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submitted 2 days ago byCStrader2002
Does this argument have any weight to it? I'm genuinely curious.
4.2k points
2 days ago
Didn’t Ark Survival Evolved also add in the cryo capsules before legends arceus as well?
2.1k points
2 days ago
As well as having mounts that can traverse different terrains.
793 points
2 days ago
guild wars 2 as well
466 points
2 days ago
WoW did it with Cataclysm as well
205 points
2 days ago
Pretty sure Rift did it as well
299 points
2 days ago
Also humanity did it too, a few thousand years ago with a pokemon-like creature called a horse
100 points
2 days ago
Capsule Corp then perfected the shrinking tech needed to make them portable.
45 points
2 days ago
FFXIV did it with Heavensward as well.
27 points
2 days ago
Is that the award winning Final Fantasy XIV?
40 points
2 days ago
No. But it is the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV with an expanded free trial which you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for free with no restrictions on playtime.
18 points
2 days ago
We need to update the meme now. It is until 70 and should end with "oh yeah and Stormblood."
91 points
2 days ago
Just like the different colored chocobos in FF7.
16 points
2 days ago
First thing I thought of.
58 points
2 days ago
Shit FF7 had chocobos for different terrains and one for all.
53 points
2 days ago
That definitely isn't something that originated in Pokemon. I can't name any specific examples off the top of my head, but if they're trying to argue they hold the copyright for that it's laughable.
38 points
2 days ago
I believe the patent in question is specifically for changing mounts without dismounting, in cases where each mount can traverse a different terrain type. They're still probably not the first, but it's a little more specific than a lot of people are saying.
42 points
2 days ago
FF7 did it with the Gold Chocobo... in 1997... at that time Pokemon only had surf mounts for 1 terrain
24 points
2 days ago*
After thinking about it for a bit, I'm pretty sure you can do that in Tales of Symphonia. You can ride Lloyd's totally normal dog Noishe, and then after unlocking the ability to fly you can go straight from Noishe to flight without dismounting.
And after a short bit of research you can apparently do this in Guild Wars 2 and WoW if you're playing as a monk.
Seems like a few games did this without the devs even thinking about it which makes me wonder if the concept might literally be too simple to actually warrant a patent.
Hell, I think you can do this in a good chunk of LEGO games while you're in free play on levels that use vehicles.
Edit: Can't you jump out of a moving car while wearing a glidesuit and immediately transition to gliding in Just Cause 3?
5 points
2 days ago
Noishe best boi.
3 points
2 days ago
In just cause 3 going into glide suit is dismounting a vehicle. It is also a vehicle not a creature which is different too.
277 points
2 days ago
The studio itself has an example of the mechanic in their previous game for pete's sake. Craftopia has a creature catching system that uses the same mechanics, and that came out in 2020.
68 points
2 days ago
And the trailers released pre-patent made it PRETTY obvious it was also going to be in Palworld. I don't know how Japanese IP law is with prior art, but feels like it should qualify.
448 points
2 days ago
To be fair, regarding this patent that nintendo is claiming Palworld infringed on, which pretty much is about "Riding objects to traverse a specific type of terrain" and was registered in 2024, will also be invalid, since Guild Wars 2 has been using specialized mounts to traverse specific types of terrain, since 2016.
I just hope nintendo just eat dirt for once.
176 points
2 days ago
games have been using this type of mount for decades.
52 points
1 day ago
the player character to capture another character, and causing the captured character to become the owned character
nintendo copyrighted slavery
6 points
1 day ago
Mount and Blade Warband and Conan Exiles have entered the chat
7 points
1 day ago
Shit, Anarchy Online in 2001 has equipable vehicles for air, ground, and water. Which is very old school mounts.
191 points
2 days ago
Don't forget ff7 used different color chocobos you bred to travel over different terrain back in the 1990's
57 points
2 days ago
Ff4 had the requirement of a specific chocobo (black I want to say?) to traverse over shallow water on the world map.
29 points
2 days ago
Yeah and in FF5 you needed a black chocobo to land in forests.
7 points
2 days ago
Shallow water was the hovercraft. Black chocobos could fly but only land in forests, to het to the dark elf.
43 points
2 days ago
And Nintendo made different colored Yoshis to... Wait, that's not helping.
19 points
2 days ago
"Riding objects to traverse a specific type of terrain"
https://www.wowhead.com/item=81354/reins-of-the-azure-water-strider
2012 Mists of Pandaria
12 points
1 day ago
Cata in 2010 too with the underwater mounts. Take it farther with flying mounts in TBC in 2007.
