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Palworld ditches Pokéball-style summoning mechanic amid Nintendo legal battle
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this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2024
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I am not usually in favour of big companies bullying smaller companies with the law, but it's pretty egregious how much they were ripping off Pokémon.
Edited to add, apparently this was a really hot take. I am not saying that the gameplay between the games was similar, but I saw a comparison of several of the designs of the creatures for the first time when this whole kinda started kicking off a bit ago and it was the first time I realized how blatant the designs were lifted right from popular Pokémon. Combined specifically with the pokeball-alikes and like... I don't know how people can defend it. There's homage and then there's IP theft.
The game itself isn't ripping off anything. Pokémon is such a direct "rip off" of digimon, too, then. Except it doesn't matter, cause that's what stuff is. Stuff is made up of other stuff and oftentimes there will be similarities!
I mean, for one I was talking about the designs of the creatures and the specific ball mechanic/theme, but also Pokémon came out before Digimon anyway.
Gen 1 Pokemon designs were straight rips of Dragon Quest monsters.
Arguably the Poke ball mechanic first appeared in anime such as Dragon Ball, Im not sure on any games predating Pokemon, but if they had patented it with the first games release it would have expired by now.
Nintendo will pull off some bullshit but they really shouldn’t have a leg to stand on.
How was Dragon Ball similar to pokeballs and their catching mechanics? I'm not seeing that similarity at all.
Never seen any comparisons between Dragon Quest and Pokémon. Do you have examples?
The anime one will be harder to source clips but I do recall creatures being released as ‘energy’ then forming quickly from thrown objects. Will need to get back to you on that one!
Don't really agree with the top pic at all, but some of the comparisons in the bottom one are interesting. Some are slay a really big stretch I think, but I do see why people would compare. I think if Enix went after Nintendo in the early nineties I could get behind them on a couple of these, but that ship has sailed a long time ago.
Still going to disagree about the Dragon Ball comparison. Not really seeing any comparison between those two.
They might be referring to CapsuleCorp's capsules. They would store big things in tiny capsules, much like Poke balls work. I don't recall people or monsters ever being store in them, nor do I remember things forcibly being put into them at all. It's possible this was bigger on Dragon Ball, as a kid I was more familiar with Dragon Ball Z.
Lemmy is the wrong place to mention Nintendo. You will get obliterated by people.
I don't mind. It's no different than Reddit, people see downvotes and just pile on. No room for discussion, no thoughtful discourse, just hive mind.
Brother, you made a stupid comment. You didn't read the article and you don't know why the lawsuit is happening. Literally all of your comments are irrelevant to the discussion — you can't hide behind it's the hivemind!
I did read the article and I do know why the lawsuit is happening, at least what's been reported, as I've read a few articles about it. I'm not hiding behind anything, and people are free to disagree with me.
A reminder that all I said at first was that I was surprised to find out just how much they were ripping off Pokémon, and what I was referring to (but not clearly) were in many of the designs and the brazen pokeballs. I didn't comment on the lawsuit at all, at first.
I really hope you're lying because if you do know what this is about, then that just makes all of your comments worse. Also, you're calling people who disagree with you a hivemind, so don't try to pretend you're fine with it.
You said that, in this case, you were in favor of a big company bullying a little one with the law because they ripped off pokemon designs, which isn't even a topic that is being discussed here. If anyone needs a reminder of what you commented, it's you.
No, I called people who saw downvotes and piled on to the downvotes a hive mind. Please do not put words in my mouth.
Have a nice day.
I just want you to know that I saw your comment, said "oh, that's off topic and an overall bad take", and then downvoted. That's when I noticed your score was negative and not positive. I'm not part of a hive mind, friend. You just had/have a bad take imo.
If you really downvoted because you thought it was off topic then I think you used the button correctly, but in that case I'd just disagree with what is off topic. A thread about pokemon and palworld and I'm commenting comparing the two doesn't feel like a stretch to me but, eh.
Doesn't change my opinion about people downvoting though. My experience overall has been very similar to reddit, which makes sense considering the huge migration from there to here.
Now we're pretty far off topic though, so have a nice day.
