It's impossible not to notice the resemblance it bears to SC1. 3 races (1 hum, 2 alien; robo & organic). Look at those buildings, units, maps O_O And the name... StarFront -_- I wonder if Blizzard's gonna sue Gameloft. iPhone owners should check it out anyway
It does resemble SC but then again it looks like super old. then again...bug aliens and robot aliens in space isnt...too uncommon. Kinda reminds me of alpha alpha and even then this looks crappy T____T Im sure it will look better on an iphone where res is lower though. The video creation looks pretty dull...gameplay doesnt look too exciting.
Gameloft is famous for copying popular franchises and creating their own games with it. Another one is Soul of Darkness a blatant Castlevania "homage".
gotta love copywrite laws.... just like with music, just change a few key words and you are home free.... seriously, thats how karaoke companies can get away with what they do.... ever noticed the words in a karaoke song are nearly always ever so slightly wrong? Thats so they don't have to pay massive royalties.
Games have been doing this for years, how many tetris clones exist? Called like Tenpid and Tetroid etc.....
I don't know... I'm not a fan of rip-offs and copiers, and it does have a resemblance, very much so. I mean seriously, take an archon, remove the blue glow, give it a viking's helmet, and bam! What you get, :27.
On February 07 2011 20:36 Musli wrote: It's impossible not to notice the resemblance it bears to SC1. 3 races (1 hum, 2 alien; robo & organic). Look at those buildings, units, maps O_O And the name... StarFront -_- I wonder if Blizzard's gonna sue Gameloft. iPhone owners should check it out anyway
Nothing to sue here. "You made a game that is similar to ours!" is not really a good reason to sue.
The gaming industry is so full of rip-offs, just think of the thousands of WoW rip-offs.
Don't forget Starcraft is just a "ripoff" of Warhammer 40k.
...and WoW was a "ripoff" of Everquest.
The only real resemblance that game has to SC is that it is an RTS and it has 3 races. So yeah, I highly doubt they will be sued.
People should be happy that other games developers realise how well Starcraft works and want to copy ideas from it. I'm hoping that some developers take the idea of having a super balanced, competitive and fun RTS and refine that idea into the ultimate game.
That was what Blizzard did with WoW after all. They took the basic ideas of Everquest and refined the hell out of it so it played more smoothly, was more fun and in turn more popular. I still remember people laughing at WoW during the beta because of it's shit graphics (compared to EQ2) and the fact it didn't really bring much new to the genre as well as being extremely linear. We all know how that story ends.
In the 90s Blizzard was well known being able to take an existing idea or genre and do it better than anyone else could. They weren't really known as the company that came up with fantastic and fresh ideas. A good example of that would have to be Nintendo.
The sad exception to the Blizzard rule (in my opinion!) is SC2. It just seems more and more like an attempt to cash in on the name rather than an honest attempt at making a great RTS that will stand the test of time like the original.
Think of it like this, this is never going to remove people from SC, but tits cheap enough people might try it and like it and decide to try a real version of these games.. ie SC / Total War etc etc.
Once I saw the name gameloft I understood.. quick knock offs for a quick buck, usually pretty poor, but still popular. Kind of like that company that makes movies with titles similar to blockbuster films, that way some people are suckered into buying them thinking it's maybe a sequal when really its a low budget nasty cash in.
That voice acting is absolutely terrible. Not as terrible as much of sc2's, but still horrible. The strange phaser they have on his voice makes it 69x as terrible.
I don't own a mobile device, unless you count boom boxes, but might be worth looking into if you're into that kind of thing I suppose.
Are those graphics good for a cell phone? I'm not quite sure how far behind cell phone graphics are compared to video game graphics so I can't really tell if it's bad or good.
-Hey Stan, we should make a new game! -Yeah that would be fun! -Sooo... what popular games have come out this last month? -OH! what about starcraft? -starcraft? you mean... STARFRONT???? -YEEEEEEESESEESESESERSESKDFKFJHEJKHAFAHDFJKÖADSGJFDJHDFÖOHDH
then they went to Stan's house, had cider, crackers and watched grey's anatomy
On February 07 2011 20:36 Musli wrote: It's impossible not to notice the resemblance it bears to SC1. 3 races (1 hum, 2 alien; robo & organic). Look at those buildings, units, maps O_O And the name... StarFront -_- I wonder if Blizzard's gonna sue Gameloft. iPhone owners should check it out anyway
Nothing to sue here. "You made a game that is similar to ours!" is not really a good reason to sue.
The gaming industry is so full of rip-offs, just think of the thousands of WoW rip-offs.
