Looks like Dream Heights is now in the App Store. I'm going to download it and give it a whirl. So far a lot of 1 & 2 star reviews. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dream-heights/id477752455?mt=8
Although I don't agree with Zynga here, I believe most of those reviews where gonna be 1 star even before they downloaded the game. Zynga stole their idea and Nimblebits kinda egged their fans on
I really hope the 1 star ratings affect sales and will make them consider not going this route with their next new game. It's shameful for companies to do this. Hopefully the publicity helped people discover Tiny Towers too.
Here's a screenshot I took yesterday, when it had 3.5 stars, up from 2.5 a few hours earlier. I've tried to rate it 1 star several times but it never shows up. It is now at 4 stars when it started at 1, Zynga has won the review war. Tiny Tower is still ranked 24 in top grossing (US) and Dream Heights is now 52 top grossing, up from 100 or so. When is Apple going to take this clone off the store like they did with others? Apple has $100 billion in cash, they don't need the revenue from any apps.
Rightfully so, considering Zynga have recently proved they won't hesitate at all to sue another developer that tries to copy one of their games. The case was even successful, so why aren't steps being taken to ensure Zynga hasn't commited the exact same crime themselves? Oh I know, it's because Zynga can afford to break laws.
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Pass GO and get building today!Terms of Service : http://www.ea.com/terms-of-servicePrivacy and Cookie Policy: http://www.ea.com/privacy-policyGame EULA: http://tos.ea.com/legalapp/mobileeula/US/en/GM/Visit https://help.ea.com/ for assistance or inquiries.EA may retire online features and services after 30 days’ notice posted on www.ea.com/1/service-updates.Important Consumer Information. This app: Requires a persistent Internet connection (network fees may apply); Requires acceptance of EA’s Privacy & Cookie Policy, TOS and EULA; Includes in-game advertising; Collects data though third party ad serving and analytics technology (See Privacy & Cookie Policy for details); Contains direct links to social networking sites intended for an audience over 13; Contains direct links to the Internet." Information Seller: Genre:Board, Simulation Release:Feb 16, 2012 Updated:Nov 30, -0001 Version: Size:0.0 TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating:Unrated Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal The more crowded the freemium market, the less whales to hook for your app, as they're all busy playing the other guy's stuff. Therealtrebitsch Well-Known Member Mar 2, 2010 547 0 0 #8 Therealtrebitsch, Feb 16, 2012 I downloaded the Zynga game to see what it is about. Even if I think, that they are crooks, I have to say that the game is nice and polished. I didn't download Tiny Towers, because what I have seen, the graphic of Tiny Towers is pretty bad retro pixel crap, which I hate. I can assume, that the gameplay by Zynga is even more polished than by Tiny Towers. I don't think that it is anything bad with taking a good idea and making it even better. That is how the game industry works since day one. Look at World of Warcraft. Blizzard did nothing new, but took all other mmos, copied them and polished the features. Nobody blames them to have stolen everquest, dark age of camelot and all the others. I won't rate Zynga neither positiv nor negative, because I believe that the tiny tower guys did a good job, but Zynga made it probably better. I won't play a crapy game just because it was the first. It is their move now to make an even better game, than Zynga. PikPok Well-Known Member Nov 26, 2009 938 1 0 Wellington #9 PikPok, Feb 16, 2012 While the actions of Zynga here might be considered underhanded by many, they aren't doing anything illegal or infringing on any rights. You cannot copyright look and feel, and they haven't stolen any art, code, sound etc. The "clones" Apple have removed in the past are games where there is direct copyright or trademark infringement. The best you could do to protect yourself from cloning would be to patent underlying mechanics and techniques, but this requires you to do so ahead of time, prove that it is novel, you need to spend a lot of money to do it, and you need to be prepared to spend money to defend it. At the end of the day, you do NOT want Apple to start removing clones from the App Store. If they started doing that, then a lot of smaller developers would be impacted negatively due to the claims of larger developers and publishers who can point to large and established back catalogs across every possible genre. lolzappan Well-Known Member Feb 7, 2012 69 0 0 #10 lolzappan, Feb 17, 2012 I fully agree with you on this one, that reminded me of the recent Atari pulling apps that are similar. Atari of all companies! http://toucharcade.com/2011/12/30/atari-pulls-the-plug-on-vector-tanks-and-vector-tanks-extreme/ Any game that has an 80's style to it is now owned by Atari on the appstore? Really? This is a two way street and the indie cannot win this one in the end, I would rather have a liberal/marketplace economy then a policed one anyday. MidianGTX Well-Known Member Jun 16, 2009 3,738 10 38 #11 MidianGTX, Feb 17, 2012 I get the feeling you don't fully understand the situation. World of Warcraft was obviously inspired by a ton of stuff, this isn't the same thing at all. Also, if you hate the style of graphics in TT, you're the one least qualified to decide whether or not it's bad retro pixel crap. HeliApps Well-Known Member Apr 10, 2011 111 0 0 Adelaide, Australia http://www.kedajo.com #12 HeliApps, Feb 