copycat
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An 'Unpacking' clone topped the App Store charts before it was pulled
Indie developers have long struggled with copycat versions of their hit games.
Mobile-gaming titans keep ripping off indies
The word "casual" has long been flung out as an insult on video-game forums and social media. It's deployed to belittle the interests of people who enjoy more relaxing experiences than gritty shooters, strategy-rich online games or time-sucking RPGs. Unsurprisingly, it's most often hurled at anyone who says they like mobile games. For Voodoo, "casual" isn't an insult. It's a cash cow.
HTC exec defends One A9's design: Apple copies us
You don't need perfect vision to see that HTC's latest smartphone, the One A9, is nearly identical to Apple's iPhone 6 and 6s. But the Taiwan-based company swears Apple copied its design first, not the other way around, pointing to its One M7 and M8 flagships as proof -- both came out before the iPhone 6 series. According to Want ChinaTimes, during a recent press briefing in Taiwan, HTC's North Asia President Jack Tong responded to claims calling the A9 an iPhone clone. "We're not copying. We made a unibody metal-clad phone in 2013 [the year the M7 was released]," he said. "It's Apple that copies us in terms of the antenna design on the back."
RIFT concept art contest tainted by copycat design [Updated with Trion's investigation]
The winners of RIFT's Concept Weapons and Cloaks contest were announced this weekend with prizes going out to the best designs in the Swords, Staves, and Cloaks categories. But one particular sword entry (the second place winner) caught the keen eye of a few RIFT fans. As it turns out, the impressive golden sword that won second place is actually copied from Deviant Art user Wen-M, who uploaded the original version in 2004. "LOL, thanks," Wen-M said when a fan congratulated him on his entry. "Unfortunately I did not enter, someone lacking honesty used my work without permission. some friends informed me about it. XD ah...people." You can read more on the other contest entries on the official forum thread. [Thanks to all who sent this in!] Update: Trion has responded with an explanation of its investigation of the accusations. In an email to Massively, the studio wrote, "Thanks to our users we were able to verify that this image was indeed appropriated from another artist. We of course disqualified the entry, and did a more thorough search to make sure that no other entries were also inappropriately submitted. We've reached out to the artist (who does absolutely amazing work, and is definitely worth checking out) both publicly and privately apologizing for this use of his art. We've adjusted the list of winners (viewable here), and congratulate all of the incredibly talented folks who participated in this contest." Congratulations to all of the legitimate winners!
Samsung unveils plans for new campus shaped like a figure 8, insists it liked open interior gardens before Apple
Just days after Apple's plans for a massive new campus scored the approval of the Cupertino City Council, Samsung showed off its own design for a brand-new campus that will house its consumer electronics business. The design elements include curved corridors, glassy walls, large outdoor seating areas and the signature open garden in its interior. The structure has been named "Campus 8." In a press release, Samsung was quick to point out that it had plans for such a structure "for years," and the reveal "is in no way a response to any recent announcements made by any other high-profile tech company named after a fruit." According to a reliable source, Samsung is waiting to see what type of trees Apple plants in its garden before making an official flora announcement of its own. Psst... this is a joke, ok?
Randy Pitchford can't believe you haven't copied Borderlands yet, game industry
We can't tell if this is a sign of the times or an indicator of Randy Pitchford's own psyche as it enters the primary stages of acute paranoia. Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software, is surprised that Borderlands hasn't been cloned yet, even though "the formula's right there.""I'm actually astonished that we're about to launch a sequel and no one's stole it from us," Pitchford tells Gamasutra. "The formula's right there. No one's stolen it yet. That's weird. We're in an industry where people do nothing but steal from each other."The formula, for those who haven't picked it up yet, is [(first-person + shooter y) x (console) / (PC)], where y = a rotating variation of loot, guns and XP. Even though that super-secret formula is now public, Pitchford isn't inviting people to steal it from Gearbox."Not that I want anyone to steal it, or I'm challenging people to steal it," he says. "When talking about Borderlands 1, it was really confusing, because on one hand we gotta scream from the highest mountain to get attention because it's a new IP. On the other hand, it's like, 'Shit, we don't want to tell people our secret because then they're all gonna copy it because it's so good.'"Ah, we see the root of Pitchford's perspective now. If Gearbox worried people would copy Borderlands because "it's so good," and no one has copied it, Pitchford might take that as an insult. Don't worry, Gearbox – the right people know that Borderlands is a great game, and it's entirely possible that no one at Zynga has played it yet.