In the 90s Blizzard was well known being able to take an existing idea or genre and do it better than anyone else could. They weren't really known as the company that came up with fantastic and fresh ideas. A good example of that would have to be Nintendo.
The sad exception to the Blizzard rule (in my opinion!) is SC2. It just seems more and more like an attempt to cash in on the name rather than an honest attempt at making a great RTS that will stand the test of time like the original.
Blizzard were actually quite innovative with StarCraft and WarCraft III. StarCraft was innovative for its time, just not ground breaking, but sure as hell brought a lot of new things to the table.
WarCraft III...... was quite unique for its time, before everybody started jumping on the bandwagon.
the people who are saying it's not too similar must not have watched the video. The alies look just like the toss and zerg and I swear I saw protoss buildings warping in
Gameloft do this with tons of games, does anyone really care though... back in the 90s also there were tons of RTS in this vein, it just so happened Starcraft is still popular so they decided to emulate that style.
Starcraft wasn't considered innovative for it's time, completely the opposite... i remember even partially negative reviews saying it's actually outdated mechanically compared to games like Total Annihilation. In hindsight, while TA had a lot of interesting ideas in it like actual weapon projectiles and radar (and TONS of useless units, which despite being useless reviewers were just judging by number of bad 3D modelled units it had), Starcraft was actually a much more fun game and competitive game. And Blizzard simply had a reputation for polishing other peoples ideas.
Starcraft was already considered to be a game of the past already, people seemed to believe RTS was actually going to expand into something a lot more. But there will always be room for a game like SC, where realism completely takes a backseat to the abstract nature of its warfare. Marines taking down a battlecruiser for example, it's more like just chess pieces on a board.
On February 07 2011 23:18 da_head wrote: That's how gameloft rolls. They rip off every genre possible lolol.
You expect every video game company to invent entire genres? Are you kidding? The VAST majority spend their time improving on existing genres. Know why? That's where most of the money comes from, because that's what people want! Blizzard are a classic example of a strong company that takes an existing genre and makes a fucking awesome game out of it.
On February 07 2011 23:18 da_head wrote: That's how gameloft rolls. They rip off every genre possible lolol.
You expect every video game company to invent entire genres? Are you kidding? The VAST majority spend their time improving on existing genres. Know why? That's where most of the money comes from, because that's what people want! Blizzard are a classic example of a strong company that takes an existing genre and makes a fucking awesome game out of it.
Whoa i'm not sure why you're getting so angry at him for, but Gameloft literally makes exact copies of current popular games with different titles for mobile systems, they done it for years, beginning with Java game clones of whatever big name game was of the time. Check out what they actually do before getting mad at someone.
On February 07 2011 23:18 da_head wrote: That's how gameloft rolls. They rip off every genre possible lolol.
You expect every video game company to invent entire genres? Are you kidding? The VAST majority spend their time improving on existing genres. Know why? That's where most of the money comes from, because that's what people want! Blizzard are a classic example of a strong company that takes an existing genre and makes a fucking awesome game out of it.
Whoa i'm not sure why you're getting so angry at him for, but Gameloft literally makes exact copies of current popular games with different titles for mobile systems, they done it for years, beginning with Java game clones of whatever big name game was of the time. Check out what they actually do before getting mad at someone.
I find it hard to imagine a mobile gaming company wouldn't come under scrutiny for such a thing.
There's a LOT of games there, and its not like you can afford to make a Metal Gear Solid experience on a mobile device. I don't see how its any different to what most video game companies do: Take an existing genre, take an existing game, and make it better.
Or, in their case, dumb it down so it works on a mobile device.
I dunno why you find it hard to believe, if you were familar with the mobile sector at all you'd know they completely rip off other games all the times. Such as: Angry Bird clones with other names but exact gameplay for a recent example. Gameloft's legitimate stuff is mainly Ubisoft ports they get allowed to do, but they also do the same as many other mobile devs and just capitalize on a popular current game. They just own more legit licenses than most.
How can you not look at that page and not think of rip-offs? Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus? Hero of Sparta 2? How is that not trying to completely jump on the bandwagon of popularity by trying to make their game look associated with Call of Duty and God of War?
I want to quote the last one for you all "Begin your journey with but a simple sword, acquiring new weapons and abilities along the way. Soon, you will wield the Sacred Shield, Locrian Hawk (boomerang), the Nagual Cobra (grappling hook) and even the platinum Gauntlet of Brakor."
I don't think Zelda ever had the platinum Guantlet of Brakor. Looks like a day one purchase.
