Originally posted by: PyroMancer
Originally posted by: ScaryMonkey
I doubt that very much; EA holds the trademark for the name "Sim City" but you can't copyright gameplay; As long as they don't directly copy code or art assets, or call the game "Sim City 5" they are free to make it however they like from a legal point of view.
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Actually you can to a curtain extent. I don't know if you recall but a few years back Sega sued Fox because Simpsons Road Rage had some side missions where you "Taxi" people around town. The claim was that they copied The Crazy Taxi series gameplay. I don't recall all the details of the case but that was the basis of it.
Also when I was studying programming our teacher told us how it was actually possible to copyright some aspects of mechanics, user interface, and etc. This to ensure someone doesn't simly make a copy of the software you made and sell it under their own name. It has to be significantly different. I don't really know all the legality issues but again that is the general premise.
Anyhow I'm sure now that EA owns the rights to the SimCity sieres they also own the rights to many of the core aspects that make it unqiue. Like "Zoning" an area and letting it develop based on demand, property values, and so on. That is probably why we haven't seen any other CB type games use that model. I've only seen a few other CB style games and most of the others seem to be based on setting down specific buildings or types of buildings. ...
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Well, i don't know much about the commom law, but i can say to you that anyone can't own the rights to generic features or mechanics . "Like "Zoning" an area and letting it develop based on demand, property values, and so on", to copyright it is the same to microsoft trying to copyright the flight simulator and to sue anyone that tries to do a flight sim, the mechanics are all based on real world correspondent. Obvisiouly you can't do a straight copy of interface or use their assets, and so on... The point is: i think that simulation city building is a niche market that don't sell enought to have titles coming out every year... if you the companies "dumb down" the games certainly they will piss off hardcore gamers, but will attract younger consumers... So, all this time, all companies could have done a "SC5", but instead they invested on FPS and other styles that are aimed to people that have to see a explosion every 20 seconds to continue playing the game. It's called profit and we can't blame them for that, can we?
