[casual_games] Copycats -- What Can Be Done?

[Download Free Games]

I don't see why the portals should stop accepting them without a legal 
basis for doing so.  Clones would not appear on the sites if the playing 
audience weren't buying them.

 > The casual market will play what they are told to play.

I don't believe that is entirely true.  Yes, the player is limited to 
what is put before him, but you can't make someone buy an endless supply 
of clones without the desire for it.  I believe there is actually a 
saturation point for clones.  If you compare the sales of Zuma, then 
Luxor, then Tumblebugs, then Atlantis, I think you see a steady drop 
with each clone iteration - at least that was true on my site.

 >Prime positioning can skyrocket practically any decent game.

My tests prove differently.  A decent game (I am taking this to mean 
"average in terms of sales") will improve its sales somewhat with decent 
positioning, but this often diminishes quickly as the potential buying 
audience is much smaller than a hit game.  Prime positioning works much 
better for hit games as higher sales rates are sustained over a much 
longer period of time.

 >The second thing I think we need to see happen is for portals to open 
their doors to the information they have mined on their player base.

There might be a possibility for this between a portal and a developer 
for the developer's title, with an NDA in place.  Sometimes portals do 
publish some of this information. I think Real Arcade had it on one of 
their brochures at a recent conference.  However, anything beyond 
generalities is proprietary and can be competitively valuable information.

 >The more information we as developers are given, the more targeted and 
successful games we can supply.

I think under a publishing arrangement you would could get this kind of 
information.  Otherwise you may be better off doing your own tests with 
traffic driven to your own site.

Jim Rosenquist
Download-Free-Games.com



bizdev at injoygames.com wrote:
> I think the bigger issue is not the pursuit of legal steps to preventing
> clones but rather for casual game portals to _stop accepting_ them.  The
> casual market will play what they are told to play.  Prime positioning can
> skyrocket practically any decent game.  Portals keep pushing clones so its
> a self fulfilling prophecy.
>
> The second thing I think we need to see happen is for portals to open
> their doors to the information they have mined on their player base.  Most
> of us are shooting blindly based on Top 10 charts and the '35 year old
> female gamer' stat.  Surely much more information is being pulled out and
> why is it being so convented?  The more information we as developers are
> given, the more targeted and successful games we can supply.
>
> Alex
> InjoyGames.com
>
>
> Lee Crawford wrote:
>
>   
>> There are several axes to consider here, the legal, the moral and the
>>     
> capitalistic side of the equation. I don't think there's a 'fix' for
> what your talking about.
>   
>> On the legal side the copyright protects the expression of an idea but
>>     
> not the core idea. A complete rip-off ( e.g., Dyner Dash) you could
> pursue in court but with a few variations in theme, nouns, etc. and
> you've got a separate expression of what might simply be shown to be a
> similar idea. Conventional wisdom holds that a 10% difference is 'safe
> ground'.
>   
>> On the moral side I tend to agree with you; i'd personally like to see
>>     
> more new, novel game designs instead of some much consistency. With a
> low innovation threshold you run the risk of over-dosing your customers
> and losing you audience. But, on the other hand, people who like a given
> game model appear to appreciate the variety (with spending as an
> indicator).
>   
>> I can't imagine any sort of coercive force the would lead customers to
>>     
> not buy similar games, distributors to not distribute those games,
> publishers to not fund and market those games, etc. How would you even
> make a clear determination; it's all lines in the sand.
>   
>>     * was Cake Mania a clone of Wild West Wendy or Diner Dash or ...
>>     * what if Wild West Wendy seemed like a Diner Dash clone because it
>>     
> came out after but they really started development first
>   
>>     * could the two simply be coincidence?
>>     * Diner Dash clearly spawned a new flurry of games but didn't it
>>     
> borrow from Betty's Beer Bar or the arcade classic (Root Beer)
> Tapper.
>   
>>     * etc.
>>
>> Finally, the biggest problem is capitalistic. These games sell; all of
>>     
> them. People who bought Diner Dash are obviously also buying Cake Mania
> and they're enjoying them both. Customers are buying,
> distributors/publishers/developers are all making money, etc.
>   
>> --lee
>>
>> On 4/27/06, Jim Stern <jstern at iwin.com> wrote:
>>
>>     I know there have been quite a few discussions in the past about
>>     
> developers and publishers being frustrated with all the cloning that
> is being done in games.  In some cases, the new games are clearly an
> improvement from their predecessors, and they can help to push the
> bar toward higher quality games.  In other cases, they literally are
> mimicking the same UI, layouts, game play, and art style.  I would
> like to know if anyone has information on:
>   
>>
>>     1)       Legal steps that can be done to thwart this kind of
>>     
> activity (whether certain parts of the game are copyrightable or if
> there is legal precedence to get the offending party to cease and
> desist), and
>   
>>     2)       Whether people are taking a stand against working with
>>     
> developers who are clearly violating the rights of those who
> developed the original idea
>   
>>
>>     Thanks.
>>
>>
>>
>>     Jim Stern
>>
>>     iWin, Inc.
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Lee Crawford
>> yim: lee_crawford
>> m: (415) 608-9271
>> o: (408) 349-5191
>>
>>
>>
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