It wasn't terribly off topic, no. But the "design similarities" point is pretty weak and not related to the matters at large. To address it though, I fundamentally disagree that ip theft or patent theft or anything else we can boil down to "OC donut steel" is a serious issue. Creativity is iterative, nothing is original, and pretending otherwise is silly. We make a big deal of these things because money is involved, but that doesn't compel my opinions whatsoever. Stickman drawings have been copied since humans could draw, and we've been iterating on them ever since. If someone claims to own the Stickman design, they're a dumbass. Incidentally, that's what happened with Nintendo claiming they own the concept of throwing a thing that summons another thing. The whole ordeal is ridiculous and only serves to stifle creative endeavors for monetary security.
I'm sure you've already heard these things and chosen to ignore them. That's your prerogative. I downvoted you because I think you're wrong and making a bad point. That's mine. Others feel the same way. People agreeing with the sentiment doesn't make them a hive mind. It means they've made similar observations about the same phenomenon. You're dehumanizing people by calling them a hive mind because they disagree with you. I'm calling you wrong because I think your opinion is wrong. You are allowed to be wrong, though. Your opinion is still perfectly valid and agreeable to many, many people. They are not a hive mind, but they are likeminded with you. That's okay. I encourage you to continue to voice your opinions despite opposition because I sincerely think that's a good thing for you to do. But try to remember that every single one of us (sans any possible bots) is actually a whole human with their own mind and reasons for doing what they do, even if you don't like them for doing it.
Nobody saw downvotes and piled on, people saw a dumb comment and downvoted it. Regardless of what you decide to tell yourself.
I don’t remember the vitriol being as consistent on reddit. On a larger scale here, if it’s a computer, it needs to be Linux or you’re downvoted. If it’s video games, it needs to be a PC or they don’t want to hear about it. Even Steam that was generally loved on Reddit gets some flack, because GOG is more DRM free from what I can tell (I don’t game on PCs)
Pokemon is a rip off of Dragon Quest and Shin Megami Tensei.
You mean like Pokémon “ripping off” Dragon Quest?
You can’t patent an art style.
For one, I didn't say you could patent an art style. But distinguishable character can be IP. You're like the fifth person to mention Dragon Quest and I've never heard of that comparison before, do you have any examples?
There are a bunch of images out there making the comparison, but here’s a good video of just a direct side to side of each design. https://youtu.be/CZXKKbSCA34
I'd be more willing to agree if Nintendo was going after them for similar art styles. They went after them for fucking throwing balls of all things. This is going to set a horrible precedent for the game industry.
So either Nintendo didn't believe the monster designs were rip offs, or they didn't feel it was a proper violation because they've shown themselves as willing to litigate.
I disagree with your premise but even if I agreed that any IP theft has occurred, why do you care? surely you're aware that nintendo aggressively invests in IP lawyers and lawsuits?
Well, yes, that's why the lawsuit was happening. I'm not sure what your point was. I care because I think that IP theft is wrong.
The lawsuite is Happening because of patent trolling..
that's actually not why the lawsuit is happening though..
They're both based on the same source material - various mythological creatures and real animals with a twist
I used to think Pokemon was super original - but a lot of it just seems they way because we don't learn much about Japanese or asian folklore overseas.
Like take Magikarp. There's a Chinese proverb about a carp leaping through the dragons gate (an actual waterfall) turning into a dragon (meant to describe how with diligence a common person could become powerful through the civil official exams)... The weak magic carp, if diligently leveled, can become a Chinese dragon that looks exactly like the ones they use in parades.
Meouth - a wealth giving cat, many asian shops have a cat figure with a gold coin for luck. And Persian is just a lioness (a bigger cat) with the same design.
Vulpix/Ninetails - nine tailed fox
Ekans - snakE. Arbok - kobrA. Pidgey - pigeon. Pigiotto, pigeot? Reminds me of fire, fira, firaga, firaja naming scheme from final fantasy
Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan - Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan
Noticably, most of these puns and references to actual people are not copied, instead it is things like wolves and mythological creatures
If anything, it's the style of the art that makes them so similar - but copying aesthetics is how art grows and develops. It's not like they were the first or only ones to copy the style either