Register, Others Call Plagiarism in "Limbo of the Lost" Game

Fallen Andy writes "'The Register' has an article describing 'Limbo of the Lost' (developed by Majestic and sold in the U.S by Tri Synergy) which seems to have 'borrowed' copiously graphics assets from other games. Over at the GamesRadar forum there is a thread with some screenshots. Finally, this game has its own Wikipedia entry. Warning to all — move the soft drink away from the keyboard and monitor before you look at those screenshots. Blatant this is, very blatant indeed."

Comments

Shakespeare was a Plagarist

[techsoldaten]

Plagarism has always been with us in literature and it is no surprise it is making it's way into video games.

http://www.123helpme.com/preview.asp?id=37713

"With a few exceptions, Shakespeare did not invent the plots of his plays. Sometimes he used old stories (Hamlet, Pericles). Sometimes he worked from the stories of comparatively recent Italian writers, such as Boccaccio - using both well-known stories (Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing) and little known ones (Othello). Shakespeare has been proven, by many authors, to have borrowed from the Arts, the Histories and the Sciences."

This is not even the earliest example of game plagarism. Think about Space Invaders, Galaga and Galaxian - same gameplay, different sprites.

Not saying what anyone did here was right, but the only difference between these examples and the one mentioned in the story is the 3D graphics. Not sure why people are in such a tizzy over this.

M

Re:I don't see what the big deal is

[spun]

Corporations are a way to profit from criminal activities without the risk of being held responsible. You invest your money, and the board and CEOs know what to do, wink wink, whatever it takes to make a buck, and you never even have to know about all the suffering you caused with your investment.

It isn't just a few bad apples, the barrel of corporate culture is almost pure rot, with very little apple at all.

Re:It isn't "borrowing"...

[Anonymous Coward]

Rap isn't "folk music", it's performed worldwide by a huge variety of ethnic and social groups, and you're ignorant to relegate it to black people while insinuating that their view of the world is any less valid than yours. I've never been to the Ukraine, I've never met anyone from there, and I have a perfect appreciation for the music of the area, as well as music from all sorts of other cultures, and I don't slander them for being different.

I'm not the one who should "bugger off".

Re:It isn't "borrowing"...

[Anonymous Coward]

Um, I guess you're discounting rap from countries such as France, Portugal, Spain, Mexico, And even your precious motherland, the Ukraine. Much of it is unique, and it's all very different from American rap, and this is why I'm calling you closed-minded and ignorant. It's not about the struggles of black life, it's about life's struggles in general. Hang yourself. Furthermore, black rap artists pay MORE homage to their African roots by using musical styles based upon tribal music, which is something all people have in common, having all originated from tribal backgrounds. Me:2 You:0. Lastly, your posts are slanderous because your information is wrong and therefore your words ARE falsely spoken. You've damaged the reputation of not just a musical genre, but an entire race with your closed-minded views of "their" music. Kindly go swallow lye.

Re:So?

[Jack9]

Uh, yes. It is.

It's a matter of perspective. Most people don't actually think about what they believe, as I expect you don't.

The question is why do you think that someone should retain the sole rights to an image (which is simply an expression of an idea), and therefore to an idea? While I would agree they should have the rights to the work in their mind and in progress (to allow them the freedom to solely develop it), the claims of plagiarism are really an interpretation of a trade dispute, not relevant to morality. Is it plagiarism to write out the bits that describe the Oblivion environment? Is it plagiarism to speak the bits that describe the Oblivion environment? Is it plagiarism to convert the bits to A's and B's and to communicate the Lost environment via sign language? Why do you make a distinction? Do you know how a video card works and that they had to code those environments the same as anyone else would?

I wonder how you come to your perspective or if you've given it any critical thought.

Re:I don't see what the big deal is

[bigstrat2003]

Fscking trolls. Let's start:

But, based on my understanding of several recent different but similar situations involving movies and music, we can all safely assume that those people would not have bought the game to begin with. No one with a lick of sense has ever claimed that for movies/music. You're probably confusing the sensible, substantially different, argument that NOT ALL pirates would have bought the original. No reasonable person claims that no one would have, just that it's probably more in the middle, not at the extreme the **AA wants you to believe.

We can also take comfort in knowing that the companies from whom the graphics were lifted probably keep the lion's share of the profit from game sales and the graphic artists make almost nothing, by comparison. That doesn't make it right when people infringe the **AA's copyrights, and it doesn't make it right here.

Also, if the guy at 'Limbo of the Lost' bought the game it is his to do with what he wishes because he didn't agree to any stupid 'don't lift graphics' clause and shrinkwrap licenses have never been proven in court anyway so no one has any legal standing to complain about anything. Yeah, pretty sure that the GRAPHICS THEMSELVES are copyrighted, not just the game. Epic fail.

This includes if he wants to make a mashup of the game's graphics and his own cool gaming idea and call it 'Limbo of the Lost'. Everyone here knows that fair use doesn't cover cases where a) you use a substantial portion of the original, and b) you barely add anything to the original content.

So, you mindlessly flame, distort others' words far past their true meanings, and, in short, provide nothing except pure drivel. Classic troll. How this got modded insightful is beyond me, but I doubt it'll last. Of course, presumably you know that, since you're posting AC, and thus, are likely just not man enough to use your regular account.