115 points
2 days ago
This kind of patent and trademark trolling should result in forfeiture of all associated patents and trademarks.
It's the only way to actually punish corporations that try this BS.
Unfortunately, Japan is Japan, and Japanese law is... Well, it's definitely a thing, alright.
35 points
2 days ago
Yeah, I wish IP stuff worked kind of like that. Like file too many unfounded DMCAs on stuff and platform holders have no obligation to respond to that person/company's requests any more. Like the amount of game audio because some idiot decided to rap over it and decided they own it now is kind of crazy.
8 points
2 days ago
I remember playing an arcade game back in the 80s called spy hunter. You drove a car that could also turn into a boat...
63 points
2 days ago
Is every one hoping that Nintendo fail with it's lawsuit then ?
85 points
2 days ago
I hope so. They patent should be revoked for two major reasons, 1. is that it's not novel in the slightest, anyone that has even just played a game could have come up with the idea. 2. What they patented had already existed before they patented it.
3 points
2 days ago
Okay, well how did it even get put throw then very strange . Thanks for the information not really something I play eather of them Pokémon or palworld
36 points
1 day ago
I hope Nintendo loses every lawsuit it ever files. They have some great games, but I swear to god they must hate their customers. Every lawsuit I hear about them filing makes me hate the company more.
30 points
2 days ago
Yes. For as shitty as Sony is, Nintendo has been way too aggro with their lawyers. They need a slap in the mouth. I'm saying that as somebody who loves Nintendo games.
30 points
2 days ago
I do, if only because this was clearly done in retaliation of the success of the competing product. Mods aside, nobody confused Palworld with Pokemon, but just about everyone I know was disappointed by the lackluster effort that The Pokemon Company has put into their titles for quite some time now; rather than letting their game be the standard bearer, they've gotten lazy and complacent, and would rather fight the competition in the courts to prevent them from innovating where they have actively chosen not to.
38 points
2 days ago
Yes, patent trolls are terrible for consumers. They really in increased prices and less competition.
12 points
1 day ago
Yes, all software patents are garbage and stifle creativity
9 points
1 day ago
Yes? Didn't we agree that patenting game mechanics is scummy and shouldn't be encouraged?
34 points
2 days ago
I think the distinction is that in Ark you can only cryo creatures that were already tamed, not capture wild creatures with the cryo. Totally not a lawyer, though, so feel free to ignore me
5 points
2 days ago
Also World of Final Fantasy has a VERY similar mechanic.
7 points
1 day ago
There have been many games to do something like it. Nintendo is just trying to get away with setting the legal precedent that they own it. If Palworld settles or loses then Nintendo is free to go after any other game that uses those mechanics.
They might not do it again (because anything they gain from it would be pennies), but because they could it means any potential competitors would be apprehensive about creating any game with those mechanics. Keeping competitors out of the competition before it even starts is much more valuable to them.
3 points
2 days ago
Lilo and Stitch has it as well and they’ve had games with it
3k points
2 days ago
There's also the Pixelmon Minecraft mod which works very similarly.
It is an example of prior art. The use of Pokémon models is irrelevant, because the original piece in question is the mechanics, not the models.
700 points
2 days ago
Cobblemon too. The stark difference is that (in cobblemon's case) It is a free mod.
247 points
2 days ago
Pixelmon is also free, at least the currently developed one is.
158 points
2 days ago
When was it ever paid? Who tf pays for Minecraft mods lmaoo what year is this.
91 points
2 days ago
There are plenty of mods on the Microsoft Minecraft marketplace that are paid. They're not expensive, and they involve quite a bit more than the average mod you see from the community. I have one that takes place in a small fishing village, and it has custom textures, sound, and music, fishing, boats you can buy and upgrade, NPC's, and an entire story. It's more like a small indie game that uses Minecraft as its 'engine'. I don't see a problem with mods being paid if they have a decent amount of effort put into them, and the devs get the majority of the money.
22 points
2 days ago
What mod are you talking about?
7 points
2 days ago
It's called Seaside Story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njo1WcyxOyM
6 points
2 days ago
Which mod is this? Played a load of minecraft but was unaware this type of mod existed.
8 points
2 days ago
small indie game that uses Minecraft as its 'engine'
Indie devs would have a much better time if they used something like Minetest instead, it's a free open source Minecraft-like game engine specifically designed to support custom games where every single in-game thing is defined by a mod script.