On February 08 2011 04:13 infinity2k9 wrote: I dunno why you find it hard to believe, if you were familar with the mobile sector at all you'd know they completely rip off other games all the times. Such as: Angry Bird clones with other names but exact gameplay for a recent example. Gameloft's legitimate stuff is mainly Ubisoft ports they get allowed to do, but they also do the same as many other mobile devs and just capitalize on a popular current game. They just own more legit licenses than most.
How can you not look at that page and not think of rip-offs? Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus? Hero of Sparta 2? How is that not trying to completely jump on the bandwagon of popularity by trying to make their game look associated with Call of Duty and God of War?
I'm not saying they're not rip-offs. I'm just saying it happens all the time, because that's what people want. If people didn't buy them, then they wouldn't do it. And I can only assume they're good games on top of it, if not, they'd sell even worse and the company would go out of business. The guy I originally responded to was seemingly expecting that every video game company was out there forging new ground.
Its kind of a weird nexus in the industry. You've got years of awesome gameplay fleshed out in the last 20 years of video gaming, on high-tech devices, and all of a sudden there's this emerging market with tons of demand for good games, but on low-tech devices. Who wouldn't look at those great games and try to hit that market hard and fast with lots of good stuff? Gameloft are just doing what everyone else (in the mobile market development scene) is doing, so I think its a little unfair to single them out.
On February 07 2011 20:36 Musli wrote: It's impossible not to notice the resemblance it bears to SC1. 3 races (1 hum, 2 alien; robo & organic). Look at those buildings, units, maps O_O And the name... StarFront -_- I wonder if Blizzard's gonna sue Gameloft. iPhone owners should check it out anyway
Nothing to sue here. "You made a game that is similar to ours!" is not really a good reason to sue.
The gaming industry is so full of rip-offs, just think of the thousands of WoW rip-offs.
wow was a ripoff of everquest
eq was a ripoff of UO, if we're going by that standard =P
On February 08 2011 04:13 infinity2k9 wrote: I dunno why you find it hard to believe, if you were familar with the mobile sector at all you'd know they completely rip off other games all the times. Such as: Angry Bird clones with other names but exact gameplay for a recent example. Gameloft's legitimate stuff is mainly Ubisoft ports they get allowed to do, but they also do the same as many other mobile devs and just capitalize on a popular current game. They just own more legit licenses than most.
How can you not look at that page and not think of rip-offs? Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus? Hero of Sparta 2? How is that not trying to completely jump on the bandwagon of popularity by trying to make their game look associated with Call of Duty and God of War?
I'm not saying they're not rip-offs. I'm just saying it happens all the time, because that's what people want. If people didn't buy them, then they wouldn't do it. And I can only assume they're good games on top of it, if not, they'd sell even worse and the company would go out of business. The guy I originally responded to was seemingly expecting that every video game company was out there forging new ground.
Its kind of a weird nexus in the industry. You've got years of awesome gameplay fleshed out in the last 20 years of video gaming, on high-tech devices, and all of a sudden there's this emerging market with tons of demand for good games, but on low-tech devices. Who wouldn't look at those great games and try to hit that market hard and fast with lots of good stuff? Gameloft are just doing what everyone else (in the mobile market development scene) is doing, so I think its a little unfair to single them out.
On the contrary, I think it's totally fair to single them out for producing horrible knock offs. Just because lots of people are producing horrible knock offs doesn't mean they aren't guilty of producing cultural diarrhea.
On February 08 2011 00:08 gautamvirk86 wrote: OMFG lulzzz its the exact same copy, they definatly should be sued
Warcraft.
Warhammer.
Let's not have any double standards here. Starcraft takes elements whole-cloth from Warhammer 40,000, nobody kicks up a stink about that. Derirative work != Rip-off. Similar? Certainly? "Inspired by?", definitely. Rip-off? Not really. It's a 3 race space RTS with a simple resource system. It was not uncommon during the RTS boom, to see huge amounts of derirative, similar RTS games. Why is it suddenly not ok now?
On February 08 2011 04:13 infinity2k9 wrote: I dunno why you find it hard to believe, if you were familar with the mobile sector at all you'd know they completely rip off other games all the times. Such as: Angry Bird clones with other names but exact gameplay for a recent example. Gameloft's legitimate stuff is mainly Ubisoft ports they get allowed to do, but they also do the same as many other mobile devs and just capitalize on a popular current game. They just own more legit licenses than most.
How can you not look at that page and not think of rip-offs? Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus? Hero of Sparta 2? How is that not trying to completely jump on the bandwagon of popularity by trying to make their game look associated with Call of Duty and God of War?
