Hi ripps7,
Thanks very much for your kind words! I’m glad you like the game and my site - your saying so means a lot!
About your questions about remakes, I should start by saying that I don’t consider my games remakes per se - while I do use Atari-style box art on my site to invoke nostalgia and to signify that my games are classic arcade games, I do believe that the games/apps themselves are their own thing. The one exception, arguably, is Igloo Command -
Igloo Command is definitely inspired by Atari’s Missile Command, but I’d hesitate to call it a remake. But even if it were, it is my understanding that as game makers we are on pretty stable legal ground when it comes to using elements/objectives that have been in past games and have become industry conventions. For instance, just because a game has a character jumping from platform to platform and collects coins/rings/etc. doesn’t mean it infringes on Mario. There have been tons of clones of games that are so classic that they’ve begun their own genres! Missile Command, Lunar Lander, and Breakout are a few examples that come to mind. Even in the modern era, you see many games that are laid out with very similar control schemes and play mechanisms. No one would accuse Battlefield, Modern Warfare, and Counterstrike of infringing on each other. Same thing with any Facebook game (e.g. Farmville, Civilization World, Sim City Facebook, etc.)
I’d also say that simply by existing on iPhone/iPad/Android and other platforms with touch screens that these ‘remakes’ are completely new games by virtue of the way they are controlled. For instance, the original Missile Command uses a trackball, joystick or gamepad, meaning the game consists of moving the cursor back and forth as quickly as possible and being precise with firing. With Igloo Command, since you can touch anywhere on screen without having to ‘drag’ your cursor from point to point, the game becomes more about firing frenetically and following your instinct. My point is, although the premise of defending cities from attacking bombers/projectiles is the same, both the style and the mechanics of play are completely different. I hope that makes sense.
I think the only thing legally to be concerned about is creating a game that attempts to confuse customers into thinking yours is an official product/variant of one of those classic games and that’s definitely not my intention! My aim is to take what made a classic game great and make it even better by leveraging the new capabilities of our modern devices and adding my own sense of style.
I wouldn’t worry about legal stuff as you build your game - there are so many clones/remakes/games inspired by classics on the internet and on various game marketplaces and they don’t interfere with the existence/profitability of those classic games and their copyright holders. The key is never try to confuse consumers into who is producing your game or what franchise it belongs to. In many ways they’re a great way for customers to get an experience similar to a classic game that is no longer available on the market. I think you should focus on making the game as good as it can be whether it happens to recreate elements that have been used before or not.
Good luck, I hope this was helpful, and I look forward to seeing your game!
Nick [import]uid: 7472 topic_id: 31150 reply_id: 124647[/import]
