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Nintendo Warns MMO Company Over Trademark Issues
Gamasutra.com (news now registration free) has word that MMOG developer Webzen has received a friendly letter from Nintendo discussing the similarities screenshots of their upcoming game have with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. The developer states that this is a coincidence resulting from the cell shades style of their game, and the particular hair and clothes show in published media. From the article: "a spokesperson from developer Webzen claims that the hero of the game does not have any fixed image, and is created by the player to be their avatar in the game world." Heads up courtesy your friendly neighborhood simoniker.
But those screenshots do look remarkably similar, except they did it right. No charlie brown esque models. They look like humans
Come on guys, at least TRY to differentiate your product some. The screenshot I saw look almost identical to Wind Waker, aside from the lack of a jaunty green outfit. Methinks Big N has a point on this one.
"Not all who wander are lost" -- JRR Tolkien
...that the little puff of "wind" in the lower right hand corner doesn't help their case either.
Geez! The guy in the picture looks just like Link! Why don't they just make the default hero a spunky little Black kid, then Nintendo won't have anything to complain about. Seriously though, given the stink Marvel is raising over the ability of players in City of Heroes to clone (to some extent) Marvel characters in appearance, Webzen might consider getting this settled quickly.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
Myers: No, no, no! He was supposed to have attitude.
Silverman: Um... wh-what do you mean, exactly?
Myers: Oh, you know, attitude, attitude! Uh... sunglasses!
Lady: Could we put him in more of a "hip-hop" context?
Krusty: Forget context, he's gotta be a surfer. Give me a nice shmear of surfer.
Lady: I feel we should Rasta-fy him by... 10 percent or so.
[the resulting dog is rather... proactive]
[all stare at it w/o any expression]
Myers: Hmm... I think he needs a little more attitude.
[Silverman blackens in Poochie's sunglasses]
All Three: [variously] Oh, yeah, bingo. Yeah, that's it! There it is, right there! I love it!
Many thanks to SNPP for the transcript.
Honor Among Slackers. A veri
I clicked on the link expecting to see a picture of a game that might have maybe looked like Zelda:WW if I squinted and the light was right. I thought it would be another case of a big company going crazy over its characters and art style, trying to shut down anything that looked like their own stuff, no matter how far from the truth it really was.
But then I loaded the page and saw the screenshot.
The Big N has a point.
That shot could easly pass as something directly out of WW.
Can you really copyright a particular artistic style?
It seems to me that this is more of a style infringement than an actual copying of ideas.
OK, true the pic looks similar to Zelda games, but to be fair, how many 8 bit rpg games followed in the style/art of the original gold cartridge LOZ game?
I'm not saying that this is or isn't a copyright infringement, but one small screenshot is hardly representitave of their work on the game as a whole, nor is the game complete.... I'm guessing that Nintendo's letter will simply protect their right to complain in the future while making the Wiki development team think about a some changes in the artwork. The style and technology lend a bit to the art effect, but short of seeing a "Jaunty Green Outfit(TM)" or a "Breeze Baton(not tm)", I'm betting that the company is smart enough to change the art such that there's no infringement by the time the final product comes out.
Imagine... a few years after saving the world in Wind Waker, Link decides to settle into the peaceful life of a sheep herder. Kind of what it might look like, huh?
A note to the many who didn't RTFA - it's a MMO so the character is going to look however the player makes it look.
It is inevitable with MMOs increasing the ways players can customize their characters people are going to make them look like a super hero, or another video game character.
I know this is a terrible analogy but Ford and GM don't get sued for what their customers do after purchasing a car. On the service side of things my phone company doesn't get sued if I use the phone to conduct illegal activities. Why is the creator of the game responsible for the actions of their customers?
Did a pretty crappy photoshop of screenshot which the Wind Waker logo. Might help visualize how similar it is. Anyone out there want to make a better one?
koreanww12gi.jpg
But here's the real question: Can any user edit the game?
All hell will break loose if Tingle appears in this game.
Nintendo: "You may have stolen our main character Link, but stealing our homosexual Frenchman who flys around on a balloon has gone too far! He is our Jar Jar Binks of the Zelda series, not yours!"
--On the one hand, as the designers point out, that is merely an early screenshot. The real avatar may look like that, or may look entirely different.
--We also have to consider that if you make a cel-shaded farmland scene, it will probably look like a cel-shaded farmland scene in another game. Just like how a red-haired chibi-anime girl looks a hell of a lot like every other red-haired chibi-anime girl.
