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[Zaratustra]

The creators of indie game 'Splosion Man tried selling it to Capcom first.

Capcom says no.

Six months later Capcom produces an iPhone game "based on" Splosion Man in the same way Giana Sisters is "based on" Mario Brothers:

http://wireless.ign.com/articles/114/1143638p1.html

Twisted Pixel won't sue because they don't have the money for it:

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/12/twisted-pixel-ceo-we-wont-pursue-legal-action-over-maxplosion/

Movies from both games:

[Chris Z]

Completely blatant, at least change the lab setting and scientist enemies.  Expected this from the usual cloner studios but not Capcom.

[Hangedman]

I can't wait to see what Capcom's statement is.

Nevertheless, the groundswell of support for the 'Splosion Man devs is excellent to see.

[Mitiz]

"Indies cant fight back", I really hope capcom weren't thinking that, but I gather they probably were.

[OneMoreGo]

Umm, if the copy is an iOS game surely a complaint to Apple is enough, they don't need to go to court?

Sadly I suspect that while they will pull apps at a whim, they will not give a toss in this situation.

[moi]

Wow they even named it "Maxplosion", its retarded.

Anyway the saddest thing is how Capcom was synonymous for excellence in arcades in the 90s, and nowadays they're just licensing crap flash-quality shovelware from european studios to sell on Iphone.

[LemonScented]

I guess there's nothing in there that actually breaches copyright, but then I also guess that something doesn't have to breach copyright for Apple to pull it if there's a complaint. If they hadn't pitched it to Capcom (or if Capcom had said at the time that they couldn't publish 'Splosion Man because they were already working on something similar) then that could have been just an unfortunate coincidence, but as it stands it looks like outright plagiarism. And poorly-done plagiarism at that. Bad Capcom! No biscuit!

On the plus side, the press it's generating (as well as how horrible the game looks) should probably bury this game pretty quickly, and might even generate a few more sales for 'Splosion Man.

[OneMoreGo]

I guess so, it comes back to the old "inspired by" vs "ripoff" unless you have the Edge over the other party due to a trademark.

I'm glad I bought splosion man now when it came out on the 360, played the demo and it hooked me. This clone is definately sub par by the looks of it.

[bateleur]

it comes back to the old "inspired by" vs "ripoff"

I dunno, I think this is pretty clearly a ripoff, it's just that it might be a completely legal ripoff.

[Alistair Aitcheson]

I dunno, I think this is pretty clearly a ripoff, it's just that it might be a completely legal ripoff.

Agreed. As the old saying goes, "you can't copyright an idea" - so I wonder what law Twisted Pixel could claim Capcom have broken. Is the design of the game, or the mechanics of gameplay, protected by copyright? I don't think it is, at least in the US: US copyright office advice regarding games

I'm not defending Capcom by any means - personally, I think it's pretty terrible of them - but I'm just wondering how copyright law regards these kinds of issues. If Maxplosion is perfectly legal, why wasn't Great Giana Sisters? These are pretty big issues for developers.

On the other hand, there is an argument that says excessive copyright can be damaging for innovation. Maybe we can't have it both ways. An interesting video on this subject

I guess Twisted Pixel have probably made the right decision to move on and continue growing their game development business with new games, rather than wasting time on an expensive and stressful lawsuit. 'Splosion Man is not the only game they'll ever make, nor should they expect it to be the best, or the best-selling.

[Falmil]

I had no idea that 'Splosion Man was initially pitched to Capcom before this, which makes it so much worse. I can't imagine why or how Capcom could do this, unless it was somehow impossibly one rogue lazy developer's project which was equally impossibly sneaked by clueless managers and executives. I just can't imagine a scenario in which anyone would think its ok to make such a blatant ripoff of a relatively new game.

[namre]

Agreed. As the old saying goes, "you can't copyright an idea" - so I wonder what law Twisted Pixel could claim Capcom have broken. Is the design of the game, or the mechanics of gameplay, protected by copyright? I don't think it is, at least in the US: US copyright office advice regarding games

No. Unfortunately doesn't have any claim at all. I agree, it is a sly and evil tactic but they're not breaking any laws as far as I know.

This news has now earned the right to be in the "things that suck" thread.

[Melly]

I guess one way to at least give Capcom a hard time over this is to overexpose it on the news. Send this to all game-related websites that can post about it. No company is a big fan of a damaged image.

Though does anyone actually know the details? The games look crazy similar, but was it really more than coincidence? Didn't Capcom turn down Splosion Man because they ALREADY had a very similar game on the works? What's the times in which both games started development?

I have little trust for big publishers, but knowing all the details should be important.

[Falmil]

I haven't seen any videos and don't know how long the game is, but from the screen shots I've seen, I can't imagine them making THAT game before 'Splosion Man came along, and only now releasing it.

[OneMoreGo]

"Capcom 'saddened' by MaXplosion situation"
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/13/capcom-saddened-by-maxplosion-situation/

[hyperduck]

Oh they're sad, oh well that's ok then, phew. Was worried they'd feel indifferent about the situation D:!!

[speeder]

They are sad, but not sorry...

Probably they are sad because people are mad at them, not becauase they did shit.

[ink.inc]

"Capcom 'saddened' by MaXplosion situation"
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/13/capcom-saddened-by-maxplosion-situation/

What a crock of shit.

[LemonScented]

Didn't Capcom turn down Splosion Man because they ALREADY had a very similar game on the works? What's the times in which both games started development?

The OP says that Twisted Pixel met with Capcom 6 months ago (I don't know if that's true, just going by what I've read). If a team took more than 6 months to make that horrible-looking piece of ass for the iPhone, they were doing something seriously wrong. The trick with iPhone games seems to be to keep the teams small and the development times short to keep the production costs down, because iPhone games sell for peanuts.

In other words, if the 6 months figure is active, production on MaXplosion started after the Twisted Pixel meeting.

I think the people I most feel sorry for (or at least identify with) are the guys behind Explodemon, who started production on their game before 'Splosion Man began. That one just seems to be a case of them being haunted by the zeitgesit rather than actual plagiarism, but 'Splosion Man's existence seems to have brought them all kinds of troubles when talking to publishers. http://www.onebitbeyond.com/?p=229

[BlueSweatshirt]

So what if the guys are from two different teams? Is Capcom really trying to sell us that there's no possibility that the guys from these two teams could have talked?

Console Team Guy meets with iPhone Team Guy at a Starbucks:
Hey dude, we got shown this really cool console game today, <insert game details>, I think it'd be so awesome on an iPhone. You guys wanna give a crack at it?




Derp.