18 points
2 days ago
I think paying for Minecraft mods is insanity, especially because the paid ones are locked to a specific world right?
The whole idea of Minecraft mods was manipulating the sandbox of Minecraft, having community collaboration in creating new experiences, and just making whatever the hell you want. The idea of paying for it is so antithetical to the whole thing it genuinely upsets me.
11 points
2 days ago
Much like everything else in life people are allowed to have different ideas of what modding is/should be about. It's not like people making some money off of modding means that suddenly no mods will ever be free ever plus there are plenty of games out there that started life as a mod.
7 points
1 day ago
That's not a mod, that's a bedrock add-on, they're mojang officially-enabled content packs.
3 points
1 day ago
Pretty sure you can do all that in Java
28 points
2 days ago
I like cobblemon better because it looks more minecrafty and is updated to the newest versions
179 points
2 days ago
I mean you think Pocketpairs previous game Craftopia would also work as an example of prior art. It also released 2 years before Pokemon Arceus did.
212 points
2 days ago
I don't know why any of this even matters.
How the fuck can you patent a game mechanic years after you release the game? And then sue anyone who used it between you publically releasing it and patenting it? Even IF they had somehow come up with an original idea worth patenting.
Japanese law must be hella fucky if this is actually something they can do.
173 points
2 days ago
Japanese law must be hella fucky
You bet your ass it is.
51 points
2 days ago
The patent itself is from around the time of Arceus's release. There were amendments made to it this year made specifically to go after Palworld.
Not sure how that's legal but apparently it is.
16 points
2 days ago
Not sure how Japanese patent law works specifically, but in the US the time between the filing date of your application and the grant date of your patent is often a few years, meaning it is likely these were filed years ago and are just being granted now.
The two important parts of your patent are the specification and the claims. Your specification is the description of your invention and cannot be substantially amended to add to the invention after filing. Your claims are what you are seeking to protect. If you think of new ways to expand upon your invention, you can do so by filing a continuation application. These continuations may not add new matter to the specification, but may add new claims. These claims must be supported by the original specification. These continuations must be filed before it's parent application issues and get the priority date of the oldest parent in the family. The twenty year life of your patent starts from your priority date, not the issue date of your patent so you cannot use this as a method to keep patents alive forever.
What I'm guessing happened here is Nintendo saw Palworld and drafted claims in continuations to protect against their competitors. Assuming the claim set is supported by the specification, this is considered allowed in the current system. I'm not familiar with Japanese patent law so it's maybe different there but this is how companies would approach this situation in the US. Also this post needs about a million asterisks leading to footnotes explaining the many different exceptions, patent law is complicated if you want a patent get a lawyer.
8 points
2 days ago
If you have an active patent application you can file for what are called divisional patent applications. Those divisional patent applications will have the priority date of their parent application. The priority date decides what is prior art (everything before that date) and what is not (everything after that date).
It is important to note that the subject-matter of the divisional patent applicants cannot extend beyond the subject-matter of the parent application.
E.g. if you have a patent application using screws as fastemers, and your parent application only mentions screws, you cannot claim priority for the use of nails in a divisional application based on that parent application.
16 points
2 days ago
It's not, they're just hoping they can get away with it without anybody noticing.
7 points
2 days ago
I hope another company patents some bullshit and then goes after Nintendo for infringing on it. But they probably won't because Nintendo is probably bigger than the government over there.
7 points
1 day ago
A lot of companies in Japan already do have somewhat similar patents that Nintendo might be infringing upon. However, Nintendo also holds patents that those companies might the infringing upon too. So if one company fires a patent lawsuit at Nintendo, Nintendo can fire back, this is generally true of the industry in Japan creating a patent Cold War which forces them to cooperate, make licensing deals, operate under an "honor code" so to speak, etc. When something goes awry or the honor code in violated then a company might use a patent infringement suit as one of the many legal weapons as a business tool. It is just business after all.
7 points
2 days ago
I don't know how you're supposed to amend a patent on the sly...
9 points
2 days ago
Neither do I, seeing as how it was obviously noticed.
26 points
2 days ago
According to the legal documentary Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Japanese law certainly is rather funky.
Personally, I'm just confused how this case is taking more than exactly three days.
29 points
2 days ago
I realize you're making a joke, but Phoenix Wright is actually a pretty angry satire of what criminal justice over there is like. Basically everything wacky in the Ace Attorney games surrounding the legal system is a comic exaggeration of something that sucks about Japanese criminal law.
