maxplosion
Latest
Ms. 'Splosion Man contains a hidden dig at Capcom
You might remember the drama surrounding a Capcom mobile title that sprung up earlier this year. In January, the publisher released MaXplosion, a title that bore more than a passing resemblance to the Twisted Pixel game, 'Splosion Man. Twisted Pixel's own Mike Henry stated at the time that the rip-off made him "sad." Capcom, which had previously passed on the opportunity to publish 'Splosion Man, stated that it was "saddened" by the situation. Furthermore, the publisher distanced itself from the title, noting that it was created by Capcom Mobile, "a different division of Capcom with separate offices and as such." Twisted Pixel obviously hasn't forgotten, hiding a playful Capcom burn in the 'Splosion Man sequel, Ms. 'Splosion Man, which releases later this week. The dig is hidden in a secret area of the game, which is itself an homage to another title we won't spoil here. See it for yourself in the video above.
Capcom 'saddened' by MaXplosion situation
Just a couple of days after the company started catching heat for ripping off Twisted Pixel's Splosion Man with iPhone clone MaXplosion, Capcom (which previously passed on the opportunity to publish TP's original) has released an official statement to Joystiq about the situation. Capcom admits that its console team met with Twisted Pixel, but says that Capcom Mobile (the group behind MaXplosion) had no knowledge of those meetings. "Nonetheless," the statement read, "we are saddened by this situation and hope to rebuild the trust of our fans and friends in the gaming community." We asked for some clarification -- specifically about whether Capcom was "saddened" enough to pull the game from the App Store -- but were shot down. Check out Capcom's full statement to us after the break. [Image credit: Instructables]
Twisted Pixel chooses not to sue Capcom over iOS ripoff
Capcom Mobile recently released a new game for the iOS App Store called MaXplosion, and soon after, a few fans noticed the game bears a striking similarity to a game by Twisted Pixel for Xbox Live Arcade called 'Splosion Man. Aside from the names themselves, MaXplosion also allows the player to jump three times by exploding each time, has a similar-looking character also running around a lab space, and it even has a similar soundtrack. We've noted before that intellectual property theft has run rampant on the App Store, and Gameloft has even earned a reputation for "borrowing" game styles from bigger console games. But this one's pretty flagrant -- not only is the ripoff pretty clear, but it's from Capcom's European development unit, a traditional gaming company that should know better. There's one more wrinkle: Twisted Pixel says it even pitched the game to Capcom's US offices before releasing it themselves on Xbox Live. Despite the problem, Twisted Pixel has responded by saying it won't sue. Not only is the battle probably not worth it for the relatively small developer, but as CEO Mike Wilford says wittily, "we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we'll let them slide." He promises Twisted Pixel will put the extra time saved into a quality mobile game of its own. Fair enough.
Twisted Pixel CEO: We won't pursue legal action over Capcom's MaXplosion
Twisted Pixel CEO Michael Wilford says his comparatively tiny team won't be suing mega-publisher Capcom for its blatant attempt to rip off the studio's Splosion Man with iOS clone MaXplosion (pictured). "We're definitely not going to pursue legal action," Wilford told Joystiq. "While I think the similarities are pretty nauseating, we're too small to take on a company like Capcom. That, and we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we'll let them slide." "We just need to keep our heads down making the next thing so that Capcom has something to steal next year," he chided, while adding that he hopes Capcom is "not counting on the fact that indies can't fight back." "We'll just have to make our own mobile game," he challenged. "We'll let you know when we have something on the mobile front to talk about, but now we have added incentive!" Wilford also tweeted that the "best part" is that Twisted Pixel had originally pitched Splosion Man to Capcom, but the publisher passed on it. Speaking of Twitter, he said "the amount of support we've seen in the last 12 hours on Twitter and over email has been awesome, and I think that's better than [winning] a stupid lawsuit or anything like that." A Capcom Mobile representative told us that a statement from the company on the matter would hopefully be released later today. Wildford's full response is posted after the break.
Capcom Mobile rips off 'Splosion Man for MaXplosion
"Holy crap, 'Splosion Man got released for iPhone? How did I miss that?" We can forgive your confusion as you check out the above screen and the video below the jump, but no, it's not 'Splosion Man, no matter how much every single one of your senses may attest to that fact. No, this is MaXplosion, an iPhone game dumped on iTunes late last week. Ready for the craziest bit? This isn't some fly-by-night Korean developer operating out of some dude's basement as you might have assumed. No, this is all Capcom Mobile, which is ... disappointing, to say the least. Speaking on his personal Twitter account, Twisted Pixel programmer Mike Henry said "MaXplosion gameplay video makes me sad. If you're going to outright steal a game, you should at least understand what makes it fun." Listen Capcom, we know copycatting is rampant on the App Store, but ... you're Capcom for crying out loud! Shouldn't you be better than that?