I'm not saying they're not rip-offs. I'm just saying it happens all the time, because that's what people want. If people didn't buy them, then they wouldn't do it. And I can only assume they're good games on top of it, if not, they'd sell even worse and the company would go out of business. The guy I originally responded to was seemingly expecting that every video game company was out there forging new ground.
Its kind of a weird nexus in the industry. You've got years of awesome gameplay fleshed out in the last 20 years of video gaming, on high-tech devices, and all of a sudden there's this emerging market with tons of demand for good games, but on low-tech devices. Who wouldn't look at those great games and try to hit that market hard and fast with lots of good stuff? Gameloft are just doing what everyone else (in the mobile market development scene) is doing, so I think its a little unfair to single them out.
On the contrary, I think it's totally fair to single them out for producing horrible knock offs. Just because lots of people are producing horrible knock offs doesn't mean they aren't guilty of producing cultural diarrhea.
They do face a lot of design and development challenges in bringing these games to the mobile market, so its not like they're just copy-pasting a bunch of code a calling it a day.
Its all supply and demand at the end of the day. There's demand for it, and they're supplying. If it sucks, or nobody wants it, they wouldn't bother doing it. If it wasn't for this 'cultural diarrhea' you speak of, with tons of crap people were willing to spend money on, the economy wouldn't be as strong as it is. We'd still be trading our sheepskins for a basket of apples.
You can continue the cycle of who ripped off who for a long time. Who cares the more RTS games there are the better. Any game has similarities to something else if you dig deep enough.
On February 08 2011 00:08 gautamvirk86 wrote: OMFG lulzzz its the exact same copy, they definatly should be sued
Warcraft.
Warhammer.
Let's not have any double standards here. Starcraft takes elements whole-cloth from Warhammer 40,000, nobody kicks up a stink about that. Derirative work != Rip-off. Similar? Certainly? "Inspired by?", definitely. Rip-off? Not really. It's a 3 race space RTS with a simple resource system. It was not uncommon during the RTS boom, to see huge amounts of derirative, similar RTS games. Why is it suddenly not ok now?
While i agree and already mentioned the space RTS was actually pretty common at one point, the Warhammer/Warcraft and 40k comparisons are further complicated by the fact that Warhammer is heavily inspired by works before it as well, it just draws from so many different sources. The Eldar/Protoss Zerg/Tyranid thing is pretty bad though. I was expecting something like the Necrons as a new race in SC2, a Terran experiment gone wrong or however they'd explain it.
And i wasn't picking on Gameloft i said, the whole industry does it. But it's really really blatant for mobile games. For example you wouldn't get a PSP game wholesale ripping off a DS game to the extent shown there, or on regular consoles. They don't need to name the games similarly so people think there's a connection, and it kinda devalues the whole mobile platform, but they do though because i suppose its effective.
RTS is a genre that's hard to label rip-offs in. Why? Well, pretty much everything follows a StarCraftian formula (ooh, that sounded fancy. I'm definitely going to keep using that word.).
Human/Bug Alien/Tech Alien? That's the cookie cutter for everyone.
Warped in buildings? That gets done (some in a more human-esque, Red Alert, quick setup way, though).
Some close unit types? Well, I have news for you, you're going to have some that are somewhat similar no matter what (tanks!? MARINES!? WHAT DO THOSE HOOLIGANS THINK THEY'RE DOING!? Also, any type of mothership and most "bug" type alien units seem to be similar across games and genres in many ways).
Yes, overall I think Gameloft is pretty much the epitome of lame, but this, minus the name, is slightly more par for the course as compared to their other total copies (I actually bought and played the God of War one they made. Mildly entertaining and I got it for a discount, so I was okay with it. Mind you, who isn't copying God of War nowadays? Everyone's getting copied!).
There's a LOT of games there, and its not like you can afford to make a Metal Gear Solid experience on a mobile device. I don't see how its any different to what most video game companies do: Take an existing genre, take an existing game, and make it better.
There's a LOT of games there, and its not like you can afford to make a Metal Gear Solid experience on a mobile device. I don't see how its any different to what most video game companies do: Take an existing genre, take an existing game, and make it better.
I'm playing it. It's super surprising. Aside from a few features I would love to have (button to return to base) - it plays exceptionally well. Can't comment too much on the balance yet and I've only played "Terran" - which is weird since I don't play ANY terran in SC2
It will be ironic for blizzard to sue any one for nicking "their" ideas since every model of all their games represents the most generic concept of the respective genre, or recycles someone else's work (reaver, colossus)