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Sega Goes Crazy, Sues Fox, EA Over Taxi
Thanks to Reuters for the news that Sega has sued Fox, EA, and developers Radical Entertainment over the similarity between EA's The Simpsons Road Rage and Sega's own Crazy Taxi. The story reveals: "Sega holds a U.S. patent, known as the '138 patent, on 'Crazy Taxi,' in which players take the role of a taxi driver who has to accomplish outrageous driving stunts to pick up passengers and quickly deliver them to their destinations." The patent infringement suit, which asks for the recall of the game and damages for lost profits, claims The Simpsons Road Rage was designed to "deliberately copy and imitate", citing a review "...that characterized 'Road Rage' as a 'shameless incident of design burglary'."
I don't see why this is crazy... in fact, isn't it quite obviously true?
Meep meep
I'd think Sega would sue Rockstar first. The taxi driver missions in GTA are a whole lot like Crazy Taxi, all that's lacking is jumping cars and annoying Offspring
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IANAL, but last time I checked, games fall under the category of software, which is, under current law, not able to be patented. Perhaps if developers of The Simpsons Road Rage were exposed to source code from Crazy Taxi before they began designing and coding the game, then a case of copyright infringement would be in question here. But "look and feel" and software in general, is not patentable under current law. Furthermore, by some stretch of logic, couldn't the makers of Crazy Taxi also sue Rockstar for including Taxi mini-missions and the insane stunt bonus in their GTA series of games? I think that perhaps game companies should worry more about producing worthwhile games than suing competing game companies for creating games that are in some ways similar, but share no source code. But when it comes to this kind of stuff we should all bow to the almighty dollar rather than customer satisfaction.
since when can you patent a plot? patents are for technology, algorithms, and business methods. you and i may not agree with software patents, but it at least seemed clear that they applied to the methods used to generate results in software, not the 'plot'/user experience of the software. if driving a videogame taxi can be patented, why not writing a letter?
perhaps an overly similar videogame would be a derived work under copyright law or perhaps a trademark violation, but a _patent_???
next you'll be able to patent the plots of e-books, so that if anyone creates another with a similar plot, you can sue. imagine the proceeds Tolkien would have on fantasy!
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"take the role of a taxi driver who has to accomplish outrageous driving stunts to pick up passengers and quickly deliver them to their destinations.""
I have done that in GTA3.
1. Pick up passenger
2. Drive down the wrong side of the road , over people, down grass inclines, etc.. (does that qualify as "outrageous"?)
3. Dropped off passenger
Of course, I'll add a few extra steps:
4. Beat down exiting passenger with the baseball bat and steal their bling-bling.
5. Enter cheat code to get unlimited ammo
6. Enter cheat code to get infinite health
7. Enter cheat code for tank.
8. DESTROY! DESTROY! DESTROY!
-- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
All of the new Simpsons games are rip-offs. Simpsons Skateboarding... Road Rage... Simpsons Wrestling.. Simpsons Hit and Run.
I can't believe that Sega would do this. I thought that the Crazy Taxi series was doing well.
There are plenty of games that imitate other ones. Successfull game concepts will always come up again and again.
I could see SEGA being right if Simpsons Road Rage was basically Crazy Taxi with the same vehicles having different colors, textures and different chracters.
Now if I remember correctly Simpsons Road Rage takes place in Springfield and is obviousely based off the Simpson's cartoon series. Crazy Taxi is more of a futuristic taxi like game.
You must master your joystick like a fisherman masters bait! - Gimpy
Sega didn't come up with the game, "Crazy Taxi," I thought the acid dropping hippie taxi drivers of the 60's had come up with that game... it seemed like taxi drivers IRL still play it late at night. Haven't you seen "Confession of a Taxi Cab Driver?"
Rockstar can't be far behind in this suit. GTA III's been out for how long now, and one of the best features of the game is that it includes Crazy Taxi in the game! Or at least a Crazy Taxi like game.
--Stephen
Maybe their parents won't let them play it.
Did you ever notice that *nix doesn't even cover Linux?
From the patent description in question . . .
"Another object of the present invention is to provide a moving direction indication method which can make direction indications which are easy to be understood by operators freely moved in the virtual space, such as a city or others, and a game apparatus.
Further another object of the present invention is to provide a game display method and a game apparatus which can make displays which are easily understandable for an operator who gets, in a virtual space, such as a city or others, a specific object and carries the object to a destination.
Further another object of the present invention is to provide a drive simulation method which can provide real driving feeling. "
Oh dear lord, am I glad I'm not a patent attorney!
The time for this lawsuit was over a year ago. You know, before the game went Greatest Hits on PS2 and Platinum Hits on Xbox. Before the sequel came out!
