Do I have a law suit?

[Jeff-20]

So, I am finally learning how to make iPhone games. So, it would be easy to start with my Ten Ten game (which many of you will recall was originally titled Ten Ten: Duality). It should be my best bet because it won the last minigame contest. THEN...

I notice this. A new game called "Duality" The link isn't good. Just search the App store.

[quote]“The goal of Duality is simple: Navigate the blue orb through the maze and onto the blue target. However, the blue orb is bound to the red orb, so the two always move in unison. As a result, if either orb is blocked in a given direction, it’s not possible to move in that direction. To unblock areas of the board, navigate the orbs against force fields, which change the distance between the two orbs and open up new paths through the maze.

[Kweepa]

Ouch.
With the title, it certainly seems like he's ripped you off.

[Barney]

Hopefully you have the game copyrighted. If you did, then you do have a case!

[English Invader]

Hopefully you have the game copyrighted. If you did, then you do have a case!

Absolutely. And we can all testify that Jeff was making these games long before the other guy showed up.

[orion70]

I HATE when people steal ideas. I guess Jeff, just like anyone here, never copyrighted his game . Is there a way to prevent him from selling the app anyway? Maybe write to someone at Apple and point a link to this forum, asking to cancel the game from the store?

[English Invader]

I HATE when people steal ideas. I guess Jeff, just like anyone here, never copyrighted his game . Is there a way to prevent him from selling the app anyway? Maybe write to someone at Apple and point a link to this forum, asking to cancel the game from the store?

Certainly it couldn't hurt to name and shame the person/people responsible for this plagiarism. We have ample evidence here on Denial that Jeff is the original author of the game.

On the plus side, I always felt that Ten Ten had that extra commercial appeal that most homebrew games lack; it's exactly the sort of game that people play at the office or on their mobiles and this interest from Apple proves that.

[Boray]

Hopefully you have the game copyrighted. If you did, then you do have a case!

In Sweden, programs are copyrighted automatically as long as you don't write that it's in the public domain or whatever. Isn't it like that over there?

[Bacon]

I HATE when people steal ideas. I guess Jeff, just like anyone here, never copyrighted his game . Is there a way to prevent him from selling the app anyway? Maybe write to someone at Apple and point a link to this forum, asking to cancel the game from the store?

You don't have to do anything to copyright a game (or any other creation). The moment you write it it is automatically copyrighted. It used to be the case in the USA that you had to register it with the Library of Congress to have it copyrighted, but that hasn't been the case for many years now.

So sue them all you want, Jeff. If you want to do it in a more civilized way you may want to contact them and ask them nicely to stop distributing the game. If they refuse, then sue them.

Or, maybe even better, contact Apple and make them aware of the ripoff. They should take away the game from the App Store.

[Boray]

But hasn't there been similar games before Ten-Ten too?

[Jeff-20]

An early version of Ten ten appears on the megacart, I believe, with the duality moniker attached, but I'm not sure because I don't have access to my Vic right now. Can someone check.

Boray, we found a Japanese famicom game with side by side mazes but different mechanics and goals. That was it. I did research after that and found no similar game. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

[folkoh]

I did research after that and found no similar game. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

Jeff,

First of all: Your game looks far better than this iphone App. You made the best of out of what the VIC is capable of - this suspected copycat app is nothing but documented lack of style and taste.

But I do think you do not have a case here (except from the moral persepective). Forgive me for playing the "advocatus diaboli".

1.) By simply googleing the keywords "game" and "duality" I could find a few free games, some of them can be played online, which are based on the same idea. This makes me think, that nobody really ever registered a brand name for a computer game of that name. So I see no way of sueing somebody using the title in the first place.
2.) The aforementioned games are all using the key "invention" that TenTen is using, too. You steer two game characters with one control at the same time and try to reach a specific goal while avoiding and/or using different obstacles on both sides. This game principle can be compared to "Jump'n'run" or "Vertical shooter" etc. Nobody holds a copyright for these game mechanics and there are many of variations for them in the market. I actually remember a type-in game for the Amstrad CPC back in the 80ies, which used the TenTen game mechanic, If I am lucky, I will find it for you.
3.) The similarity between TenTen and this App is striking, but they deliver loads of levels which differ from the TenTen levels (at least they advertise this for the non-free version). So I cannot see them making use of your level designs.
4.) Last but not least the awful look of their graphics can't compete with TenTen. So they didn't steal the graphic design.

I understand how you feel, and maybe they really stole the idea from you - but there is just not enough evidence for a law suit, me thinks. You cannot claim rights neither for the title, nor the graphic or the level design. Your only point would be the game mechanics, but I think there are too many fishes in the sea to make this your unique idea in the view of a judge in court.

Anyway, I think you should contact them to hear their version first. And keep us posted on that, please.

And be assured: I am an iphone addict, but I would never let an iphone do a VIC's job! They never get even 99c from me! TenTen rules!

Greetings,

Folko

[Jeff-20]

Thanks for the support guys.

I should clarify that "law suit" is just a figure of speech here. I don't think there is enough money in it to even consider hiring a real lawyer. The app only has 9 reviews in a year. I'm guessing the designer made less than US$100 for the effort.

I just feel like the timing is so close to the exposure the game would have received during the minigame comp I won. The main point of my post is that I feel like I've been "cut-off" before having a chance to make my own iphone app.

[Mike]

The main point of my post is that I feel like I've been "cut-off" before having a chance to make my own iphone app.

I'd concur with what folkoh wrote. Besides, the expression of a work is what counts to copyright, not the idea behind it.

Why not transform that experience into a new game? Imagine you had a figure to steer around in a labyrinth to collect parts of a program (could be symbolized as print-outs) while a computer controlled enemy tries to do the same. Only if you collect more parts than the opponent, you win the round (and publish the next game).

[folkoh]

Thanks for the support guys.

Anytime, Jeff.

I should clarify that "law suit" is just a figure of speech here.

Affirm.

The main point of my post is that I feel like I've been "cut-off" before having a chance to make my own iphone app.

Hmm, I think you should be able to develop a whole new attitude about this. Doesn't it make you sort of upset that these guys took a good idea and messed it up so badly?
I think the reason for their 9-review success story in the app store is that the typical app-store client will look at the screenshots and will be scared away from this game. Graphics are highly important for the app-store client's instant-buy impulse...

Now, what if you make a new version of this game that looks and plays decently? You could have an winner app at your hand. If there is room for 1000 doodle-something-apps, tetris clones etc, there sure is enough room for 2 TenTen-like apps. And let's see if they try to sue you - now, would that not be fun!

Greetings,

Folko

[Boray]

Boray, we found a Japanese famicom game with side by side mazes but different mechanics and goals. That was it. I did research after that and found no similar game. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

That was probably it. I remembered someone posting something like that.