Mega Man ripoff?

[BaconMage]

Your thoughts? How is Capcom not suing over this?

[F38]

I just bought this one yesterday, it is a lot of fun if you like megaman. I think it did better at many things than capcom did with the whole megaman franchise. It has coop too so it's a win for me.

[Sairek Ceareste]

Originally posted by BaconMage:

Your thoughts? How is Capcom not suing over this?

Because it's not Mega Man, nor does take any of Capcom's assets.


This is like saying that first person shooter games should sue each other for iterating on one another.

[Seftak]

Well the characters are CLEARLY X and ZERO.
The stage select is the exact same.
They are using the same visual style for attacks.

It would be like saying that a game using all the assets from Mario but recolored them would not be trying to make a quick buck on people's nostalgia about Mario.


If the game had it's own feel i would understand this not being a ripoff, like Hollow Knight for example is a metroidvania but it's neither Metroid or Castlevania.

[Dreaming Prince]

Originally posted by Seftak:

Well the characters are CLEARLY X and ZERO.
The stage select is the exact same.
They are using the same visual style for attacks.

It would be like saying that a game using all the assets from Mario but recolored them would not be trying to make a quick buck on people's nostalgia about Mario.

there was a game on amiga etc. called great giana sisters that they had to recall from the market cos nintendo threathened them with a lawsuit. this game is clearly inspired by mega man and have a lot of similarities, but it is also its own thing and not nearly as copy paste as giana sisters was.

also at this point in time its very hard to make a game that dont have similarities with other games. i feel this is more a homage thing and as long as they dont steal the sprites or the music or something like that i dont think they can be sued

[Sairek Ceareste]

Originally posted by Seftak:

Well the characters are CLEARLY X and ZERO.
The stage select is the exact same.
They are using the same visual style for attacks.

It would be like saying that a game using all the assets from Mario but recolored them would not be trying to make a quick buck on people's nostalgia about Mario.


If the game had it's own feel i would understand this not being a ripoff, like Hollow Knight for example is a metroidvania but it's neither Metroid or Castlevania.

Being inspired by something does not equal to BEING that thing. Ace and Nina pay homage to X and Zero, but they're not X and Zero. They are their own characters, with their own backstories.

A stage select is copyright infringement? You do know Azure Gunvolt exists too, right, which is even closer to Mega Man than this game with a stage select that's literally the same thing? That's not even mentioning several other games that have stage selects. Hell, even Diddy Kong Racing has something similar.


You say that "if it was it's own thing" that you would 'understand', but it is it's own thing, just like how Azure Gunvolt is its own thing, which is why there's no lawsuit, because there's nothing to sue over. Neither game uses any of Capcom's assets. You can't copyright game genres, just like how Nintendo can't sue A Hat In Time for being Super Mario 64 inspired.
Hell, Azure Gunvolt runs on the same engine even that the Megaman Zero and ZX series used (which was also created by Inti Creates). It even uses some of the actual same sound effects from Mega Man ZX, along with the same spriting and background styles as those games (as many of the same artists who worked on Mega Man Zero and ZX worked on Azure Gunvolt). So that game looks, sounds and feels way more closer to any Mega Man game than 30XX does because it's got the same engine, sound and art design as six of the series' games.


As a final nail in the coffin, Capcom is actually really good with endorsing fan projects. They literally advertised Mega Man Maker on their website at one point, which was created by a fan. They're pretty much the opposite of Nintendo in that regard, who does try to cease and desist anything that uses their IPs.

[Billy Blaze]

Because these devs aren't so stupid as the devs of "Pokémon Uranium".

[Myno]

Originally posted by Seftak:

Well the characters are CLEARLY X and ZERO.
The stage select is the exact same.
They are using the same visual style for attacks.

They clearly aren't.
It clearly isn't.
So? Do you think there should be only one "rock" song, only one "R&B" song, only one "jazz" song, etc? Do you want people to start copyrighting individual chords and other basic musical concepts? "Well, this guy already painted a red triangle once, so I guess I can't paint anything vaguely red or triangular." Is that what you're advocating for? If so, you're a villain. This is how everything grows, not just art -- borrowing and changing things. We should be able to use and enjoy each others' ideas. Homage and parody are (and should be) a thing.

30XX is like one song in the sub-genre that Mega Man helped pioneer.

Originally posted by Seftak:

It would be like saying that a game using all the assets from Mario but recolored them would not be trying to make a quick buck on people's nostalgia about Mario.

Except this game isn't a recolor; it is clearly using its own assets. Want to try again?

[Gerk]

Legal precedent states you can't copyright (or sue over) gameplay similarities.
Incidentally, this was established in the 1990s in the case of Capcom v. Data East over the latter's Fighters History, a game that was very brazen in its...inspiration...taken from Street Fighter.

[Digital Dinosaur]

This game and the predecessor 20xx are related to Mega Man in the same way Yooka-Laylee is related to Banjo-Kazooie: it's an homage.

[Drex]

And a very good homage too, as was 20XX also. Also to be frank, Capcom probably likes this more than they don't, whether they would publicly say it or not. As long as it's not really their IP they won't worry about it, and when it is their IP as long as it isn't making money they often don't care. They even endorsed a free fan game for an anniversary once.

[themazingness]

If game developers weren't allowed to make similar games, there would be entire genres that never happened.

A lot of games take design elements of several genres and combine them, and that's what 20XX and 30XX have done. It isn't just an homage to the Mega Man X series. It takes that style of game and makes it a Roguelike.

It's a bit disingenuous to call this a ripoff when a significant portion of the game design is absent in the series it takes inspiration from.

[kirkyeehee]

Originally posted by BaconMage:

Your thoughts? How is Capcom not suing over this?

You can't sue over a genre... They are using absolutely no Mega Man assets. Someone doesn't understand copyright and how it works.

[TAG]

Originally posted by Drex:

And a very good homage too, as was 20XX also. Also to be frank, Capcom probably likes this more than they don't, whether they would publicly say it or not. As long as it's not really their IP they won't worry about it, and when it is their IP as long as it isn't making money they often don't care. They even endorsed a free fan game for an anniversary once.

"They even endorsed a free fan game for an anniversary once."

Not a very good one, unfortunately. I am all for Capcom spotlighting fangames, but Mega Man x Street Fighter was the wrong one, and I'm convinced that in this particular case, Capcom only did it because they didn't want to come up empty handed for Mega Man's 25th (also shared with Street Fighter's 25th, for what that's worth).

[Techim]

Beginning stage, 8 bosses and some final levels is a gameplay formula / trend, but not a trademark. something like these games

https://store.steampowered.com/app/858710/Gravity_Circuit/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/564150/Rosenkreuzstilette/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/564160/Rosenkreuzstilette_Freudenstachel/

[Gerk]

Originally posted by TAG:

Not a very good one, unfortunately. I am all for Capcom spotlighting fangames, but Mega Man x Street Fighter was the wrong one, and I'm convinced that in this particular case, Capcom only did it because they didn't want to come up empty handed for Mega Man's 25th (also shared with Street Fighter's 25th, for what that's worth).

Great soundtrack at least.