Cease and Desist – Parodies and Infringement in Video Games

[Discoalucard]

www.hardcoregaming101.net/cease-and-desist-parodies-and-infringement-in-video-games/

In this feature, we're cataloging all of the games that had to be updated or patched due to potentially infringing material. We've definitely missed some stuff, so if you know of any, please let us know so we can update it at a later date! (If you could provide pictures too, it would be incredibly helpful.)

[kaoru]

The PSP version of Breath of Fire III changed the colour scheme and some attack names in the Balio and Sunder fight to get rid of the Ultraman references of the PSX original.

[KGRAMR]

Aug 23, 2018 20:32:46 GMT -5 Discoalucard said:

www.hardcoregaming101.net/cease-and-desist-parodies-and-infringement-in-video-games/

In this feature, we're cataloging all of the games that had to be updated or patched due to potentially infringing material. We've definitely missed some stuff, so if you know of any, please let us know so we can update it at a later date! (If you could provide pictures too, it would be incredibly helpful.)

Good article! One of the most blatant examples of copyright infringement has gotta be the ZZDUMMY.DAT file (a.k.a. South Park's The Spirit of Christmas second pilot) that was hidden inside the disc in early versions of Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf for the PlayStation 1, as a result the early copies were recalled and the file was removed from subsequent prints.


Here's another example (or maybe not XD) of the subject but this one is the more harder to pinpoint and its a sound sample; During the bonus levels of Defender 2000, you're treated to a sweet techno take on one of Beethoven's pieces but here's where the kicker enters: When that part of the music is done, a sample of a woman saying "Sorry 'bout that" is heard, starting the second part of the song. That sample is actually from one of the last scenes with the radio lady in The Warriors.

[condroid]

Giana Sisters could be mentioned twice in this context. The original was taken off the market due to Nintendo's claims of copyright infringement. But when this happened the sequel was already in development. Not wanting to risk any further trouble, Rainbow Arts scrapped the project and the game was eventually released as Hard'n Heavy by reLine who kept the futuristic theme but replaced the Giana and Maria sprites with robots.

Rainbow Arts also ran into trouble with Katakis, a space shooter with obvious R-Type influences. Activison, who held the rights to the R-Type computer ports, weren't too happy about the similarities and as a result a second version was made that changed some of the enemy designs and stage layouts. This second version of the game also received a name change (Denaris) in some countries. As an added twist to the story, Activision then ran into problems with the development of their official R-Type conversions and ended up hiring the Katakis developers (Manfred Trenz and Factor 5 respectively) to do the C64 and Amiga ports.

[cowboycrocket]

In the Ninja Gaiden arcade game there was a music track that resembled Black Sabbath's Iron Man but the Wii Virtual console version gets rid of it. Compare the 9:00 mark in the first video to the 8:41 mark in the second video for the music change between both versions.

[phediuk]

Does the In the Groove lawsuit count for this?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konami_Corp._v._Roxor_Games_Inc.

It wa a clone of DDR to the point that it could be used as a module on DDR machines. Konami sued Roxor Games over it and won the rights to In the Groove.

[phediuk]

Also, Uniracers deserves a mention. DMA Design (Rockstar North) swiped the main unicycle design from the Pixar short Red's Dream.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniracers#Development

Pixar sued over it, and Nintendo (the publisher) was forced to stop production of the game and has mothballed the IP ever since.

[KGRAMR]

Aug 24, 2018 14:34:35 GMT -5 phediuk said:

Also, Uniracers deserves a mention. DMA Design (Rockstar North) swiped the main unicycle design from the Pixar short Red's Dream.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniracers#Development

Pixar sued over it, and Nintendo (the publidher) was forced to stop production of the game and has mothballed the IP ever since.

That lawsuit still pisses me off

[derboo]

Shenmue had Coca-Cola Company drinks in Japan, and fictional ones in the rest of the world, likely due to the license only being for Japan.

[Murphy]

Mother (RPG) had Dragon Quest IV reference that was removed in the GBA port and Virtual Console release.

earthboundcentral.com/2015/06/japanese-wii-u-mother-has-changes/

EarthBound had some copyrighted materials that were scrubbed out in the American version, including the Red Cross.

[locke47]

Hello, first post here and I couldn't be happier about it I stumbled upon one of these "easter eggs" (ahem) years ago, and after some research I haven't found any references to it, anywhere, so maybe it's been unnoticed all along.

One of the tracks used in GT Advance Championship Racing (European release, dunno about others but the game was developed in Japan) features segments taken straight from Judas Priest's song Painkiller, arranged with other segments that are heavily inspired on the song. You can check in these clips:

Game version (2:17 onwards) -> youtu.be/rarmlAMvXJA?t=2m17s
Original song (2:22 onwards) -> youtu.be/WS6-vI70oc0?t=2m22s

[phediuk]

The Japanese version of Mario Kart 64 features a bunch of slightly-altered corporate logos that were changed completely for the overseas releases.

[acidonia]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Did_I_Do_to_Deserve_This,_My_Lord%3F

A note about this the European Physical copy had the original name. The Sequel had the Original included with the name change but I never saw any copy's of it anywhere so my copy of the 1st one is the only sealed game i Own.

[phediuk]

Speaking of name changes, Quest for Glory was originally released as Hero's Quest, but was forced to change its name due to the HeroQuest tabletop game:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Glory:_So_You_Want_to_Be_a_Hero#Development

[phediuk]

Double Fine's Trenched had to change ts name to Iron Brigade a few months after release due to a trademark dispute with the Portuguese board game Trench: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Brigade_(video_game)#Development