It reminds me of Sega being sued by a lady who claims that Sega used her likeness (instead of Apollo Smile, who did the voice work on the NA releases) in Space Channel 5. There's no reason for this frivolous lawsuit.
--
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I don't understand . . . there can be three movies in one year about killer asteroids hitting the earth or three movies in one year about volcano eruptions but Fox can't grab a game "idea" and reframe it with slightly different graphics or play mechanics? Granted - 'Road Rage' is a DIRECT ripoff of 'Crazy Taxi' but can this really be something that causes Sega harm? I thought expressions of ideas couldn't be patented or copyrighted???
I'm guessing that Sega is referring to patent 6,200,138. From a quick scan, the patent seems to claim 1) an algorithm to get pedestrians to leap out of the way of the player's car and 2) a directional arrow pointing to the player's destination. (There's also some mumbo-jumbo about "easy to understand" displays and "real driving feeling" -- make of it what you will.) I'll leave it to patent agents expert in the field (do such beasts exist?) to determine whether the patent is valid and whether it's been infringed.
...these people would be counter-sued by the makers of Space Taxi.
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This patent most probably is bogus (as most of them do). There's been years ago (early '90?) a game for DOS in which you played a driver of a flying taxi which had to deliver customers to their chosen destination points ASAP. And there was jumping and bouncing all the time ;-) One surely could call this taxi driver as 'crazy'.
Of course game was 2D in 320x200 resolution :-)
He caught big air. I laughed and gave him a better tip. In fact this was 1992. So I think they're all violating MY prior art.
I thought The Simpsons Road Rage was a licenced rebranding of Crazy Taxi. If they're not related, then the first one should probably be able to nail the second one to the wall.
and old dos game "quarantine" should do it.
R 47 033.html
http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/review/
review from gamefaqs.
Anybody remember Fighter's History?
I've never played either Crazy Taxi or Simpson's Road Rage, but Fighter's History was practically a palette shift of Street Fighter 2. Capcom took DataEast to court, and lost. The judge felt that while there were definitaly similarities, Fighter's History was a different game of the same genre.
Uncanny Simularities"
Quick Summation Half way down
I'm surprised, I remember the entire thing so vividly, but I just can't find more resources about it on the web....
Sangloth
I'd appreciate any comment with a logical basis...it doesn't even have to agree with me.
IANAL, but surely under the long-established "SCO Principle" SEGA should be suing everyone who PURCHASED Simpsons Road Rage? I am looking forward to my letter!
Que voy a hacerle yo
Si me gusta el whisky sin soda
*Proceed to patent plots that kills monsters, date girls, build stuffs, shoot planes and boom countries*
nintedno ain't upset that sony makes these bullshit crash banzimoot cart games...people have to be stupid to by them, same goes for road rage...i'm rolling in my g-rave sucknors.
..."You know what you gotta do now. Sue them. SUE THEM ALL!"
Now I can bitch again about how Nintendo is better than Sega. Anyone else get Nintendo power and taunt their Sega playing friends, as they popped Final Fantasy into their Super Nintendo? If they're suing people for making similar games, it looks like it just gives me another excuse to go back to my old days of Sega bashing. Of course, this time it's a Playstation that I pop my Final Fantasy into, but details don't matter.
That's scary.
I do like the Simpsons, I do like Sega, but I hate how the Simpson's games are a rip off (If they worked correctly at least, I would of have had liked them) Now I HATE software patents. Would it be logical if I patent "games that use 3D"? How about freedom games like GTA3 or Maniac Mansion? Or Multiple Endings, all games ripped that idea off of Maniac Mansion if my sources are correct. Software patents should only have to deal with: a) File format read/write code b) GUI code c) If software patents become majorly accepted, I am patenting the Hellow World program.
Wait until February, and you can pop Final Fantasy into your Gamecube (if you have one). Crystal Chronicles looks hot... and it's a multiplayer game, so you can show your friends the light.
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
Couldn't it be argued that Simpson's Road Rage is just a satire of Crazy Taxi. Quite a few episodes of the Simpsons are pretty much just satire which I believe is protected.
greatest.song.opening.verse.evar
Look, there's no way this sort of thing is helping innovation. Crazy Taxi still would have been created without the benefits of patent law. Congress needs to start holding hearings about patent law reform, because this crap has got to stop.
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From this, I'd say that Sega may have a case, provided they really can demonstrate that there is no prior art.
However, I'm hoping they don't get the game removed from shelves. That's what happened with K. C. Munchkin fortunately after I had already purchased it.
