they fought by chucking bootleg Street Fighter II arcade machines at each other.
I could swear I saw a youtube clip of that at some point and I didn't just make up something that awesomely terrible.

Good riddance.
I also had one of those clones, only reason I even remember it was because of the keyboard.

@KingMike That’s a real thing, you’re not delusional. It’s a 1993 film called “City Hunter”.

that title was a lot to take in

@Zidentia I don't know , the real estate deal thing was surrounding his own home. ,it was more to do with doing a favour with the Seller where Jackie got a reduced rate for his property ,but did not have his name attached to it ,because the seller did not want to upset other purchasers. From what i understand Chinese government seized the building and JACKIE is currently having to prove his home is actually his, even though he has lived there for years .
Many Celebrities do adverts for various companies , it's a good way to promote. But that still does not mean Jackie was directly involved in any reverse engineering or piracy of Nintendo systems. The title should read that Jackie Chan had done a commercial for the system .

If these products were/are illegal then you can talk about them and the people that made them with a negative and judgmental tone. But if these products were/are legal, like most clones are today for example, then get off your patronizing high horse. The law exists for this for this reason, to project people and companies from abuse, but also to allow for perfectly legal and legitimate/fair competition too, which, at least today for sure, includes many perfectly legal "clone" systems. Unlicensed does not automatically equal illegal, and in this case I don't have enough information to determine what exactly what the case either way. But Nintendo doesn't own the be-all and end-all rights to make games and consoles you know, even as much as you love it, so stand up for Nintendo when it's rights have been abused, but don't knock some other company if it too is also working entirely within the law, even if that involves cloning your beloved Nintendo consoles. You are not Nintendo's blinkered patsy, here to defend its right to accrue more and more money and condemn any potential competition no matter what the situation--and that goes for both the journalists and readers in here.

Jackie Chan, the action star that said the Chinese people are too dumb for democracy.

Yo, where Jackie Chan at right now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gHjmy95uNw&list=PLjTOjM7MfSiQtIE3eJtILeAgEYYkoE2pp&index=639

@KITG_GROUP Fair enough. I agree that that headline would work also. Perhaps he is just so busy he does not see the details on these things. I do like like him so this is no disparagement on his part.

Things like these always make me feel so conflicted. On one hand, you shouldn't knock off or steal someone's property, yet for many it's the only way they CAN get it.

I read an article a while ago (I want to say it was written by a man who grew up in a poorer family in Russia but I'm not sure) where someone talked about how growing up, hacking, emulating, bootlegs, etc were their only way to enjoy and learn of the existence of Nintendo properties.

@Gwynbleidd Famicom + Clone, yes. Because they are machines that can play Famicom cartridges (and with a pin converter can play MOST NES games, just a few like Castlevania III that usually don't work with converters.), and because when the term was first spread around such consoles were technically illegal. That was long before 2005, when some patents expired which made such clone consoles legal to manufacture (as long as they don't contain copyright-infringing built-in games, which most no-name clones continued to do).