Apple removes dozens of clone games from App Store
Apple has removed 59 copycat games from its App Store, including Temple Run lookalike Temple Jump, Words with Friends contender Numbers with Friends, Angry Birds clones Tiny Birds and Angry Ninja Birds, and the self explanatory Plant vs. Zombie. All of the offending clones were developed by Anton Sinelnikov.Temple Jump, specifically, had achieved incredible success on the App Store, surpassing its source material to reach the number 1 spot on the paid Apps list. "This was really upsetting to us and damaging to our brand, because we work really hard to put out very high quality polished games and win the love of our fans," said Natalia Luckyanova, co-founder of Temple Run dev Imangi, during an interview with Gamasutra. "We don't want them to think that we would put out crap to steal a dollar from them."This App Store raid comes roughly one week after Triple Town developer Spry Fox sued 6Waves LOLAPPS over Yeti Town, another aggressively similar iOS title. We like to imagine Apple Store employees rappelling from the ceiling of a dank, filthy warehouse, shooting iPod Nanos out of high-powered slingshots with extreme prejudice.
Apple removes one iOS developer's copycat games
Image: Shutterstock A few days ago, I caught a tweet from Paul Haddad (of Tapbots), showing a screen full of obvious copycat apps from one developer. Of course, anyone who has spent appreciable time on the App Store knows there are plenty of copycats out there. Not all of them are small shops, either. But these copycat apps were truly astonishing in their brazen nature -- I mean, Plants v. Zombie? Temple Jump (instead of Temple Run)? Come on. Luckily Apple finally woke up and rooted out a number of these cloned games from this single offending developer. I'm sure others will pop up again, but hopefully Apple will be more on top of things in the future. In the meanwhile, let us know if you see a copycat app. You can give us a shout either in the comments or using the "Tip Us" button at the top of our website. [via The Loop]
Another indie dev points to Zynga similarity with cheeky chart
It seems nonsensical to propose that a bingo-based game could be copied, but in the case of Buffalo Studios' Bingo Blitz and Zynga's Zynga Bingo, the evidence is rather clear. "We wanted to alert you to the striking similarities between Zynga's recently announced game, to our game Bingo Blitz," Buffalo Studios VP of product marketing and operations Salim Mith told Venture Beat. Mith also offered a cheeky visual letter addressed to the Facebook game publishing giant, comparing images of Bingo Blitz to those of Zynga Bingo to highlight the similarities (seen in full after the break).The letter comes just five days after Tiny Tower dev NimbleBit created a similar visualization to address what it perceived as a copy of its building management sim in Zynga's Dream Heights. Zynga has yet to respond to copycat allegations from either NimbleBit or Buffalo Studios, but it's also possible that the publisher simply can't hear the complaints over the din of its coffers being filled.
One out of every five cellphones sold is a KIRF, says Nokia
When your core business is as wrapped up in emerging markets as Nokia's is, then you'd better know a little something about KIRFs -- those cheap handset clones that our Chinese friends can often stamp out faster than the time it takes for Nokia to ship a handset after its announcement. Nokia executive board member, Esko Aho, says that one out of every five cellphones now sold around the world (primarily in Asia, Latin America, and some parts of Europe) is an illegal or unlicensed clone. We've certainly seen more than our share when browsing the Shenzhen markets of China. Gartner claims the number to be even higher than 20 percent. While we poke fun at KIRFs around here for their shoddy software, comically similar branding (Nokla!), and cheapo materials, they've clearly become a very serious issue for top-tier cellphone manufacturers. How serious we'll see on January 27th when Nokia announces its fourth quarter results.
