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Konami Sues Viacom Over `Rock Band' Music Video Game
- Thread starter TheOddOne
- Start date
Justin Timberlake
Member
At first I was going to say that this suit is so baseless its hilarious, but then I realized its Viacom. GO KONAMI!
MassiveAttack
Banned
sneaky77 said:
Take a look at recent litigation history between ATVI and Viacom.
MassiveAttack said:
There was this recent one where they ended up settling out of court.
The rhythm game genre in the US really is a tangled mess :-/
So they shouldn't defend themself? And EVERYONE waits to sue, including Viacom the defendant. Not to mention that building a solid case takes time too.Zeenbor said:
God help us if any of you ever get into big business. If they do nothing then everyone will walk all over them.truly101 said:
I can't believe people are actually defending VIACOM, the one who wants all your personal information through their suit of YouTube that guess what, THEY WAITED UNTIL IT WAS POPULAR and purchased by GOOGLE of all companies to sue. Doesn't that sound exactly like this case, except with huge bill of rights violations? Frig people, frig.
Kunan said:
The suit is directed at Harmonix, which is owned by MTV Games, which is owned by Viacom. This has nothing to do with Youtube. Konami is struggling and trying to get anything they can from the success of Rock Band. I think it's hard to believe that Harmonix didn't create any patents when making Rock Band. If they didn't they obviously weren't looking far enough ahead to see Konami and others trying to get handouts from RB's success.
biggkidd32
Member
Respect minus one for konami. I hate Viacom, but patent trolls are the worse.
permutated
Banned
sneaky77 said:
Truth.
Just eat crow Konami, other devs have you sure should.
Kunan said:
Because Konami, in all their infinite wisdom, completely squandered their patents and games based upon said patents for years. I've been playing rhythm games for 10 years now, particularly Konami's own.
I remember, ten years ago, eight years ago, six years ago and so on, practically begging Konami, along with hundreds, thousands of other players, for them to bring these games to the states. Here's their history.
"You want Guitar Freaks? Here's a machine with 10 songs, zero options and no reason to touch it. Oh, it failed? That means America hates music games."
"You want Dance Dance Revolution? Here's a machine with 11 songs to go alongside your machines with dozens. Oh, it failed? That means America hates music games."
[Years later, Konami finally makes DDR a hit in the home. America no longer hates music games. The Japanese no longer care.]
"You want Beatmania? Here's a dumbed down version with missing content and songs you don't want. Oh, it failed? That means America hates music games."
[Guitar Hero becomes a pop culture icon on a scale much larger than DDR.]
"Uhhhhh..... Hmmmmm ...."
[Years pass and the music genre is huge in the Western world.]
"Hey guys, we've heard this whole rhythm gaming thing is pretty big. Especially that guitar game. Don't we have something like that? We're not sure."
[...]
"Announcing, Rock Revolution!"
[
"What? Everyone hates it? You want to play funny images? Here is a funny image for you."
"Go fuck yourself."
biggkidd32
Member
You mean patent law 101 not business 101.Replicant said:
Besides, why did Konami take so long to act? GH is not a new game and I'm sure there would be no lawsuit if the Harmonix games were not successful. Konami was stubborn and they don't deserve any compensation for that.
biggkidd32
Member
What does their legal department have to do with Kojima Productions? I'm sure their lawyers were hard at work creating those lifelike character models.sakuragi said:
AwakenedCloud
Member
A few weeks they have their reps saying how Rock Band isn't up to Konami's level, the next minute they're in court filing complaints against the same peripherals they just finished dogging. Ironic, isn't it?
bananabread
Member
Hopefully this doesn't end up like the whole ITG saga where the vastly superior product/IP ends up being owned by Konami who proceeds to kill it dead so they can continue releasing inferior shit, rather than using the IP they just gained to further their business and keep players happy.
daegan said:
Yep. Konami will sue anyone that makes a 'clone' game, you can count on that. If you guys know your history, they sued everyone in the Japanese arcade industry when other companies released 'clones' when music games were popular. No company likes Konami now, and I can see why.
But, I can't blame Konami either. They've been burned in the past too.
The Innocent X
Banned
Kunan said:
Erm, they are actually happy to anonymise the data. All they want is for people to stop ripping off their stuff. Google is getting rich off stealing other people's content effectively.
As for this case, who knows who will win. Depends how strong the patent is.
PetriP-TNT
Member
Funny but trueCrateman said:
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
Alpha_eX said:
Aren't Zoe Mode developing that?
plagiarize
Banned
this is a tricky one. Rock Band is awesome but we know Konami started this stuff. they legitimately were first to market with this kind of idea and if their patents are good, whether or not they realised the idea to its full potential is kind of besides the point.
on the other hand it does look like Konami are just trying to get a slice of the pie.
Rock Revolution doesn't stand a chance even if it's the best thing ever. Guitar Hero and Rock Band already have us by the peripherals... and stuff like this is only going to piss those of us that might pick up the game off even more.
legally and morally i don't think Konami are doing anything wrong here...
but i do think they're doing something stupid and destroying any small chance their own game had at being a success.
on the other hand it does look like Konami are just trying to get a slice of the pie.
Rock Revolution doesn't stand a chance even if it's the best thing ever. Guitar Hero and Rock Band already have us by the peripherals... and stuff like this is only going to piss those of us that might pick up the game off even more.
legally and morally i don't think Konami are doing anything wrong here...
but i do think they're doing something stupid and destroying any small chance their own game had at being a success.
Prime crotch
Banned
Nope, if you don't step up there's bound to be other people to offer a better product, it's just how the market works. Konami screwed up.plagiarize said:
plagiarize
Banned
that's not the case. not legally speaking anyway. sure there are more consumer friendly ways to go, and i'll always celebrate them... but you can't just take someone elses patent and improve it a bit and call it your own.Prime crotch said:
Prime crotch
Banned
Depends on the patent and the laws, not to mention this isn't the only case where a rival company makes a similar or better product and can come out free of any legal charges.plagiarize said:
But Viacom will probably just pay up Konami since it's probably cheaper than going to court.
Opus Angelorum
Member
Prime crotch said:
Viacom are very stubborn in regards to legal issues, but if the patent is clearly in favour of Konami a settlement out of court will be much cheaper.
plagiarize
Banned
I'm sure that Harmonix were assured by the publishers that such issues were taken care of. I'd be highly surprised if Harmonix themselves were knowingly infringing on anything.
FieryBalrog
Member
The idea of patenting "press the blue button when you see the blue symbol" is kind of.... retarded. And I hope it fails, miserably.Zoe said:
Junior Asparagus
Member
Sage00 said:
I actually don't believe this is true. I haven't played the Japanese KR game, but I've heard that they have a completely different engine. They're more just like karaoke machines, with lyrics scrolling across the screen, but they don't actually measure the pitch of your voice.