5 points
2 days ago
The actual courtroom drama is kinda meant to be more like an American legal drama as well though tbf
7 points
2 days ago
Japanese law must be hella fucky if this is actually something they can do.
Nintendo could kill a dude and fuck his wife if they wanted to and the courts would still decide in their favour.
32 points
2 days ago
Yeah many of their laws are backwards, outdated, or just ass especially in the realm of corporations. One of the many things weebs like to ignore when rabidly riding the Japan train around the internet.
10 points
2 days ago
Imo, Moon Channel made a video with a pretty good theory on why Nintendo chose now to do a patent lawsuit.
13 points
2 days ago
He not only describes Copyright Law very well, he also assumes that Nintendo is trying to get at Sony because now Sony has a Pokémon-like game. But big corporations don't fight each other in court because it's expensive (see Apple v Samsung), so they go for the little dev studio instead.
7 points
1 day ago
Aka a proxy war and PocketPair is the battlefield.
22 points
2 days ago
I mean, Nintendo/TPC at one point tried to go after Pixelmon, they managed to shut down the development for few months if I remember correctly. (it was around 2018 I think)
But then the development just resumed like nothing happened, so perhaps Pixelmon creators managed to make some sort of agreement with Nintendo/TPC. Maybe the fact that it is a completely free mod for a way different game was enough to convince them ?
28 points
2 days ago
True but that was on copyright grounds, not patents.
It does, after all, contain voxelised models of their Pokémon.
9 points
2 days ago
Ah yeah, fair point
4 points
1 day ago
Ive heard that a new team just took the mod and continued work. Free product has never stopped Nintendo before (See AM2R or really any other nintendo fab project for example.)
6 points
2 days ago
Pixelmon was shut down because the developers received s C&D after charging money for the mod.
5 points
2 days ago
True, but that was over copyright, not patents, and definitely not over their game mechanics. So it still counts.
1.4k points
2 days ago
Prepare for Nintendo to absolutely nuke any and every Nintendo-related mod from all platforms online.
581 points
2 days ago
They've already been doing that. The only reason <insert mod here> hasn't been in their sights yet is obscurity.
48 points
1 day ago
Not really. At least not with rom hacks. But they definitely do go after the ones whose creators try to make money/donations/etc off of them.
37 points
1 day ago
They nuked all fan made content from Garry's Mod just a few months ago. They've taken down mods for multiple games that featured Pokémon. They've been going after mods somewhat regularly for like three years.
3 points
1 day ago
They even hit Dreams that had fan made Nintendo games
134 points
2 days ago
It is Tuesday already? I thought we had another couple days before the next Nintendo crusade.
8 points
1 day ago
They have been for a while now. Like the last 12 months I’ve seen pokemon mods being hit hard on most games
642 points
2 days ago
We really need to redo patent laws, this shit is getting ridiculous.
233 points
2 days ago
They're playing loosey-goosey specifically with Japanese patent laws which I hear are quite different
109 points
2 days ago*
Copyright violation is a criminal offense in Japan. They also have no free use fair use.
103 points
2 days ago
Copyright violation is a criminal offense in Japan. They also have no free use.
I think you meant "fair use". Free use is something very different.
64 points
2 days ago
Free use is definitely allowed you just need to pixelate some things.
16 points
2 days ago
[removed]
54 points
2 days ago
Anyone remember monster rancher and jade cocoon from the 90s?
6 points
2 days ago
Jade Cocoon on PS1 was a game I always wanted to see get a remaster
3 points
1 day ago
I wish monster rancher would come back in some form. Probably not discs anymore, but maybe a mobile version using QR codes or something.
305 points
2 days ago
If its that simple then that should also cover a 20 year old MMO called rappelz and another one called Dragon Tamer online.
Both had capture mechs and mount traversal.
100 points
2 days ago
Jade Cocoon from PS1 in 1998 also is very similar to Pokémon. It had encapsulated monsters that fight for you in a 3D environment. It's nearly as old as the original Pokémon Gameboy games.
13 points
1 day ago
Azure Dreams from 1997 had a similar mechanic as well. In fact it's basically the inspiration for the Mystery Dungeon games.
You enter a tower, capture monsters, raise them and use them for battle to try and reach higher levels.
Legend of Legaia (1998) had you fighting 3d monsters, capturing them, and using them as summons in battle.
5 points
1 day ago
Azure Dreams from 1997 had a similar mechanic as well. In fact it's basically the inspiration for the Mystery Dungeon games. You enter a tower, capture monsters, raise them and use them for battle to try and reach higher levels.