17, 2012 Last edited: Feb 17, 2012 I can't help but wonder if it was Nimblebit or any small developer that had copied a Zynga game so closely if it would have been considered OK by Zynga / Apple . Bet they would have received a ton of lawyers letters by now lolzappan Well-Known Member Feb 7, 2012 69 0 0 #13 lolzappan, Feb 17, 2012 Look no further than this article http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/16/war-zynga-sues-the-hell-out-of-brazilian-clone-vostu/ Naxera Active Member Apr 13, 2011 29 0 0 #14 Naxera, Feb 17, 2012 How Zynga cloned its way to success Video games have only been around for half a century, in every established industry this would be considered plagiarism, knock-off, and illegal, and Zynga would have to have its products removed and turn profits over, or pay royalties to the original creators. Samsung has had its products banned in some countries for knocking off the design, from hardware to software, of Apples iDevices, and they don't even use the same internal/external parts (source code, sprites in video game terms). We are in the beginning of the end of indie games, there is no way any of us can compete with the resources of large companies like Zynga, especially if they are allowed to keep cloning. Soon we will all be working for them instead of ourselves. Those that don't understand the difference between inspiration and cloning can read this: http://blog.games.com/2012/02/16/tower-town-crowdstar-copycat-interview/ PikPok Well-Known Member Nov 26, 2009 938 1 0 Wellington #15 PikPok, Feb 19, 2012 If the reverse was the case, then Nimblebit wouldn't have done anything illegal, and any letter from a lawyer would be pure bluff. mr.Ugly Well-Known Member Dec 1, 2009 1,673 0 36 Berlin, Germany #16 mr.Ugly, Feb 19, 2012 well i would disagree here.. since zynga is sueing a developer who apparently copies their games.. the thing is a big company can always strong arm you in court no matter if you are right or not.. you have to proove it and if you don't have the ressources to fight (like pretty much all indie devs) its a lost cause.. like the atari bullshit going on where their lawyers try to wipe every game of the appstore who has even the slightest resemblence to some of their older classics.. the system will never be fair.. they have the money to go to court , hire the better lawyer and can do this for years without even a scratch while the small one will be financially bankrupt by the time PikPok Well-Known Member Nov 26, 2009 938 1 0 Wellington #17 PikPok, Feb 19, 2012 I (partially) disagree. We have been threatened in writing with lawsuits in the past by multiple massive multinationals who just wanted to pressure us into doing something, and our (relatively) cheap responses outlining the facts and our position have resulted in no court action or additional expense. A large corporate will always have the upper hand in terms of financing and resource as you say, but if you clearly stay within the law and can respond to any legal challenge demonstrating they have no case then in all likelihood they will refrain from further action. nicolasgb Well-Known Member Feb 4, 2012 148 0 0 Co-founder at HereWeGames : http://www.facebook.co Paris, France http://www.facebook.com/Herewegames #18 nicolasgb, Feb 19, 2012 Thanks for sharing your experience, it's very interesting to know. I guess ultimately it comes down to how confident you are to be within the law. PikPok Well-Known Member Nov 26, 2009 938 1 0 Wellington #19 PikPok, Feb 19, 2012 The key is to learn as much as you practically can around trademark law and copyright to know your boundaries and your rights, and while you might take inspiration from other games strive to make titles which are original, fresh, and bring something new to the table. nicolasgb Well-Known Member Feb 4, 2012 148 0 0 Co-founder at HereWeGames : http://www.facebook.co Paris, France http://www.facebook.com/Herewegames #20 nicolasgb, Feb 19, 2012 Last edited: Feb 19, 2012 Yup. My concerns are with trademarked names at the moment. We're making this skiing game focusing heavily on competition with friends. Could we call it "Ski With Friends" or "Pro Evolution Ski" for instance? (not that I'm really planning those names, just an example) I tend to think that I could use one of those names and it would stand in court against Zynga or Konami, but that we'd run out of business on lawyers fee before the trial is over. Anyway, straying a little far away from topic I guess, sorry about that ^^ (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next > Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Do you already have an account? No, create an account now. Yes, my password is: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
I downloaded the Zynga game to see what it is about. Even if I think, that they are crooks, I have to say that the game is nice and polished. I didn't download Tiny Towers, because what I have seen, the graphic of Tiny Towers is pretty bad retro pixel crap, which I hate. I can assume, that the gameplay by Zynga is even more polished than by Tiny Towers. I don't think that it is anything bad with taking a good idea and making it even better. That is how the game industry works since day one. Look at World of Warcraft. Blizzard did nothing new, but took all other mmos, copied them and polished the features. Nobody blames them to have stolen everquest, dark age of camelot and all the others. I won't rate Zynga neither positiv nor negative, because I believe that the tiny tower guys did a good job, but Zynga made it probably better. I won't play a crapy game just because it was the first. It is their move now to make an even better game, than Zynga.
