Friday, December 17, 2010

Gaming, Innovating, Imitating, and Cloning Considered

Sometimes it seems that lots of video games, although they have different graphics, tend to have the same feel as you play. There is an excellent reason for this, & possibly, it comes from the human ability to imitate, & copy - it is innate, but does that make it all right? Ah, do I listen to more controversy in the gambling community? Surely, I jest. Some innovative gambling programmers are miffed as others nix their creative abilities & copy their games. How bad is it, whom does it hurt, & why are such open-source advocates now annoyed at the borrowing of gambling themes & styles of play?

Indeed there was terrific article not long ago in the Los Angeles Times titled "Game Developers Fight a Cloning War - Some Creators Feel Cheated By Alleged Idea Theft, But Others Think Cloning Can Be Nice for Gaming" by Jamin Brophy-Warren, which was published on April 18, 2011. The article discusses the challenges of proprietary themes & ideas in video, web, & computer gambling along with the proverbial quote; "Imitation is the highest kind of flattery" motif.

Query is; when does outright copying of a computer game idea violate patent laws, or proprietary source? Further, I ask; is it illegal, in poor taste, or unethical to make such copies, & when genres are copied in the flicks, books, literature, & computer games who wins, & who loses?

If there is a market for games of sure genres, styles, & scenarios then surely gambling programmers will come to the gamer's, & consumer's rescue right? I mean if there is funds out there & folks desire sure types of games, you can bet gambling entrepreneurs will fulfill those wishes & needs - that is the way it works in the marketplace & the gambling sector & computer game industry is surely no different.

& to that point of contention, what about the Film "Tron" & its central theme, namely; "power to users" - would the industry be served if no other companies copied the standard genres or the future sub-genres? After all, people loved the film Matrix, & that whole branch of Sci Fi mixed with philosophy. Lots of computer games are now based on similar themes, so they copied a Film Style. Now the computer gamer programmers are annoyed that folks are copying their style, or various version of play, ought to they be?

Think about in the event you will the counter argument to the gambling programmers who get pissed-off that others are fundamentally copying their ideas, & merely changing the graphics. What If - no was allowed to copy a given style in literature, novels, or movies? There would be Western Film, Romance Novel, Science Fiction Novel with aliens, etc. Would that be fair to the public, who wishes to be entertained with funds in hand?

After all the more others copy them, the more game enthusiasts buy games in that style or using those styles, which makes it that much more powerful & therefore, extra funds for those who produce new games, & more sales for the elderly ones , longer shelf life of active sales. See that point? I knew you would.

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