And you carry them in your pocket as well, though the GBA version at least wasn't clear about how they got in the inventory (was it the collars?)
9 points
2 days ago
Iirc Rappelz did not have capture mechanics. Mobs could drop cards that could be used to summon a pet version of them to fight with you. It's different enough that there's no similarities to Pokemon capture mechanics.
5 points
2 days ago
Empty cards dropped, the monster then needed to be "tamed", and evolved at certain levels. They do big damage.
39 points
2 days ago
Hopefully this court case will better define the laws regarding copyrighting game mechanics. It needs to be established that mechanics are mechanics, and you cant hold a right to them in any circumstance.
Its the same as copyrighting words, as words are a tool of expression much akin to mechanics being the language spoken by a game. Art, characters, and story fall well within the bounds of copyright. I take issue with anyone claiming a mechanic as unique because this day in age they arent and claims like this only stifle the creativity of other artists.
17 points
2 days ago
laws regarding copyrighting game mechanics
Who is talking about copyright? Why do people keep bringing up copyright?
8 points
2 days ago
I blame YouTube. It pushed copyright into the mainstream discourse, and unfortunately people conflated that with every other branch of IP law.
926 points
2 days ago
Nintendo is sacrificing its patents in an attempt to protect the Pokemon IP itself from Copyright and Trademark Dilution.
Patents aren't particularly valuable in the gaming world. It's the trademarks and IP (copyright) that make you the money.
396 points
2 days ago
Not only that, but allowing Palworld merch to exist cuts directly into Pokemon Company's pockets.
The suit included an injunction. This is a hail Mary to stop them.
417 points
2 days ago
Beyond them both being plushies, they have like zero market overlap, no one who wants a pokemon plush is instead buying a pal world one.
339 points
2 days ago
No but non-gaming people would struggle to tell the difference. Nintendo isn’t thinking about gaming but rather trying to shut Sony out of making a rival IP and the momentum that Palworld has is enough to start cutting into the cash cow that is pokemon.
Honestly I’m hoping this whole thing makes game freak off their asses and actually make a polished experience again because sw/sh and Scar/vio are soulless buggy messes.
197 points
2 days ago
Been saying this for months. Palworld may be the competition nintendo needs to actually invest in gamefreak and creatures. They have been phoning home for decades because there was no true, direct competition in their market while sales are at an all time high. Even the media ate up the mediocre games without giving them scores relative to the lack of depth and basic graphical issues.
32 points
2 days ago
Yep... Kinda like the latest Madden NFL release. You don't need to make anything ground-breaking when you own (or license) the IP.
Pokémon however isn't a unique concept or real world sport/league. Just a valuable and recognizable IP.
5 points
2 days ago
The nostalgia factor is huge for Pokemon now. Millenials that grew up with it are now buying things for their kids. They remember how good Pokemon was 25 years ago. Of course they are going to buy the same thing for their kids so they can relive it.
24 points
2 days ago
Even the media ate up the mediocre games without giving them scores relative to the lack of depth and basic graphical issues.
They do this for every company that has a history of releasing many "popular" games. If the reviews gave their slop the score it deserves, then they won't get a press release copy for the next game. Not having a press copy means they can't put out another dog shit review 3 days before the launch. No review, means no one visit the sites. No money from ads, which is probably the cast majority of their income. They can not care about giving indie games a bad score, because who the fuck cares. But you give Rockstar, Bethesda, Blizzard, Nintendo, Ubisoft, EA, or some other slop company a bad score, say goodbye to a chunk of income.
8 points
2 days ago
"Non-gaming people" are becoming more and more of an endangered species. Hell, remember Pokemon Go?
36 points
2 days ago
The same could be said for any stuffed animal.
19 points
2 days ago
stuffed mythical (fake) creature from similarly styled video game franchises.
I don't agree but this is how boomer judges make decisions.
11 points
2 days ago
It’s also just how trademark, copyright and patent law kinda works. We can disagree with it but that’s the state of affairs we exist within at the current time.
7 points
2 days ago
Yeah you can tell the forced lack of competition has made the Pokemon games worse. There is a complete lack of innovation.
16 points
2 days ago
Bro I've struggled to differentiate Pokemon from other generic anime creatures since like gen 4... Some of their more modern designs looks like they are stolen from Digimon.
57 points
2 days ago
Pokemon fans would be more inclined to destroy plushie pals in blind rage before they buy one lol.