Microsoft takes a note from Palm in new Windows Phone 7 Series ad
We've held no punches in sharing our thoughts on Palm's recent ad campaigns, but the one spot that was actually not heinous has seemingly served as the basis for one of Microsoft's first-ever WP7S commercials. Debuting here at the tail-end of MIX, the ad spotlights Anna -- a fictitious gal we've certainly heard of before -- using her new smartphone to share photos with her dear lover Miles. It also features Luca, a kid with an undying love for playing Xbox LIVE titles, who seems to be caught somewhere in between the world of nature and nurture. At any rate, it's worth your while to give the new Microsoft commercial and the Palm ad which it has oh-so-much in common with right after the break. Oh, and Palm -- we guess "Windows Phone 7 Series was your idea," right? Update: Yes, that definitely looks like an HTC HD2 at the 0:43 mark, but you can rest assured WP7S won't ever come to that gem in native fashion. [Thanks, Sean]
LGJ: 3D Dot Game Infringement
Each week Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games: If you're like me, then you've likely been following Joystiq's coverage of 3D Dot Game Heroes and thinking "I really, really hope this gets translated and released in the US." After all, if you're a gamer like me then you love the idea of a 3D homage to the 2D games you grew up with. Of course, it's less likely that you're a lawyer like me, and so it's also less likely that you read through the comments and had an immediate reaction to the countless cries of copyright infringement in the game. Those repetitive, vocal cries have brought me to this column, which aims to answer the big question: is 3D Dot Game Heroes copyright infringement? Let me start off by saying the analysis here is just my opinion, and a court could always find otherwise. Where this discussion really needs to start is what elements seem to be infringing. Now would be a good time to view the trailer or some screenshots, if you haven't yet. The main complaints I've heard, and can see from the trailer, are the environments (both overworld and dungeon) bear a striking resemblance to the Zelda universe (The Legend of Zelda and Link to the Past, specifically), while the hero characters bear a striking resemblance to those from the Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior past. Some of the monsters also bear quite a resemblance to Zelda baddies. And, of course, the music is certainly inspired by classic Zelda music. So, case closed, right? Well, no, that's not how copyright infringement works.
Keepin' it real fake, part CXXVI: Jointech's $99 JL7100 rips Eee PC in spectacular fashion
The Kira 100 was a decent Eee PC knockoff, but at just north of $475, there was literally no purpose in picking it over the genuine product. The Jointech JL7100, however, really makes ASUS' darling look mighty unnecessary. Okay, so maybe the fact that this thing relies on WinCE 5.0 rather than, you know, a bona fide laptop operating system is a bit disappointing, but there are sacrifices to be expected here. As for other specifications, you'll supposedly find a 7-inch 800 x 480 resolution display, Samsung chipset, 64MB (yes, megabytes) of internal storage, 64MB (yes, megabytes) of RAM, a VGA output and three USB ports. We can hear your stifled laughter from here, but your tune may change upon hearing the $99 (USD?) price tag. Told you so.[Thanks, Sean]
Keepin' it real fake, part CXXV: Touch Diamond gets aped sans luster
Not that we'd view the actual Touch Diamond as IF or anything, but the Diamond J6 is more along the lines of I3. In all seriousness, this thing isn't too far from being spot-on identical (maybe it's an HTC thing?), with a 2.8-inch display, built-in camera, multimedia player, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot. And for $160, we're almost inclined to fall in love here... almost.