--The *NAME* of the game is Wiki. No, the puff of air will not stay right there the entire game. It's a promo shot, so they stuffed the game's title into the scene... and since they wouldn't want to override any of the aesthetics, the bottom-right corner was the best spot for it. Coincidence of design, not an attempt at deception.
--That being said, Webzen could very well have done their avatar with some other design options, and shifted the scene camera around to put their logo into another spot.
Yeah, it's a screenshot that looks similar. Deal with it. I think this is an instance of an overzealous lawyer (What, an overzealous lawyer from Nintendo? That'd be like Apple suing their fans for discussing gossip... wait... right.)
Yeah. It's kind of like that.
The character pictured in the article looks vaguely like Link if you've had a couple drinks. It might be important to note Nintendo's specificity to Wind Waker and not the Zelda series in general.
Character branding is simply a marketing manuvuer that is now becoming obsolete because with graphical community online games such as MMORPGs, people don't have to depend on the releases of a particular image of an alter-ego to live out their imagination. Say you see yourself as Wolverine or Link or Mario. The copyright holder of those characters has you as a loyal customer. If you're able to fashion your own image of an alter-ego, you break free of that grip and they lose their traditional business.
If Webzen is going to use the Linkish-looking character (who is wearing a blue Revolutionary War-style coat and NO HAT for those who haven't RTFA) as the primary advertisement for the game, then *maybe* Nintendo has some kind of point here. Otherwise, this is simply about owning the meta-image of a cartoonish character with spiky blond hair.
This would be like Disney suing Warner Brothers because Bugs Bunny kind of looks like Thumper.
Just another freak in the freak kingdom.
When I originally saw those shots last week, it occurred to me that the design looked vaguely familiar. I didn't initially even connect it to Zelda, but taking another look, I think there could be serious trouble, especially if this one design is to be used as a "spokescharacter" for the game. Check out the direct comparison. (In Korean.) Looks like the offending shots were right out of the press release. Here's another article (in Korean) with side-by-side comparisons of the images... including the little puff of wind in the title.
And, if you'd like to take a look at some of the other upcoming releases promoted during Webzen 's Feb. 15 conference, all of which seem to be MMORPGs of different themes, look at this Japanese article. (Writer Kim Dong Wook regularly covers new games from Korea.)
Don't forget, one of the main reasons that companies want to protect their copyrights and trademarks (aside from cash cash cash of course) is that they don't want their customers to think they worked on a product if they didn't. Branding and recognizability, ESPECIALLY for a franchise-driven giant like Nintendo, is extremely important; probably the most important thing in their long view. If somebody puts out a game that looks exactly (and this game, at least in that screenshot, does look EXACTLY like WW) like a Nintendo game, but is not up to their standards, then it is bad for their reputation and brand name.
Say you are Nintendo. You spend years developing a fairly controversial new art style for your most popular franchise. It sells extremely well and garners critical acclaim. Some company across the street copies everything about that art style down to the finest details, puts their name on it, and then starts selling it. Do you just sit there and let them prosper on your hard work and ingenuity?
I know that Nintendo has a history of being overly defensive about their brands and branding, and a less than perfect past in regards to suing the crap out of people for things they didn't necessarily deserve. But in this case they are clearly in the right. And as their market presence dwindles in America and Europe, I certainly don't blame them for making sure that what little territory they have isn't stolen out from under them!
The makers of web collaboration software are warning Webzen about possible trademark infringement.
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
Warner would be the ones to sue Disney - Bugs predates Thumper.
1. The eyes on the character are the giveaway. Nintendo's artists created a unique look for the characters in Wind Waker, but the focus of it all is the eyes on the three main characters, Link, Aryll and Tetra, which are like white footballs, topped with eyebrows, with a large black circle in the middle. The eyes are what, in my mind, defines the look of these characters, and this screenshot apes them pretty much exactly. But it is not the only thing it copies, which is telling in my mind.
2. The letter, I don't think it was a cease-and-desist, just a warning. Nintendo's lawyers aren't actually *that* overzealous concerning matters not related to people making illegal copies of their games. It'd be nice if they were more enlightened in regard to some of their older, forgotten properties, but large corporations are not particularly known for their Buddha natures.
