AtariAge may have gotten cease & desist for Princess Rescue

[theloon]

AtariAge produced a wonderful SMB homage called Princess Rescue for the Atari 2600


It has been abruptly removed from their storefront and all official communication on the matter has stopped.
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/215885-atariage-summer-homebrew-releases/
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/212554-princess-rescue-now-available/page-29#entry2827513

Note that this was a play alike and did not mention Mario or rip sprites directly from the game it paid tribute to.

I think this is a pretty horrible move by the big N if they are guilty of not only threatening AtariAge but forcing them to cease all communication on the subject.

 

[Jamstruth]

They didn't rip sprites or anything but it's clearly copying the character designs. It's a dick move on Ninty's part really but it is obviously a ripoff.

 

[theloon]

A rip off doesn't make it wrong morally or legally. Similar gameplay cannot be protected.

 

[DinohScene]

Meh, look at Giana sisters.
Also a Mario clone (the best imho)

It's nice to see things still being released on a console nearly 40 years? old

 

[theloon]

Meh, look at Giana sisters.
Also a Mario clone (the best imho)

It's nice to see things still being released on a console nearly 40 years? old

They've got an in-progress tribute to Giana Sisters here:
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/201771-s3-the-sensational-santuci-sisters-wip/

Although if similar gameplay gets you threatened by lawyers that will cease to exist too. In this environment NO new games will come out for old systems.

 

[DinohScene]

They've got an in-progress tribute to Giana Sisters here:
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/201771-s3-the-sensational-santuci-sisters-wip/

Although if similar gameplay gets you threatened by lawyers that will cease to exist too. In this environment NO new games will come out for old systems.

Nah I was refering to Ninty being a twat to Atari age.
Giana sisters was a mario clone and afaik, they still produce them ;p

 

[Rydian]

Same gameplay is fine (insert mention of FPS games here).

Same character design is not.

 

[Foxi4]

A rip off doesn't make it wrong morally or legally. Similar gameplay cannot be protected.

It's not just "similar gameplay", the game literally contains characters copyrighted by Nintendo. They're the legal owners of the character design of Mario, Luigi and so on and said designs are protected by law.

You can't go on an make a video game with copyrighted, trademarked content, proceed to sell it and expect to not get in trouble - there would be nothing wrong with this were it a freely distributed homebrew falling under Fair Use principles or if all you had to pay was the cost of shipping and the storage medium - this is a commercial product intended to make profit.

It wasn't a "dick move" by Nintendo, by no means - they're protecting their content and are entitled to do so.

 

[theloon]

It's not just "similar gameplay", the game literally contains characters copyrighted by Nintendo. They're the legal owners of the character design of Mario, Luigi and so on and said designs are protected by law.

You can't go on an make a video game with copyrighted, trademarked content, proceed to sell it and expect to not get in trouble - there would be nothing wrong with this were it a freely distributed homebrew falling under Fair Use principles or if all you had to pay was the cost of shipping and the storage medium - this is a commercial product intended to make profit.

It wasn't a "dick move" by Nintendo, by no means - they're protecting their content and are entitled to do so.

That's your opinion. Nowhere on the packaging is any mention of any Nintendo character. The sprites were not ripped but almost coded in. The music was transcribed by ear and stuffed into DATA statements. There is no way you would confuse this with a branded Nintendo product. It's an original work paying tribute. With attitude like that they'll be far fewer going forward.

 

[Foxi4]

That's your opinion. Nowhere on the packaging is any mention of any Nintendo character. The sprites were not ripped but almost coded in. The music was transcribed by ear and stuffed into DATA statements. There is no way you would confuse this with a branded Nintendo product. It's an original work paying tribute. With attitude like that they'll be far fewer going forward.

...wait, you're serious...



Okay, I will try to explain this to you in a very simple way. A character design is what's called a "Work of Authorship" and is legally protected from being replicated in any way. If I will draw a character who's a pear, wears dark-tinted sunglasses and is green and then copyright it, this character will become protected as it's my intellectual property. From that point onwards, nobody can draw a pear wearing dark-tinted sunglasses and claim it as its own as it's my intellectual property, I came up with it.

It's not a matter of whether sprites are original or not, not a matter of whether the music was ripped or not - the design of "Mario" as well as other "Mushroom Kingdom" elements which belong to Nintendo have been used in a product which was commercially sold and as such, Nintendo took action because it's them who invented the character and the mythos and those elements belong to them and them only - only they can produce and distribute products with said characters legally.

We're not talking about the use of ripped data, be it code, graphics or music - we're talking about unauthorized use of intellectual property for commercial purposes. It's not a matter of whether or not the customer would confuse this with a Nintendo product or not, it's a matter of Nintendo not making money on the product when they are the rightful owners of the character designs, the world design etc.

 

[VampireLordAlucard]

That's your opinion. Nowhere on the packaging is any mention of any Nintendo character. The sprites were not ripped but almost coded in. The music was transcribed by ear and stuffed into DATA statements. There is no way you would confuse this with a branded Nintendo product. It's an original work paying tribute. With attitude like that they'll be far fewer going forward.

It doesn't matter if he used specific names, or if he copied the music by ear or sheet music.

Not a single element of the game is original. All of the characters, levels, and music resemble Super Mario Bros. It's one thing if this was free, but Nintendo has every right to stop the sale of this.

 

[59672]

They're the legal owners of the character design of Mario, Luigi and so on and said designs are protected by law.

this
giving them a different name doesn't make them a different or original character.

Perhaps it was since they were selling the homebrew on a cartridge (I assume it was freely released too, no?)

 

[Foxi4]

this
giving them a different name doesn't make them a different or original character.

Perhaps it was since they were selling the homebrew on a cartridge (I assume it was freely released too, no?)

A free version has been released and continues to be available, you can put it on 2600-compatible flashcarts if you own one or on emulators. The problem was that the cartridge version was sold and sales entail profit.

 

[theloon]

That's very interesting. You'd think the big N would kill any form of release like what happened to Crimson Echoes.