Amex Digital gets a little too inspired with new portable Super Multi Drive
Okay, so we definitely appreciate a slim little external DVD burner that cooperates with more than one computer (natively), but no matter how hard we try to peer around the similarities, there's just no denying the likeness here. Amex Digital's Portable Super Multi Drive is, for all intents and purposes, a direct rip of Apple's MacBook Air SuperDrive. The unit gets all the power it needs from a spare USB port, arrives in black or white, burns dual-layer DVD media at 10x (single-layer at 20x) and sports a palatable $89 sticker. Can you imagine what this thing would cost with actual R&D overhead factored in?
Airis' Kira 740 Eee lookalike gets reviewed
French site MobileHub has gotten its hands on another Eee competitor rip-off -- the Airis' Kira 740 (aka, Kira 100) -- and has given it the rundown. The initial impressions are about what you'd expect, besides coming with XP onboard, having 1GB of memory, a VIA C7 1GHz CPU, and a traditional 40GB hard drive, the mini-laptop is almost identical to ASUS' entry. The screen resolution is the same 800 x 480, the keyboard is apparently a shot-for-shot remake, and it features familiar ethernet and WiFi networking options. You can see in the photo above that there are some minor physical differences, though in our opinion they've somehow managed to ugly it up + 30 percent. For €299 (or around $466) you can get yourself a Kira 740 sometime soon. Yay.[Via SlashGear]
Keepin' it real fake, part XCVIII: T-Mobile Shadow gets shadowed
Well, would you look at that. If not for the gaudy packaging, $69.99 price tag and blatant Oasis Media branding, we'd swear the Playr was a T-Mobile Shadow (or HTC's P3300, we guess). Yep, this knockoff does a fairly decent job of mirroring its inspirer, sports 2GB of storage and a miniSD expansion slot, comes with 35 free eMUSIC downloads and includes a built-in media player for good measure. Interestingly, we get the feeling that this thing won't actually send or receive calls, but if you're quick, no one will even notice.[Thanks, Rick]Update: Turns out this thing is actually the MachSpeed Oasis Video Player, and is readily available on Amazon (among other places). Still, it could stand some originality in the design department. [Thanks, Rob!]
Friendship Star knocks off iPod nano, then makes it ugly
For intents and purposes, we're thoroughly numb to iPod nano knockoffs at this point, but when some company goes beyond the call of duty to uglify its copycat attempt, we can't help give credit. Friendship Star International Limited, which earns major kudos on name alone, has created the nano-inspired FD-1888P for those adamantly against click wheels (and products of authenticity). The unit features a 1.8-inch color display, integrated speaker, FM tuner, rechargeable Li-ion, support for MP3, MP4, MTV and AMV file formats and a totally bodacious D-pad control scheme. Pricing information is reserved for those willing to buy hundreds at the time, so who knows how long that will remain a mystery.[Via PMPToday]
Golden Crystal's KI-T12 PMP apes Nokia's 7260
Golden Crystal Technology's KI-T12 didn't quite make the cut for the infamous keepin' it real fake list, but even though it's not a straight-up rip, there's no denying the similitude. Interestingly enough, this isn't even the first time we've seen a gizmo take a note from Nokia's 7260, but this particular copycat simply handles DMV, MP3, MPX and WMA formats, features a wee 1.5-inch color display and includes a built-in FM tuner to boot. Furthermore, you'll find six equalizer presets, your own electronic pet game (Tamagotchi, reincarnated!) and a text viewer. Per usual, you'll have to send in an inquiry to find out how much these things run, but honestly, why would you want to do that?[Via PMPToday]
Meizu's MiniOne M8 GUI showcased further, still devoid of originality
If you had even a sliver of faith left in Meizu that it would change its copycatting ways and turn its heart to creativity, you're probably feeling quite foolish right about now. In a recent posting made to showcase even more interface shots of the MiniOne M8, we got a glimpse at the not at all familiar music interface, more insight on the calling screens and a few more looks (shown after the jump) at how it'll handle messaging. Needless to say, we can just swear we've seen a similar GUI before, but apparently, playing the ignorance card makes it easier to swallow. Oh, and the actual phone now sports a "new edge" with a somewhat grayish motif -- enthralling, we know.
