Dan_Dare Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) Twisted Pixel describes Capcom Mobile iOS game MaXplosion as “complete theft”. Indie developer Twisted Pixel has accused Capcom of what it describes as “complete theft” of its XBLA hit ‘Splosion Man. The developer hit out after seeing footage of Capcom Mobile’s MaXplosion, recently released on the iOS App Store for 59p. Youtube footage reveals the game bears a more than passing resemblance to ‘Splosion Man: it’s a side-scrolling platformer with an character who can jump up to three times in a row by exploding. If you think that sounds familiar, Twisted Pixel agrees. “MaXplosion gameplay makes me sad,” wrote programmer Mike Henry on Twitter. “If you’re going to outright steal a game, you should at least understand what makes it fun.” He later added: “Borrowing is great. Hell, we do it all the time. But that game is a complete theft.” Twisted Pixel CEO Michael Wilford revealed: “Best part is, we originally pitched 'Splosion Man to Capcom and they said no. First they lose Inafune, now this.” Wilford intimated Twisted Pixel would not be taking action against Capcom, saying: “It just sucks because we’re too small to do anything about it, and I bet Capcom’s counting on that.” 'Splosion Man was part of the 2009 Summer of Arcade promotion on the Xbox Live Arcade download service, and was top of the Live Arcade charts late last year after its price was discounted to 160 Microsoft Points. Sauce. This is absolutely astonishing. Capcom have literally stolen everything about 'Splosion Man in an audacious breach of copyright and are basically relying on Twisted Pixel's inability to fund court proceedings (It'd be civil action, see) to remain untouched by the law. I've never seen anything like it. I highly recommend watching the youtube footage of the game to see just how blatant this is. Edited January 12, 2011 by Dan_Dare
Daft Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Amusing since Twisted Pixel stole the idea for 'Splosion Man.
S.C.G Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 I felt uneasy just watching that footage, I don't know what's worse... the fact that Capcom blatantly ripped off 'Splosion Man or that they did such a bad job of it that it has zero of the aesthetical, aural or even animated qualities that the original game has in abundance. MaXplosion is nothing but a terrible attempt at CAPitalising on a COMputer game for the sake of wanting a piece of its well deserved success enjoyed by talented developer Twisted Pixel and I think it's a great shame that such a large company responsible for some of the most memorable game series ever created have seen fit to sink to plagiarism which they'll probably get away with. Amusing since Twisted Pixel stole the idea for 'Splosion Man. Lol que? Where did they steal the idea from? *confused*
Cube Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Amusing since Twisted Pixel stole the idea for 'Splosion Man. Unless he knows of another game, I think he may be talking about Curve Studios' Explodemon (is it still in development?). Which is entirely untrue - it was just a massive coincidence that they were announced (with gameplay trailers, I believe) within hours of each other.
Ten10 Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Wow it's all here, laboratory setting, limited explosion jumps. Fat dude with gun. Flying up somewhere to open a door. Except this does look very boring. Even the score screen is similar.
Daft Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) Yeah, I'm probably talking a load of poo. Still Capcom can kiss my ass. This is shameless. Edited January 13, 2011 by Daft Bloooop
flameboy Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 meh its been happening for years companies taking off each other. Hell Gameloft have built an entire studio purely on ripping off console games and bringing them to the ios systems so it really comes as no surprise that this has happened tbh.... Also whats the fuss they aren't competiting?!
Fierce_LiNk Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 meh its been happening for years companies taking off each other. Hell Gameloft have built an entire studio purely on ripping off console games and bringing them to the ios systems so it really comes as no surprise that this has happened tbh.... Also whats the fuss they aren't competiting?! There's a difference between taking ideas and parts off each other and this, which is pure plagiarism. The kick in the teeth has to be the part where they showed this to Capcom, who then turned it down. Which means that Capcom were completely aware of exactly what they doing. They can't even plead ignorance to this because they're well aware of this game's existence.
flameboy Posted January 14, 2011 Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) There's a difference between taking ideas and parts off each other and this, which is pure plagiarism. The kick in the teeth has to be the part where they showed this to Capcom, who then turned it down. Which means that Capcom were completely aware of exactly what they doing. They can't even plead ignorance to this because they're well aware of this game's existence. Not so if you believe Capcom's statement: Capcom has responded to the uproar surrounding the similarities between its forthcoming iPhone game MaXplosion and Twisted Pixel's 2009 Xbox Live Arcade platformer 'Splosion Man, insisting it's "saddened" by the situation. Yesterday, Twisted Pixel programmer Mike Henry dubbed Capcom's title, which sees you controlling a character by making him explode, "complete theft". The studio co-founder Michael Wilford later Tweeted, "Best part is, we originally pitched @Splosion_Man to Capcom and they said no." In response, a statement from Capcom Mobile released to Eurogamer today read: "While Twisted Pixel did have discussions with our console game team about publishing 'Splosion Man' on game consoles, Capcom Mobile is a different division of Capcom with separate offices and as such, had no prior knowledge of any meetings between the console game team and Twisted Pixel. "'MaXplosion' was developed independently by Capcom Mobile. Nonetheless, we are saddened by this situation and hope to rebuild the trust of our fans and friends in the gaming community." Twisted Pixel has ruled out a lawsuit against Capcom, despite the obvious similarities between the two games. "We're definitely not going to pursue legal action," explained a statement from Wilford. "While I think the similarities are pretty nauseating, we're too small to take on a company like Capcom. That, and we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we'll let them slide. I just hope they're not counting on the fact that indies can't fight back. "In general, anything that would take our focus off of making games would be a bad decision, I think. We just need to keep our heads down making the next thing so that Capcom has something to steal next year. But I have to say, the amount of support we've seen in the last 12 hours on Twitter and over email has been awesome, and I think that's better than winning a stupid lawsuit or anything like that. "We'll just have to make our own mobile game and I'm hopeful that Capcom will see that robbing our shit wasn't worth it in the long run. We'll let you know when we have something on the mobile front to talk about, but now we have added incentive!" I don't think all this about Capcom really makes any difference to be honest, Splosion Man has been out long enough for anyone to have copied it. My gripe now I guess is if Capcom were really saddened by it and wanted to rebuild trust with the fans they should rebrand/reskin the game as a Sposion Man game in partnership with Twisted Pixel and prove they aren't just money grapping gits... Also its splosion man very similar to explodeman which is still yet to be released but was announced before it?! EDIT: Actually they were announced within days of each other...3rd April and 1st April...so that is one of those things where similar developments arise at the same time. Edited January 14, 2011 by flameboy
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