Lady Lilith Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2014/02/06/flappy-bird-makes-50000-a-day-will-nintendo-take-notice/ I’m not normally one to suggest companies take legal action over IP infringement, if only because I think our system encourages overreaction. For instance, I think the entire saga of Candy Crush Saga creator King trademarking words like “candy” and “saga” and then preventing games like The Banner Saga from trademarking their own game’s title is absurd. But inexplicable mobile sensation Flappy Bird—read Paul Tassi’s Forbes review here—may have gone too far, even for me, when it comes to ripping off other games, joining the ranks of mobile developers like Zynga in their disregard for the ethics of copycatting. Even without playing the game it’s easy to see how far the likeness goes. As Kotaku points out, the game is raking in an astounding $50,000 a day—all on apparently ripped off art. That’s a lot of cash for a game that most people have described as pretty terrible. Terrible but still, somehow, addictive. Both the pipes and the titular bird are nearly identical to assets found in past Mario games. Same for some of the sound-effects and backgrounds. Indeed, it’s all so perfectly obvious one might chalk the whole thing up as an homage to classic Nintendo games. Or if not homage, perhaps critique. As Kotaku notes, “The backgrounds also appear to be heavily inspired by Mario, perhaps as a subtle protest against Nintendo for not bringing their biggest games to iOS, or perhaps because Nguyen made the game in three days.” There’s something galling about a game widely acknowledged as bad, that only took three days to make, pulling down this sort of cash. I’m all for the under-dog, the little guy making something brilliant, but Flappy Bird isn’t some innovative, beautiful indie gem. It’s more like the embodiment of everything wrong with mobile—unoriginal, dull, and largely a ripoff of other peoples’ work. Nintendo has resisted mobile for its own reasons, and certainly the last thing they want to see is artwork from their games on iOS and Android in a title like this. I can’t imagine Nintendo being pleased at the thought of people confusing this for an actual Nintendo property. Indeed, should the company avoid some sort of legal action against Flappy Bird, it likely won’t be long before we see Flappy Bird knockoffs knocking off even more Nintendo IP. Flappy Plumber anybody? Nintendo’s absence in the mobile market makes them an easy target in this regard. Flappy Bird’s success will only inspire more of the same—even if that success is largely a happy and inexplicable accident. It’s one thing to prevent other game designers from using common English words in their games’ titles. It’s quite another to knock off published works and then make bundles of money on them. Flappy Bird isn’t a parody. It’s a cash-generating monstrosity.Maybe it’s even an argument for Nintendo entering the mobile space—after all, whilequality is important in other game mediums, in mobile all you need is the right feedback loop and that magical viral something. Tassi sums up everything that’s wrong with Flappy Bird, this weird new avatar for mobile games: Mindless fun is a perfectly acceptable form for a game to take. Mindless rage brought on by addiction is the dark side of game design, whether it’s killing player’s crops, making them pay to skip a countdown timer after death, or causing their little bird to crash into walls. It’s a disease I hope stays locked in the realm of mobile, and never makes the leap to traditional console and PC gaming. Flappy Bird is the enemy, and we must stay vigilant. Is it harmless? Is it really? I’m not so sure. As bad as it may be as a game, as much as it may represent “the enemy” at the end of the day it’s also a game that’s borrowed just a little too heavily from other peoples’ work. Whatever may be wrong with our IP laws—and there are plenty of things wrong—Nintendo going after Flappy Bird strikes me as a no-brainer, and quite possibly the only option Nintendo has. Update: Nintendo isn’t the only game developer being ripped off here. The game Piou Piou, released in 2011, looks just a tiny bit familiar. Just add a Mario-themed skin and we’re off to the races…. Gee...mobile app devs must be desperate for ideas and for a quick buck if they're ripping off Mario. It'll be interesting to see what Nintendo does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverstag88 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 While some aspects of the game may look similar to Mario, I doubt Nintendo would be able to do anything about it. Have you seen some of the Mario clones out there? Second, Flappy bird wasn't developed for a quick buck seeing as it's free and the developer stated he has no intention of ever charging for it. Yes, the game is making $50k a day but only because of the advertisements and the people who actually play it. Candy Crush is a blatant ripoff of bejeweled but they were able to trademark the word candy. This kind of thing happens all the time but people only get upset when they realize it's making tons of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo_Ascendent Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) I hate this game, not because it's frustrating, this is easy to accomplish, but just because of the hype. Why do people love this stupid game? There's nothing special about it, hell The Impossible Game (if you want to check it out http://impossiblegame.org/) is much more fun than this stupid crap. I hear that stupid bird on the bus, at work, at home (my GF is about to get booted into the streets) and I'm sick of it.... /End Rant "Gee...mobile app devs must be desperate for ideas and for a quick buck if they're ripping off Mario." How's this, Mario is insanely popular, world wide, one of the most recognized figures around. EDIT: Disregard, I think I misconstrued what you meant. Edited February 7, 2014 by Leo_Ascendent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRANGEgenius Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I hate mobile games with a passion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverstag88 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I don't get the people who say "This game is stupid anyone can make it." This explains that flappy bird isn't just a copy of Piou Piou. http://gandhirules.com/site/blog/gamedev/flappy-bird-isnt-a-copy-precisions/ I guess some people just don't like how hard it is and never get far enough to enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1973456 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I guess some people just don't like how hard it is and never get far enough to enjoy it. The same could be said about any game it all depends on their attention span and interests. My take on this whole Flappy Bird thing is that its just a fad that will most likely fade away in a few weeks just like every other mobile game hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverstag88 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 The same could be said about any game it all depends on their attention span and interests. My take on this whole Flappy Bird thing is that its just a fad that will most likely fade away in a few weeks just like every other mobile game hit. Turns out the creator of the app is deleting it tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Mayus Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Gee I hope Nintendo or other companies don't care about my new game I am making with my original character Super Black Megavania Aran 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisy21 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I hate mobile games with a passion. I'm with you on that. How anyone plays them never mind spend money on them is beyond me. Crappy bird is clearly a rip off and hope they do sue but doubt it will happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlindMango Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I was just reading this, and how the developer of the game Tweeted like an hour ago about how he was planning on taking the game off the App Store 20 hours from now... There's really no clear explanation as to why he's doing it either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumphy101 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 The game is okay. It lacks the story or replay value to last long. Literal repetition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrasticAutomatic Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 This got posted literally 10 minutes ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goekie Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I'm with you on that. How anyone plays them never mind spend money on them is beyond me. Crappy bird is clearly a rip off and hope they do sue but doubt it will happen. It wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo would sue. If it were up to them they'd be taking money of people who are making "Let's play" videos on youtube of Nintendo games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Mayus Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I didn't know the guy's last name was Nguyen Much like James Nguyen the creator of Birdemic The worse part is that Flappy Birds's birds are better looking than Birdemics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STRANGEgenius Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I'm with you on that. How anyone plays them never mind spend money on them is beyond me. Crappy bird is clearly a rip off and hope they do sue but doubt it will happen. From what i studied about copyright [i studied the journalism part of it; so i dont remember much on businesses] but he released it for free; so they can't sue him for that. But he was making money from ads; so i don't know how that would go into play...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mog Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/02/10/no-complaints-about-flappy-bird-nintendo-says/ RIP Flappy Bird. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fawazc98 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 I HATE you Flappy bird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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