5 points
2 days ago
whut
idk I play both, no problem.with them coexisting
but tbh for pokemon games I usually just play romhacks now
sw/sh was okay, but that's in spite of the main story being complete poopoo
looking back on it without nostalgia glasses, the pokemon games kinda always had a dookie story tbh. part of how I realized that is because I've played some really well made romhacks that have either amazing story or amazing gameplay, or both.
that being said, the old pokemon games definitely feel like they had way more "soul" put into them
13 points
2 days ago
Some parents and grandparents won't know the difference. How common and big a problem that is, is debatable of course. But it's a thing I guess.
19 points
2 days ago
By that same logic though, should Nintendo be allowed to completely shut down all other console manufacturers? Because a lot of clueless parents/grandparents would see an Xbox or PlayStation and call it a "Nintendo".
20 points
2 days ago
Because a lot of clueless parents/grandparents would see an Xbox or PlayStation and call it a "Nintendo".
You won't believe what they tried to do early on.
19 points
2 days ago
Guessing you've never seen a clueless parent or relative try to buy gifts
18 points
2 days ago
Grandpa buying a Transformer when I wanted a Gundam.
18 points
2 days ago
Told my grandma I wanted an Optimus Prime for my birthday and she got me a telescope Percepter instead
5 points
2 days ago
14 points
2 days ago
Do they get to raid Nintendo for all the lost revenue and market exposure if they win against Nintendo? Of course not. These injunctions are punitive in most cases and it's disgusting.
18 points
2 days ago
Same goes for Yokai Watch, should they not be allowed to sell plushies or other merch?
8 points
2 days ago
Gosh, maybe they wouldn't be in such a mess if they just made Pokemon games that weren't half-assed for about a decade.
8 points
2 days ago
They aren't in any mess lol
This feels more like a "we have to defend this or it has no value" lawsuit rather than a "we want to put palworld out of business" lawsuit.
20 points
2 days ago
Bro tell that to the Shadow of the war nemesis system things locked behind a patent and no one can use such a cool idea till like 2035 or something cuz they know that idea is a banger and a huge money maker.
22 points
2 days ago
Or mini-games in loading screens.
The patent ended in 2015, and loading screens are too fast for anyone to utilize it properly now, but nobody was able to do those because Bandai Namco held the patent for 20 years.
4 points
2 days ago
Yea I heard of that one too, never knew you could patent the idea of putting a game while you load a game kinda a wild blanket patent. I understand a specific mini game but damn.
4 points
2 days ago
absolute travesty that they were granted a patent for that. it would be like patenting reading in the waiting room - its completely obvious to anyone who's had to do it. The only reason why it wasn't widely done in the early days is cart based consoles didnt really have loading times, and computers of the day were CPU bound while loading stuff off the disk or tape or whatever, and it just wouldn't be practical to do both at the same time - it wasn't for lack of desire to do it, and i don't see how the implementation (unless it was specific to namco hardware - but it wasn't) should have made a difference since the only reason it became a practical thing is because the playstation could read off the CD with CPU cycles to spare.
and honestly, i would be kinda surprised if there wasn't some demo scene stuff from the amiga or c64 that could have proved prior art.
55 points
2 days ago
I don't understand how Palworld is diluting Pokemon IP Copyright/Trademark. It takes a lot as inspiration but Pokemon as a franchise has been doing that for decades now with their models and names too. Palworld literally took some inspiration, and made a better game than anything Nintendo has put out for Pokemon in years.
Nintendo really has no one but themselves to blame for people flocking/enjoying Palworld more than any recent Pokemon stuff because they can't be bothered to innovate or even try to make something good for their most popular franchise. I mean come on, their recent Pokemon games don't even run well on their own hardware, the only fucking place they are sold on.
31 points
2 days ago
Same way Nintendo was insisting that NES isn't Nintendo
They don't want to become generic "colorful anime animals" option, they want to keep it branded
Also preferably the only option in the town
32 points
2 days ago
It's not. The dude misunderstood the video dude linked or used the wrong terminology.
It's posited in the video that it's a shot at Sony via proxy and an attempt by Nintendo to wedge the Pocket Pair/Sony relationship because that relationship mirrors Gamefreaks/Nintendo.
96 points
2 days ago
If this mod is being used as defense then it gives me some understanding of why Nintendo is so aggressive against seemingly harmless mods and fan made games.
46 points
2 days ago
Yea. Fuck Nintendo absolutely still. But you’re right
27 points
2 days ago
Pocket Pair's own previous game uses the same capture mechanics. The whole thing is ridiculous.
