Ripping Off Games

[Snatch Steal]

We've seen it done plenty of times: X copied Y from Z.

 

Pokemon is probably, as far as I'm concerned, the most ripped-off thing to exist. There's Dragon Quest Monsters, Monster Galaxy, Digimon, Neopets, Geomon, Chaotic to an extent...the list goes on.

 

I find myself brainstorming these kinds of games often, to be honest. I eat pokemon rip offs like candy, and am genuinely shameless as far as creating my own games is concerned.

 

Is there any shame in ripping off these games, or does making games that act like others and are blatantly inspired by those games a good way of reinterpretation on the artist's behalf?

[mitchermitcher]

I'm fairly sure Dragon Quest's monster recruitment mechanic and Digimon as a franchise of toys predate Pokemon. I'd have to check to be sure but I'm fairly sure. Then again even if that weren't the case, SMT predates Pokemon by maybe 10 years or so in terms of monster collecting.

 

That said, rather than calling them rip-offs, I'd say they're all in the same genre. I wouldn't say it's shameless to make a new -mon thing.

[Miror B]

You haven't seen a true rip then, such as asset flips and copy/pastes on steam

 

Even then some rips are actually done well, such as FNAF rips like Five Nights at the Krusty Krab, Five Nights at Candy's, One Night at Flumpty's, etc.

(of course not all are good, stuff like Five Nights at Wario's can still be sheet).

 

Should also see all the bootleg sonic/zelda/mario sheet out there. That's some real bad sheet there.

[Halubaris Maphotika]

We've seen it done plenty of times: X copied Y from Z.

 

Pokemon is probably, as far as I'm concerned, the most ripped-off thing to exist. There's Dragon Quest Monsters, Monster Galaxy, Digimon, Neopets, Geomon, Chaotic to an extent...the list goes on.

 

I find myself brainstorming these kinds of games often, to be honest. I eat pokemon rip offs like candy, and am genuinely shameless as far as creating my own games is concerned.

 

Is there any shame in ripping off these games, or does making games that act like others and are blatantly inspired by those games a good way of reinterpretation on the artist's behalf?

Pokemon was inspired by Robotrek, an SNES game by Quintet, which provided a baseline for what would become the general Pokemon idea.

[Snatch Steal]

Pokemon was inspired by Robotrek, an SNES game by Quintet, which provided a baseline for what would become the general Pokemon idea.

 

Well, this is awkward.

 

I'm fairly sure Dragon Quest's monster recruitment mechanic and Digimon as a franchise of toys predate Pokemon. I'd have to check to be sure but I'm fairly sure. Then again even if that weren't the case, SMT predates Pokemon by maybe 10 years or so in terms of monster collecting.

 

 

The monster recruitment seems to have appeared in 1987 with Dragon Warrior II, but I don't know if that counts as "pokemon". Dragon Warrior Monsters was released in 1998, quite subsequent to Pokemon's debut. Not getting much info on the toy franchise as far as Digimon is concerned. Shin Megami Tensei also seems to be less pokemon and more traditional. I suppose pokemon could have been inspired by it, but monster collection doesn't seem to be a main point in SMT or Dragon Warrior. Digimon, on the other hand, I'm not sure. 

[mitchermitcher]

It depends on how wide your definition of 'monster collection' and 'pokemon'-ish is. Dragon Warrior 2(I guess that's DQ2) was the first (in the DQ series at least, not sure whether it came before SMT) game that allowed the player to recruit different monster enemies to use in battle. You still had normal party members as well, I think, but the monsters can be part of your lineup and are fairly recognizable, although the formula became more about 'monster collecting' with Monsters, I'm sure.

 

SMT series on the other hand, started as a game about having to collect different monsters in the first place(although they were actually religious or mythological figures)(and you still had other normal party members, but the 'Demons' you could recruit were essential to game progression). It was either the first game of this or DQ that started the idea of JRPGs that allowed you to capture or recruit enemy characters. They're not presented as collectible in the same accessible way Pokemon is, I believe, but the base is there.

 

As for Digimon, the franchise started as a series of virtual pet toys, sorta like Tamagochi but not for little girls. While the emphasis on Digimon wasn't on collecting as much as on having a one true partner, it did present itself as a series about owning easily recognizable and varied monster pets before Pokemon did.

 

Pokemon just streamlined older stuff into a more easily recognizable form. The so-called 'Pokemon formula' wasn't astoundingly original, really. That said, the guy who was in charge of Pokemon probably thought of it best. He said he was inspired by how he captured bugs in his backyard or something. That sorta idea is easily presentable and is probably why Pokemon's as streamlined and popular as it is.

 

There's no shame in following the same general -mon idea as long as you make it interesting.

[Shradow]

sorta like Tamagochi but not for little girls.

 

Yo Tamagochi is legit.

[cr47t]

Im personally gonna be pissed if my games get ripped and they get away with it.

(Yes, I make games. Don't ask, I'll probably tell you more details sometime around what I think will probably be a few years or later when I have one ready)

[Power Armour]

Pokemon was inspired by Robotrek, an SNES game by Quintet, which provided a baseline for what would become the general Pokemon idea.

Development for Pokemon started a full year before the SNES was out and 4 years before Robotrek.

Why do you think Game Freak released Voltman, Mario and Wario and Yoshi? Fundraise for Pokemon.

[Trebuchet MS]

I won't mind if a "rip-off" adds enough new elements to the table to differentiate it from the source game.

 

When it's a mere reskin of the entire game with little effort to try and be original, that grinds my gears.