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
Simpsons Road Rage is such a poorly made game I think it could only be a good thing to have it pulled from the shelves.
They cut so many corners on the game which could have made it rather nice but in the end it feels completely unpolished.
Its like a manager walked up, saw a version in early development and decided its ready to go onto debugging. Its missing so much in terms of refinement like little animations and visual effects.
The entire game feels awkward.
I'm with Sony. Pull it from the shelves!
made a game about a character about a plumber that ran around levels, collecting yellow coins. If you collected 100 coins you got a free life. There were enemies, and you defeated them by jumping on their heads.
A few years later Sega put out a game about a blue rodent that ran around levels, collecting yellow rings. If you collected 100 rings you got a free life. There were enemies, and you defeated them by jumping on their heads.
That game is probably the single moment that led to Sega being as big as they are today... where would they be if Nintendo had sued them over it?
Crazy Taxi came out in 2000, it seems. Midtown Madness was out before that, as I recall; I know MTM2 had a lot of taxi stuff, but I think the original had taxi missions as well.
"Pad three, please."
was obviously created by babelfish from a Japanese original.
"A game display method for displaying a game in which a movable object is moved in a virtual space, comprising the steps of: "
"a caution area is set around the dangerous area, and when a character enters the caution area, the character is caused to pause. "
Actually, if you ever want your writing to sound like it was written by a lawyer, just translate it from english to german to french then back to english.
"Chaos, Mr. Who, that is our mode and modus. That is our central kick"
Try publishing a book about Garry Rotter and his adventures at the Bogwood School of Sorcery. Characters in literature have had copyright protection for a long time. You can write a book about a similar type of character, but it can't be a direct rip-off of someone else's work.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
There's already been precedents in favor of the defendents in cases like these. The better known being Capcom VS Data East where they sued on the basis that Data East's "Fighter History"[?] was a copy of "Street Fighter II".
Capcom lost under the basis that you can't copyright an idea.
The difference here appears to be that Sega is suing based on a software patent rather than the argument of copyright. So who knows how this will turn out. We've been copying game ideas for the last 25 years on the basis that you can't own an idea. Hopefully the courts will maintain this long-standing belief--Or dare I call it a right?
I'm surprised these things still happen.. a few words:
Street Figher and Figther's History.
Can someone tell me what's the difference?
I'm not the devil.. just his advocate.
THe difference though is those lawsuits were argued as copyright violations, and in the end, you can't copyright an idea like how a game plays.
This is different in that it's patent related. Now we all know there are ridiculous software patents out there, but the outcome of this suit just isn't as clear.
The precendents you cite were argued as Copyright infringements. You can't copyright an "idea".
This case is arguing patent infringement which is different beast.
In the credits to Road Rage, the Comic Book Guy says "Worst. Video Game. Ever !".
I actually think that I can name *several* games which are much worse ( those godawful "pacman world" games come to mind ), Road Rage is neither the best nor worst PS2 game I own. I'm just happy that it's a game my two-year-old can play without any 'actual' violence ( although you can run over the characters, they go flying and aren't hurt ). That and probably several other differences exist between the two games in this lawsuit.
Prediction? It'll settle out of court. That's probably what Sega is counting on here, actually.
Sure, it's only 2D, but it definitely requires players to "accomplish outrageous driving stunts to pick up passengers and quickly deliver them to their destinations"
Slashdot: come for the pedantry, stay for the condescension.
I can't wait until we develop the technology to make transversable wormholes to parallel universes. Then we could explore a world where Sega never made Crazy Taxi, and see if Fox made Road Rage. If not, then it's derivative. If they did, it's original.
Of course, this would create the unusual circumstance of copying ideas which never happened in this universe, but did happen in others. Offworld imports like this could revolutionize profits for lawyers. Imagine Sega of America:Earth2677B suing Sega Northern Dominion of c'Kall:Earth2626Z.
In all seriousness though, the best way to resolve issues like this one is to take a sample set of gamers who are aware of Crazy Taxi, have them play Road Rage, and see how many of them immediately say, "Oh, it's Crazy Taxi with Simpsons!"
Honestly, if it's not a copy, why is it that at E3 2000 (where the game was first shown off), many Fox reps were describing it at "Crazy Taxi with Simpsons!"
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
OK so from reading previous posts this is what Sega patented:
:P). This game came out the same year as Crazy Taxi (but I'm not sure which was first. Anybody?).
1) an algorithm to get pedestrians to leap out of the way of the player's car
2) a directional arrow pointing to the player's destination.
1) The original Driver game for playstation had pedestrians leap out of the way of cars: it was impossible to hit them (believe me I tried
2) The original GTA (which came out a year before Crazy Taxi) for playstation had an arrow pointing to the player's destination.
