quote:
Original post by Anonymous Poster
Heres a little industry secret:
Game developers are the biggest pirates of them all.
They steal ideas, algorithms, plot lines, music, art, catch phrases...
Name some memorable game characters:
Duke Nukem = Ash from Evil Dead
Mario\Luigi = An almost offensive italian stereotype.
J.C Denton = An obvious ripoff of Neo from the matrix (who was most likley ripped off of a gibson novel)
Every Final Fantasy Character: Their names and appearance have changed to protect the innocent, but the same "character" of the person keeps appearing in every game.
Ever wondered why every game pitch you hear starts off with: "Well its like X, but with Y''s twist, and Z''s graphics, and A''s plot!"
Not only do game developers pirate games, they go an extra step and slap their name on it and try to make a buck off it.
Remember the whole deal with hasbro? Appearently according to gamedev, the game industry cant survive without the right to blatent ripoffs!
I bet this "industry secret" is from someone outside the industry, who obviously believes the game industry is different and operates with its own legislation, disconnected from the rest of society.
We steal ideas? Well, that''s just horrible isn''t it? You know, most "ideas" (not sure what you mean by that really - concepts?) are kinda hard to copyright you see.
Algorithms? Hm, code is either: (1) proprietary secret technology, (2) available for licensing or (3) free. Besides, as Silvermyst pointed out, to develop one must utilize research and results achieved by others. Do you think we should reinvent the wheel for every car we wish to make?
Plot lines? Imagine copyrighted plot lines...
Music? No we don''t.
Art? Again, no we don''t.
Catch phrases? What?
"Well its like X, but with Y''s twist, and Z''s graphics, and A''s plot!"
Harsh statement but ok, I see your point. Anyway, how do you come up with fresh material? Most people are inspired by the work of others and its usually the best way to express it in terms of previous work before people can see it for themselves, in order to make them understand what its about.
"Not only do game developers pirate games, they go an extra step and slap their name on it and try to make a buck off it."
Holy crap! People work for years on their games - spending sweat, time and money - and just because some titles have similarites you blatantly accuse developers of just pirating, adding an extra touch and slap their name on it!
You could not be farther from the truth my friend.
As for METAL HEAD: yes your head must be made of metal.
I think threads starting out like that should be closed -
they don''t add anything to make gamedev a better place.