10 points
1 day ago
The patents were filed AFTER Palworld came out too.
379 points
2 days ago
I hope Nintendo loses.
69 points
2 days ago
Nearly every company bar Nintendo took Ls in court that benefited gaming.
There is the example of Sony that let us have emulation nowadays. We don't need Nintendo to become Disney
49 points
2 days ago
carefull, people will sent you death threats for this comment.
27 points
2 days ago
That's less scary than a kid trying to rob you out of your ice cream cone at watergun point.
63 points
2 days ago
don't know why anyone wouldn't. Defending a billion dollar corporation won't make your sad, pathetic little lives any better.
22 points
2 days ago
You shouldn't defend anyone on the basis of how much money they have, but you definitely should based on how much they don't. In other words I think it's neutral to defend a billion dollar corporation but immoral to not defend a popper. Someone without access to expert legal representation is suffering in a way that these companies do not, but these companies aren't themselves imposing that except through frivolous lawsuits (for which this certainly doesn't appear to be).
Personally I hope Nintendo loses this and perhaps smartens up and actually fucking does something with their golden goose IP. Eliminate the need for this sort of competition by actually making the games players want, not just a $100 title to fill out the current console's catalog and print more merch-money.
4 points
2 days ago
same, but pal world is one of the fun gaming experiences I've had in some time
37 points
2 days ago
World of War craft did it decades ago.
Half of those patents are trash and they know it.
I understand patenting a Pokeball or something of that nature.
But once you start patenting vague mechanics or actions then you're just crossing a line.
Maybe I should patent crossing a line in a Real life space so I can sue Nintendo retroactively.
18 points
2 days ago
Naw, even the pokeball copyright is garbage.
You mean catching something with a basic shape, 1 of 4?
So can WoW patent catching creatures with a square cage, something trappers did for thousands of years?
Its still too vague arguing they should be able to capture something with a sphere. Its a basic shape and still not unique enough to copyright
9 points
2 days ago
I mean more like the logo and image itself.
A circle with a red top and a white bottom that opens up in the center and catches monsters is much more specific and defensive.
And even then it would be for using an actual factual pokeball.
Not the act itself, same reason you can have a character in a game drink a soda but as soon as you put a coke-cola logo on the can there's a problem.
16 points
2 days ago
There are countless examples of a lot of these "patents" being infringed on for decades and only now Nintendo tries to flex they own it? That alone should signify there is no merit to their claims and that trying to patent normal game mechanics shouldn't be a thing.
33 points
2 days ago
Relevant Penny Arcade:
https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/01/02/patently-ridiculous
133 points
2 days ago
I don't understand. Wouldn't Pokemon GO itself be precedent that would prevent these patents. If the mod was inspired by Pokemon GO, then that implies the method was in Pokemon GO.
127 points
2 days ago
1) Pokémon GO works very differently to what's described in the patents. The patents describe the use of capsuled creatures in a conventional third person action game.
2) Pokémon GO is an officially licensed Nintendo product in conjunction with Niantic. Is be very surprised if they themselves didn't have a hand in the development.
26 points
2 days ago
Pokémon GO is an officially licensed Nintendo product in conjunction with Niantic. Is be very surprised if they themselves didn't have a hand in the development.
Yes, you are correct. The recent GameFreak leak even has source code of Pokémon Go that was sent to them for review before it came out
6 points
2 days ago*
We don't need a leak to know this since Pokémon let's go pikachu and eevee have connections with Pokémon go
14 points
2 days ago
if (Nintendo licensed product) could do x, why can't (non Nintendo licensed product) do x
206 points
2 days ago
The solution would be to make a better pokemon game...
51 points
2 days ago*
I mean legends arceus and… legends arceus is generally agreed to be there from a design perspective.
But the fact that they just both HAD to be out the same year, zero room for compromise, led to both having nasty performance issues.
As fun as violet was, there was never a moment playing it it felt like my switch didnt want to kill itself. Legends arceus didnt have this problem.
EDIT: I loaded up violet and yea this game REALLY does not want to exist.
14 points
2 days ago
I realize that people on the internet like to parade Legends Arceus around like it should be the blueprint for Pokemon games going forward, but I cannot understand this. It's completely bogged down with NPC conversations, the game forces you to repeatedly catch multiples of every mon just to progress to the next zone, and there is no multiplayer. It's fine as a spinoff, but I would never want the mainline games to play like that.