This is good news!! Now Nintendo can just sue everyone else for ripping off their ideas and get back in the black!
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
From what I can tell basically they have patents on these two algorithms:
// on vert. axis
// some 9th grade math here
#include <math.h>
struct 3dobj {
float x, y, z;
float rotation;
void move(float dir, float amount) {
}
}
float distance(3dobj, 3dobj);
...
// 1. leap out of tho way of oncoming car
if( distance(car, pedestrian) < safe_ped_dist) {
pedestrian.move( artan( abs( car.y-pedestrean.y ) / abs( car.x - pedestrean.x) ), leap_distance);
}
...
// 2. update direction arrow
arrow.rotation = arctan( abs( car.y - goal.y ) / abs(car.x - goal.x) );
...
In an issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly about a year ago, they wondered whether Sega would sue EA for copying a game, and ruining it. I have Road Rage, and it is the worst game i have ever played.
Mod Wisely.
GTA 3 and Vice City both let you take the role of a taxi driver in a similar situation... granted it's only a small part of the game, but it's still there...
Then there'd be no Half-life, Thief or [insert 1st person title here].
Sega is nuts. Like they're so original? All games are derivative!
Thanks again, SCO!
Still, most games are nearly identical to something else, having just a few improvements/innovations. And so are most movies. And most songs. And most books.
Thank you for e-mailing Sega Technical Support.
Please feel free to send a letter addressing your specific concerns to our corporate office using the following information:
Sega of America Dreamcast, Inc.
ATTN: Legal Department
650 Townsend Street, Suite 650
San Francisco, CA 94103-4908
We look forward to hearing from you!
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Assuming the '138' patent is short for US patent # 6,200,138, I just checked and it was filled in 1998(!).
Between late 1994 and early 1995, I pitched a game idea to Disney (while I was an employee at WDI VR Studio) called "Wild Taxi," which was further developed for consideration as a new VR ride/game for DisneyQuest. That idea was fundamentally the same as Crazy Taxi, which I don't personally recall seeing as an arcade or console game for a few more years circa 1997 or 1998. I could have missed it, so please chime in if you know it existed prior to 1995 and I'll stand corrected.
I also believe it is now public knowledge that Disney and Sega were in various negotiations around the time of the Wild Taxi idea. Those talks didn't last long as far as I can tell, but at the time, I have every reason to believe the Wild Taxi ride idea was disclosed to Sega in a presentation of potential ride ideas.
For example, I recall seeing the storyboards Disney artists composed for these presentations. And I witnessed at least one such meeting between Disney and Sega, though I was not physically "in" the meeting (being a grunt, I sat outside an open meeting room). I also recall being told that Sega liked the ideas.
BTW, as far as I know, the reason Disney [DisneyQuest] didn't ultimately build this ride was technical, having to do with compelxity and throughput issues in an LBE environment for multiple participants. But that's a side issue.
I do not know if Sega had done prior work on "Crazy Taxi" before these meetings, but I have every reason to believe it was new idea at the time.
I also wouldn't know if Disney and Sega have come to some sort of prior agreement over this IP, which may in fact have transferred the various IP rights to Sega without much or any public comment. I can only speculate on the terms under which the ideas were disclosed.
I never sought credit for my contribution, nor do I seek any now. However, my personal opinion is that Disney should now disclose the "Wild Taxi" ride designs as they may potentially invalidate Sega's patent. If, indeed, Sega got the idea from our group at Disney, then this patent may be without merit and, IMO, would be incredibly obnoxious.
These are all my opinions and recollections and I do not claim to present any legal facts as such.
I haven't seen a lawsuit as purposeless as this in a while. I mean, it's hardly like Sega are the kings of originality. Maybe Nintendo should sue them for ripping off Mario with the Sonic games. I mean, all Sega did was take the exact same game concept and change the characters and graphics. Take a look;
Run along in multiple levels that increase in challenge/complexity
Jump over/on enemies
Avoid obstacles
Defeat bosses at the end of each world/zone/stage/whatever
Rescue someone (Mario rescues the Princess, Sonic rescues small animals)
However, a lawsuit such as mentioned above wouldn't happen and hasn't happened, because most sensible people can see that it would stifle competition and customer choice, which is exactly what Sega's lawsuit against EA and Fox would do. IOW, maybe some folks WANT to play a game that's like Crazy Taxi, but based around The Simpsons - it's an alternative to an existing product, and this is a Very Good Thing. It's the same as having the choice to use Linux instead of Windows.
In conclusion: Choice = Good. Patenting Ideas/Concepts = Bad.