3. Dudes, the game's called Wiki! Has anyone asked Ward Cunningham about this?
At least from my perspective, Nintendo has always been afraid of Zelda MMORPGs. While it can be understandable to send cease and desist letters at fan games, Nintendo generally lets singleplayer ones slide, while being aggressive against multiplayer ones.
Nintendo fought against Graal, who was at the time making a very Zelda-esque MMORPG (clearly derivative). And yet, Zelda classic (Single player, and also clearly derivative) is alive and thriving...
They should also sue them because of that little (dog?) thing running around that has the same color pallette as Pikachu.
I mean, Nintendo clearly owns #FFFF00.
Link looks like a generic 3D implementation of a manga character. Big eyes, no nose, tousled hair. Pick up any manga and tell me if you can't find a dozen characters that look as much like Link as this Wiki avatar does.
You can't copyright look and feel. Ask Apple.
I dont beleive they have any sorta case. You can't copyright cel shading. And the main character is the player's work of art. End of story.
The character does look too much like Link according to you. What the fuck does your opinion have on the matter? Why not fight it out in court and begin to combat fair use? No one is going to get this character confused with Link because Link is a well established character who is tied, quite closely, to the Nintendo brand name. Furthermore, Nintendo has made enough money off of Link and it is time that the character entered public domain.
Go ahead and take Nintendo's side in all of this but if it were some "evil" company like MS trying to force someone out of the market because of similar characters, you'd be up in arms. You're a fuckstain. For fuck's sake, it's not like the fucking game is very similar to a standard Zelda game. Go fuck yourself and get strung up in a tree you dumb coon.
[i] I dont beleive they have any sorta case. You can't copyright cel shading. And the main character is the player's work of art. End of story.[/i]
Not correct. The actual problem is that they are using the EXACT same Type of cell shading the EXACT same proportions on the eyes/mouth, the same proportions in the hairstyles and even the same COLOR PALETTE. there are hundreds perhaps thousands of ways to do cell shading and anime but these guys are using EXACTLY the same one! (example at hand: check the style of the late "true fantasy online" is similar but not quite the same)
Believe me these guys worked and worked hard to get exactly the same graphics style than Wind Waker. Trademarks are valid in Character likeness, caricatures and imitated work. These guys carbon copied these characteristics from WW and then from the logo font and style to add insult to injury.
Nintendo HAS a case and a very strong one. Is sadly obvious that the gamemakers planned to use these likeness as a game feature and profit from it which is a huge copyright violation (basically the same than using a pirated version).
Besides thats not just some player character thats the game promotional screens! You dont see a spiderman "look alike" in the cover of City of heroes do you?
My 8 ball sees this game getting sued, and quickly dismantled shortly after.
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
Why is it that every time there's an article about patents or trademarks, the clueless Slashdot editors call it a copyright issue; and whenever there's an article about copyright disputes, they call it a trademark issue? They're three completely different things, and you're not really qualified to *report* on the subject until you know the difference.
In this case, there is a copyright dispute, since Nintendo is alleging that the graphics and artwork (creative content) resemble Zelda very closely.
If they had called the game "Zelda" and made it look totally different, *that* would have been a trademark issue.
He who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.
Since simoniker didn't post this himself, does that mean he's been shit-canned as editor? If anyone were to have posted any of my troll stories, I figured it would been him.
pooptruck
I do understand why Nintendo is saying this - the screen shots are *very* similar.
But instead of getting upset about it, why not pull a Rare/Dinosaur Planet? Hire the company, make it Zelda online, improve the graphics (make them a little more complicated but in WW style), and beef it up as a launch title for the Revolution?
Seems like a much smarter thing to do to me. Who the hell doesn't want online Zelda? The possibilities alone are spectacular. Mini games, races, sword fight PVP, everything. It would be SPECTACULAR in every damn sense of the word and would give a boost to the launch of the next system.
At least, seems like a good idea to me...
Nintendo's artists created a unique look for the characters in Wind Waker, but the focus of it all is the eyes on the three main characters, Link, Aryll and Tetra, which are like white footballs, topped with eyebrows, with a large black circle in the middle. The eyes are what, in my mind, defines the look of these characters, and this screenshot apes them pretty much exactly.
Which itself seemed copied from the Samurai Jack cartoon. Check out the first episode, with Jack as a little kid - his face is the spitting image of Link in Wind Waker. I couldn't believe it when I saw the rerun on TV for the first time (this was after Wind Waker's release).
The rest of the visuals are fairly remicient as well, though, like you pointed out.
There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon