[Update] Atari defends firing at competing iOS games
[Update] Atari is now defending their actions after targeting a number of App Store indie games with resemblances to classic Atari games:
Apple has yet to comment on the events.
[Original post] Atari has "scrubbed" the App Store of a number of indie iOS titles which resemble anything from Atari's back catalog of games, according to one production company.
Black Powder Media, the production company behind indie iOS Vector Tanks titles, claims legal action threats from Atari caused the company to remove Vector Tanks and Vector Tanks Extreme from the app store because "It doesn't seem to matter that the games bears only a vague resemblance to Atari's Battlezone."
A statement on the latest Vector Tank 3''s Kickstarter page alleged that they weren't the only company suffering from Atari's actions, and claimed that hundreds of apps had been targeted to make way for the reissuing of Atari classics.
The company went on to further claim that Atari appears to have met little resistance from Apple in forcing out a number of indie titles.
Vector Tanks programmer Peter Hirschberg discussed the situation with VentureBeat, saying:
Personally, I would say Vector Tanks bears slightly more than a "vague resemblance" to Battlezone, but it's still sad to see Atari going after an indie game that seems to be paying homage more than anything.
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g1 DISCUSSIONS
lolleros
Who was afraid atari i dont get it? http://friv.eu.com
TCJJ
Whilst I understand Atari's point of view, these games of theirs are ANCIENT. Who even buys Atari games for iPhone? They're not all that well ported (touch-screen controls generally suck for arcade games), and they're much more enjoyable on an original Atari system (which I realise not everyone has, but if you really want to play a ton of Atari classics, that's probably the best option).
I still think Atari is a horribly worthless company today compared to what it was decades ago.
RockinKat
Those game screenshots make me think back to the mid 90s when I used to play Spectre on my PowerMac6100. http://www.mobygames.com/game/macintosh/spectre
Spectre was released on SNES, MS DOS, and Mac OS in the early 90s and is described in it's MobyGames page as being similar to Battlezone.
the great bal
paying homage,i dont think so,how many ios gamers would know about battlezone,& how many would have bought it coz atari didnt officially release its game in the app store,& how many vector tanks owners are going to buy battlezone even if it is officially released in the app store,not many in my perspective
Dr. Wondertainment
Yeah, kinda, tough shit guy. If they hold the patent, then you have no legal right to put up the works. You were basically operating under a grace period until Atari decided to enter the market themselves - they have, and your grace period is up.
P.Suzuki
The Indie developer should be aiming higher than Atari anyway; try copying/remaking stuff made by Namco instead (Just kidding, btw.).
Seriously though; you can do better.
zgamer007
Good. I've had it with cheap phone knock-offs of actual games. If people want to play games, they should play them on an actual gaming system & pay what the games are worth, which is much more than the apps store sells them for. I've had it with the mentality that says just because a game is old means that it should be sold for $1-$2 or should be free. Arcades that used to once thrive on classic games will never have a chance of returning with stuff like this happening, and the irony is the ones that have classic games like Barcade here in NY are doing well.
Ouch4u
The real cruel irony is that he knows he copied it and is still acting like a victim. Just cause he couldn't get a hold of Atari doesn't make it right for him to rip it off.
ekolis
Hey, he didn't just "rip it off" like a pirate, he actually rebuilt it - gotta at least give him credit for that!
edit: also, if this is considered copyright infringement, then by the same token Galaga shouldn't exist, as it's a "ripoff" of Space Invaders, and Half-life shouldn't exist either, as it's a "ripoff" of Doom; heck, NONE of our modern games could exist, as they all borrowed elements from previous games! Do you really want to be stuck playing Pong for all eternity because anything beyond that is a "ripoff"?
Flapperdoodle
Agreed. I just think Atari was jealous that somebody was making a game similar to them and it was making Black Powder Media money.