Video games still copied from one another quite heavily and both the ethics and legality of the copying has been often debated. To be clear, this didn’t eliminate issues of plagiarism, copying or infringement. Where anyone could make and publish a game for the Atari 2600, only those authorized by Nintendo could do so for the Nintendo Entertainment System ( other than those that bypassed it). The biggest key has been lockout chips, which prevented unauthorized development. The reason is because consoles have a higher barrier of entry for developers. For every Flappy Bird there are countless Flappy Pterodactyls.īut while clones have a presence on mobile and, to a lesser degree, PC markets, they haven’t really been a presence on console markets since the mid-1980s. For every Angry Birds there are dozens of Angry Aliens. Any remotely successful mobile game is likely to “inspire” a series of clones. Though software enjoys stronger copyright protection today, cloning still happens, especially in mobile market. This made copying and cloning rampant (including low-quality clones that flooded the market) and that is partly blamed for the 1983 video game industry crash. In the early years of the video game industry (in the United States at least) software wasn’t even considered eligible for copyright protection, it was seen as a complicated algorithm rather than a creative work. Attack of the ClonesĬlones have been a part of video game history since the very beginning. To that end, its history may be its greatest teacher. The story has raised serious questions about homage versus plagiarism in video games and when does a game go from being similar to or inspired by a competitor to become an outright rip off? These aren’t easy questions, especially considering that Genshin Impact hasn’t been released, but they are questions the video game industry has to wrestle with. The game had already been described as an “ anime Breath of the Wild” and that title seemed to be upsetting many gamers, who found the 2017 game to be one of the best and most unique games in some time. The protestors, as well as others online, noted the similarities in the art style, mechanics, gameplay and even music between the games. The reason for the outcry? The gamers believed that Genshin Impact crossed the line and was copying too heavily from Breath of the Wild. One gamer even smashed a PlayStation 4 as part of the protest. Many brought their Nintendo Switches, dressed in cosplay from Breath of the Wild and made obscene gestures to the signage for Genshin Impact. Nintendo fans, in particular fans of the Legend of Zelda game Breath of the Wild, staged a protest outside the booth. However, that debut garnered headlines for less-than-desirable reasons. Earlier this month, at the China Joy gaming expo, the company debuted the first footage from the game at the Sony Booth. One's about saving the day and the other's about exploring.Recently at E3, Chinese video game maker miHoYo announced its upcoming open-world action game Genshin Impact, scheduled to be released for the PlayStation 4 and PC. He is made to look small in the face of nature. You can see more of it, and Link is more a part of the world than a potential ruler of it. The Euro image is far more about the landscape itself. The US image is about power: Link, sword drawn, is going to tame this landscape. It reminds me of the Hobbits setting out on their journey in The Lord of the Rings. The European version looks like a picture someone took of Link while he was on a nice walk through the highlands. To me, the US version looks like a movie poster. My view is the US version is going for a more traditional open world action role-playing game box art, whereas our version leans more on the sense of adventure and exploration. But our version features birds as if they're flying in front of the camera and as such, are out of focus. Here's an odd difference: the US version has some birds in the distance. In our version, Link's shield is resting on his back and his sword is held as if a walking stick. The US version sees Link with sword and shield at the ready. He looks at us from an over the shoulder, side on angle. It's a similar scene, except the colour palette is different, the horizon is different and Link is standing on a patch of grass rather than on a rock. There are mountains in the distance, a shining light from what looks like a castle. We see series star Link standing on a rock and staring at the horizon. Let's start with the box art for the North American version. It turns out Europe's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild box art is a little different than North America's.
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