Capcom Denies Stealing Twisted Pixel's 'Splosion Man Concept

[Tom Goldman]

Capcom Denies Stealing Twisted Pixel's 'Splosion Man Concept

Capcom Mobile is frowning over the controversy surrounding MaXplosion's similarity to Twisted Pixel's 'Splosion Man, but doesn't admit to theft.

Capcom Mobile released a smartphone title called MaXplosion in early January, which to Twisted Pixel looked like a blatant ripoff [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/106875-Capcom-Accused-of-Exploding-Platformer-Plagiarism] of its Xbox Live Arcade title 'Splosion Man. Capcom Mobile issued a statement in response, saying it was "saddened" by the situation.

The nail in the coffin appeared to be the reveal that Twisted Pixel previously pitched 'Splosion Man to Capcom, which rejected the game. According to Capcom Mobile, it had no knowledge of that pitch, as its offices are totally separate.

Capcom Mobile's statement reads: "While Twisted Pixel did have discussions with our console game team about publishing 'Splosion Man on game consoles, Capcom Mobile is a different division of Capcom with separate offices and as such, had no prior knowledge of any meetings between the console game team and Twisted Pixel." It goes on to say that MaXplosion was developed "independently" by the offices of Capcom Mobile.

The statement doesn't offer any kind of explanation for the similarity between MaXplosion and 'Splosion Man, but I have a feeling the lead designer probably got a stern interrogation about his/her inspiration. Capcom Mobile only said it's "saddened by this situation," and hopes to rebuild the trust of the gaming community somehow.

MaXplosion is still available for purchase, with no indication that Capcom Mobile plans to halt sales. The truth behind the design of MaXplosion, and whether it truly was "complete theft" as Twisted Pixel says, will likely never be known.

Source: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6286320.html]


Permalink

 

[WilliamRLBaker]

Wow...just watched the comparison video...they did they totally completely did rip the idea off.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Where as CAPCOM would come out and say they DID steal the idea <.<

Of course they would deny it. its asinine to assume otherwise.

 

[Tim Latshaw]

So it wasn't a corporatewide ripoff, but a ripoff contained to only one section of the corporation? The buck has to stop somewhere.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Yeah, Farmville was basically an exercise in cynical plagiarism but Zynga still managed to be voted best developer on the escapist. This sort of thing is pretty common.

 

[Senaro]

The fortunate thing is that Capcom's version of the game is vomit-inducingly ugly and looks like it was designed by a high schooler for Newgrounds. We all know which one is the real game.

 

[Danpascooch]

They know they fucked up.

What's worse, the game looks like shit.

I hope their asses get sued, what that quote basically said to me was:

Yeah we totally stole the game, but we didn't know he pitched it to us originally, shit, that makes us look bad........crap

 

[Danpascooch]

Yeah, Farmville was basically an exercise in cynical plagiarism but Zynga still managed to be voted best developer on the escapist. This sort of thing is pretty common.

No they didn't, they lost.

That March Madness was my Vietnam, we held the line.

 

[teh_Canape]

you know

I think that Capcom is just pulling out a lil' trolling here along with Twisted Pixel, I really do

or maybe it's a Capcom-made expansion pack for 'Splosion Man

 

[ShadowsofHope]

..Yeah, Capcom. Not buying for it for a fucking second.

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

I have to say that I'm on Twisted Pixels side here. It's a blatant ripoff and I bet the guy behind it was at the console offices during the pitch before working at the mobile offices and hoped no one would notice the similarity.

 

[WingedFortress]

Eh...I'm pretty torn here. On one hand, yeah, it's an obvious rip off. Seems pretty clear. But on the other, well, this kind of thing has sort of been going on forever. All my early days as a gamer was weeding through the crap in order to find those few good titles. Why should it be any different today?

So, I'm not saying it was a good idea for Capcom Mobile to rip off 'Splosion Man. They probably shouldnt do anything like that again. But do they have to take it down? No way. And should we expect them to say anything beyond what they already have? Again, no. It's embarrassing enough that they were caught. And like I said before, rip off artists will always be a part of the videogame industry.

On a side note - kind of says something about your concept! Like, remember when everyone called other FPS games DOOM clones? That was true until the bar was raised for the genre as a whole. Then it was Quake Clones. I'm not saying that side scrolling exploding action games will become a genre, just that its pretty damn complimentary to have your concept played through again like that.

 

[DaxStrife]

Capcom Mobile's statement reads: "While Twisted Pixel did have discussions with our console game team about publishing 'Splosion Man on game consoles, Capcom Mobile is a different division of Capcom with separate offices and as such, had no prior knowledge of any meetings between the console game team and Twisted Pixel." It goes on to say that MaXplosion was developed "independently" by the offices of Capcom Mobile.

Translation: "It wasn't me! It was my brother, who is totally not me wearing a fake mustache!"

 

[McNinja]

'Splosion man is a much better product that maXplosion. Maybe it's the mobile device, but 'Splosion man seems to be of a much higher quality.

 

[chaos order]

Capcom Mobile's statement reads: "While Twisted Pixel did have discussions with our console game team about publishing 'Splosion Man on game consoles, Capcom Mobile is a different division of Capcom with separate offices and as such, had no prior knowledge of any meetings between the console game team and Twisted Pixel." It goes on to say that MaXplosion was developed "independently" by the offices of Capcom Mobile.

Translation: "It wasn't me! It was my brother, who is totally not me wearing a fake mustache!"

just like how doctor Ned is totally not doctor Zed

 

[C95J]

Why would they even think about designing a game like this! It is obvious that it is a rip off, they might as well be truthful whilst they are ahead.

 

[archvile93]

Capcom Mobile's statement reads: "While Twisted Pixel did have discussions with our console game team about publishing 'Splosion Man on game consoles, Capcom Mobile is a different division of Capcom with separate offices and as such, had no prior knowledge of any meetings between the console game team and Twisted Pixel." It goes on to say that MaXplosion was developed "independently" by the offices of Capcom Mobile.

Translation: "It wasn't me! It was my brother, who is totally not me wearing a fake mustache!"

Heheh, that made me think of Borderlands.

OT: I find it hard to believe they didn't know this game existed when it's so similar, even the art style and level design seems similar.

 

[Dexiro]

What matters is which is better :3

 

[Jaebird]

That is a poor excuse, considering that 'Splosion Man had good word-of-mouth going for it, at the very least.