While the actions of Zynga here might be considered underhanded by many, they aren't doing anything illegal or infringing on any rights. You cannot copyright look and feel, and they haven't stolen any art, code, sound etc. The "clones" Apple have removed in the past are games where there is direct copyright or trademark infringement. The best you could do to protect yourself from cloning would be to patent underlying mechanics and techniques, but this requires you to do so ahead of time, prove that it is novel, you need to spend a lot of money to do it, and you need to be prepared to spend money to defend it. At the end of the day, you do NOT want Apple to start removing clones from the App Store. If they started doing that, then a lot of smaller developers would be impacted negatively due to the claims of larger developers and publishers who can point to large and established back catalogs across every possible genre.
I fully agree with you on this one, that reminded me of the recent Atari pulling apps that are similar. Atari of all companies! http://toucharcade.com/2011/12/30/atari-pulls-the-plug-on-vector-tanks-and-vector-tanks-extreme/ Any game that has an 80's style to it is now owned by Atari on the appstore? Really? This is a two way street and the indie cannot win this one in the end, I would rather have a liberal/marketplace economy then a policed one anyday.
I get the feeling you don't fully understand the situation. World of Warcraft was obviously inspired by a ton of stuff, this isn't the same thing at all. Also, if you hate the style of graphics in TT, you're the one least qualified to decide whether or not it's bad retro pixel crap.
I can't help but wonder if it was Nimblebit or any small developer that had copied a Zynga game so closely if it would have been considered OK by Zynga / Apple . Bet they would have received a ton of lawyers letters by now
Look no further than this article http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/16/war-zynga-sues-the-hell-out-of-brazilian-clone-vostu/
How Zynga cloned its way to success Video games have only been around for half a century, in every established industry this would be considered plagiarism, knock-off, and illegal, and Zynga would have to have its products removed and turn profits over, or pay royalties to the original creators. Samsung has had its products banned in some countries for knocking off the design, from hardware to software, of Apples iDevices, and they don't even use the same internal/external parts (source code, sprites in video game terms). We are in the beginning of the end of indie games, there is no way any of us can compete with the resources of large companies like Zynga, especially if they are allowed to keep cloning. Soon we will all be working for them instead of ourselves. Those that don't understand the difference between inspiration and cloning can read this: http://blog.games.com/2012/02/16/tower-town-crowdstar-copycat-interview/
If the reverse was the case, then Nimblebit wouldn't have done anything illegal, and any letter from a lawyer would be pure bluff.
well i would disagree here.. since zynga is sueing a developer who apparently copies their games.. the thing is a big company can always strong arm you in court no matter if you are right or not.. you have to proove it and if you don't have the ressources to fight (like pretty much all indie devs) its a lost cause.. like the atari bullshit going on where their lawyers try to wipe every game of the appstore who has even the slightest resemblence to some of their older classics.. the system will never be fair.. they have the money to go to court , hire the better lawyer and can do this for years without even a scratch while the small one will be financially bankrupt by the time
I (partially) disagree. We have been threatened in writing with lawsuits in the past by multiple massive multinationals who just wanted to pressure us into doing something, and our (relatively) cheap responses outlining the facts and our position have resulted in no court action or additional expense. A large corporate will always have the upper hand in terms of financing and resource as you say, but if you clearly stay within the law and can respond to any legal challenge demonstrating they have no case then in all likelihood they will refrain from further action.
Thanks for sharing your experience, it's very interesting to know. I guess ultimately it comes down to how confident you are to be within the law.
The key is to learn as much as you practically can around trademark law and copyright to know your boundaries and your rights, and while you might take inspiration from other games strive to make titles which are original, fresh, and bring something new to the table.
Yup. My concerns are with trademarked names at the moment. We're making this skiing game focusing heavily on competition with friends. Could we call it "Ski With Friends" or "Pro Evolution Ski" for instance? (not that I'm really planning those names, just an example) I tend to think that I could use one of those names and it would stand in court against Zynga or Konami, but that we'd run out of business on lawyers fee before the trial is over. Anyway, straying a little far away from topic I guess, sorry about that ^^