Capcom Accused of Exploding Platformer Plagiarism

[Bakuryukun]

I doubt that they will take Capcom to court over this. Capcom is a titan of the industry, I doubt Twisted Pixel could even afford to take them to court.

Probably this game isn't going to sell to well now though. Since everyone knows it's a terrible rip-off. That will probably send the message to Capcom to not do that again.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Er sorry you can not patent gameplay design themes.... you can just make a good first impact and dwindle in qauilty over the years like everyone else...

 

[Gigaguy64]

Yeaaaa i really noticed that when i first heard about Capcom's version.

I wonder how far this will go.
Then again......SNK's King of Fighters series is still going...

G.T.F.O, first of all, If there was any controversy on SNK ripping off S.F, was with Art of Fighting, not KOF, and please, get your facts right, SNK created super special moves, MAX super special moves, taunts, dodges, dash, running, cancels, hyper cancels, body toss/grab escape, hit counts, tag team, strikers, character intros, SPECIAL characters intros, etc, etc, etc. Don´t get me wrong, capcom fighters are great, but SNK have been ALWAYS ahead

Someone cant take a joke.

Seriously, i know SNK was a major point in many of the Fighting Mechanics still used today.
I was more or less referring to the Characters themselves, and even then just Ryu and a couple of others.
Chillax man.

And i actually think Capcom is a bit better in terms of accessibility and fun.
Most SNK fighters are too slow paced and technical to get into easily.
Hell, there is even SNK Boss syndrome, named specifically for the BS that SNK allowed some of its Fighters to get away with.
But that's just my opinion.

 

[Kruxxor]

Erm. I watched both of the youtube links.

Both games seem completely different to me.

Maxplosion is Sonic The Hedgehog if he could jump 3 times. The character even curls into a ball like Sonic, has to collect things in the level and has a similar layout to Sonics' platforming.

 

[Fleaman]

STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM

 

[TheDarkestDerp]

Yep. Saw a promo for it in an issue of IGN and I was pretty much appalled. A friend said they were upset because it(the titular character) looked like Mega Man, but eerily didn't notice the similarity to 'Splosion man. Perplexing...

 

[buddycat]

Piracy occurs when you steal a product, which is not the same as copyright infringement or plagiarism. Capcom isn't stealing 'Splosion Man to play it for free. They're stealing the concept it to make money off of it. You can be anti-copyright infringement and be pro-piracy.

 

[M0PHEAD]

I doubt that they will take Capcom to court over this. Capcom is a titan of the industry, I doubt Twisted Pixel could even afford to take them to court.

It really would sadden me if nothing came of this- Capcom should have the book shoved right up their tight shitty arse, then detonated in a series of amusing explosions through two and a half dimensions.

Like you said though, it's unlikely...

 

[RatRace123]

Oh my god this is great! It's like we're back in the 90s and every company had to have an animal mascot with attitude.
This is a return of the good ol' fashion character rip-offs the likes of which hasn't been seen since my childhood.

Unless you count the billions of grizzled, short haired space marines, but that's just kind of accepted as being an art style choice at this point

God, even the music and the character's mentally deranged laugh is the same. This is, this is just so blatant of a rip-off. You'd expect that from an unknown app developer, but frickin' Capcom?

 

[Dastardly]

snip

=Cries and burns his design document for Super Jumpio Bros.=

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Even the gag with the vending machines, Capcom? Terrible. I'm with you, Twisted Pixel. Inspiration and theft are two totally different ideas. Even without much cause, a three-explosion jump through a scientific facility destroying vending machines and collecting points along the way is a pretty unique game. Sorry, guys.

 

[HentMas]

same color scheme, same lvl layout, same basic enemy elements, hell, even the music sounds the same but slower

this looks bad for capcom.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Road Brawler!
Inhabitant Malevolence!
Falcon Lefft: Master Legal Counsel!

Auriole
Sprockets of Conflict
Unmapped
Crimson Alloy
Radioactive Debris: Nevada Oasis

Wow, the opportunities are indeed endless.

-- Steve

 

[Mamzelle_Kat]

No words can express my level of disappointment in Capcom.

First, they shut down Clover studio, then comply in ever-worsening instalments of their franchises, and now they just rip off the concept of a project they turned down.

 

[XT inc]

anyone who is pro piracy should be 100% pro capcom on this, cause all copyright laws are evil. or so they say

me personally, this is low for capcom

Isn't that pushing it a tad far, piracy is so different from this for the most part, there is a mountainous difference between taking something for free, for personal use and taking something to repackage it, sell it and then claim it as your own. I don't think any pirates out there are going around saying they made a video game, the copied.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

Fun fact: you can't copyright ideas. "A game where you move around by creating localized explosions from your avatar's body" is free game to anyone who wants to make a game from that concept. It is not, however, "a complete theft."

From watching the two videos, the only thing that seems pilfered here was the idea of exploding to jump, and yet there are differences between the two mechanics, so it's not a clear case of copypasta. Everything else (I can't say anything on music, since I'm currently in my school's library) actually doesn't point at all to plagiarism, since the art styles, assets, and the code (based off the gameplay posted above) are all different. If Capcom had actually stolen these assets from Twisted Pixel and tried to sell them off as their own, then yes, it would be plagiarism.

As it stands, though, it just seems like turning a molehill into a mountain.

 

[rabidmidget]

The eeriest similarity is the music, if I suddenly heard the music from maxplosion, I would instantly think of Splosion Man.

 

[Slycne]

Hadn't everyone called bullshit on this game when we first heard about it? Why has it taken so long for the Splosion man people to figure it out?

I'm guessing the delay isn't in Twisted Pixels, but in the Escapist

The first mention of it on his Twitter, where all the quotes are coming from, is yesterday. The press release for MaXplosion only came out on the 6th, with trailers following afterwards. Mobile games don't usually get much press before their release, so I don't see how anyone would have heard of it before now.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Hadn't everyone called bullshit on this game when we first heard about it? Why has it taken so long for the Splosion man people to figure it out?

I'm guessing the delay isn't in Twisted Pixels, but in the Escapist

The first mention of it on his Twitter, where all the quotes are coming from, is yesterday. The press release for MaXplosion only came out on the 6th, with trailers following afterwards. Mobile games don't usually get much press before their release, so I don't see how anyone would have heard of it before now.

If you want to blame someone for the "delay", I'd likely pin it on Twisted Pixels' lawyers researching the issue to see if they actually have a case.

Myself, well, a week to react isn't exactly blistering but I wouldn't call it slow either, at least in the realm of corporate copyright litigation.

-- Steve

 

[Wicky_42]

anyone who is pro piracy should be 100% pro capcom on this, cause all copyright laws are evil. or so they say

me personally, this is low for capcom

Not quite the parallel you'd like it to be, what with this being a corporation stealing from the little guy (rather than the other way around) and selling the stolen idea (rather than distributing a copy of a product for free).

So no, I don't think anyone who's pro-piracy is going to side with a thieving major corporation. Kinda goes against the whole vibe of the thing, one would think. Y' know, sticking it to the man? Doesn't work the other way, ie. the man sticking it back... huh, there's some horrible mental image in there that I'm not going to get into...