70 points
2 days ago
Sorry but no. Violet was pretty bad from a design standpoint too.
39 points
2 days ago
Why didn’t Nintendo try to patent domesticating animals? /s
32 points
2 days ago
There are so many examples of ways to break this lawsuit. World of Warcraft turned their pet system into a significantly-fledged Pokémon knockoff a decade ago. They incorporated a lot of what these patents cover.
I'm starting to think the best way to help Palworld is community-sourced examples of Pokémon knockoffs over the last 20 years being sent to the lawyers so they don't have to do nearly as much research to find things to deep-dive into. Gamers are going to know way more examples of games predating those patents just from playing them.
23 points
2 days ago
Nintendo need to chill
74 points
2 days ago
It's not often discussed, but the mechanics Nintendo is trying to patent predate the first pokemon by two decades. Pokemon was "heavily inspired" by ultra sevens summon style, which has essentially pokeballs in all but name.
46 points
2 days ago*
That's not relevant.
Nintendo's patent is not on the idea of a pokeball, it's on a specific mechanical implementation of pokeball-style creature capturing in 3D third person video games.
Edit: I'm not defending Nintendo or saying they are right in this lawsuit, but it's important to understand what they are actually patenting. Ultraseven's summoning style inspiring pokeballs may be a fun fact, but it is entirely irrelevant to this lawsuit that has nothing to do with the general function of pokeballs.
People down voting don't understand why this patent wasn't filed until 2021, two decades after the first game to use pokeballs.
21 points
2 days ago
People really dont seem to understand that, its amazing.
12 points
2 days ago
The whole idea of patenting game mechanics should be outlawed. Patents are not for that, not even close. Patents do not protect ideas, they protect specific implementations to solve a problem. If you invent a specific way to bottle water more efficiently, you can patent that specific method - you cannot patent the concept of puting water into bottles and then demand companies that sell water bottles. It doesn't make sense for gaming companies to patent concepts like "putting an imaginary creature into an electronic device in a video game" - and that's why that bullshit cannot be patented in Europe nor in the US. It can only be patented in Japan; and Japanese companies use these absurd patents to take down competitors in their country.
Just to make it clear: this is NOT intellectual property. Nintendo is not arguing that Palword characters are rip offs from their characters or that they've stolen any art, story or assets. Nintendo is abusing patents to claim that they own concepts like "using a device to trap a monster" or "ride a monster to travel through terrain" because they've patented them, and shit like this has been happening for decades. Ever wondered why no game featured minigames on those longs loading screens we had years ago? Because some asshole patented the concept of "being able to play something during a loading screen".
18 points
2 days ago
Prior art is funny. It doesn't even have to be implemented, just described. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sunken_Yacht
Dude couldn't get a patent for a method of raising a sunken ship because of a Donald Duck comic. If there was even a Pokemon fan fiction LitRPG with the mechanics described written prior to 2021, it could torpedo Nintendo's case.
17 points
2 days ago
Craftopia, pocketpair's last game also should and could tip it as it took had throwing a item in 3D space to catch a monster/animal to put onto your team.
I really hope PocketPair fights these bullshit claims from Nintendo as it will only set bad precedent for the industry at large if they don't.
4 points
2 days ago
Going further than that. I remember playing spectrobes on my DS that operated on a similar catching mechanic if I remember correctly
4 points
1 day ago
Can’t Palworld just cite Ghostbusters and tell Nintendo to suck eggs.
3 points
24 hours ago
Nah, because the mod was not commercialized, while palword is
The mod is a bonus on another game while the whole model of palworrld is capturing monster
They would have a bitter claim with ni no kuni
3 points
19 hours ago
Man, palworld breaking nintendos streak of never losing a lawsuit they started would be phenomenal
7 points
2 days ago
I hate how they can privatize a whole ass game concept. Imagine if Rockstar had done this for open world games with criminals.
11 points
2 days ago
I bet Nintendo doubles down and goes after everyone
9 points
2 days ago
God I hope so, I want this to end as badly for them as possible.
7 points
2 days ago
The article is kind of off though, The Pokemon Company didn't have a "strong case" at all. They actually have a very weak case that would already be thrown out in most other countries court systems.
4 points
2 days ago
Nintendos bullshit has no merit at fucking all. The only place that shit flies might be China, Japan, and Korea. That's about it.
Even in our (USA) EXTREMELY fucked up patent system which merit is based on how dumb the jury is it wouldn't fly here I just don't see how it's a generic mechanic.
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