Bizarre tries to stop Geometry Wars clone
by Kyle Orland 
{ Aug 11th 2006 at 11:55AM }
Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but Bizarre Creations isn't feeling very flattered about Grid Wars. The company thinks the PC game is impacting the sales of Xbox Live Arcade's Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, and has asked the game's creator, Mark Incitti, to "stop infringing our IP and pull the game Grid Wars from the internet for download." Incitti has voluntarily agreed to this request.The line between inspiration and rip-off is extremely fine here. On the one hand, everything about Grid Wars -- from the graphical style to the enemies to the basic gameplay -- is extremely reminiscent of Geometry Wars. On the other hand, Grid Wars does offer some refinements to the Geometry Wars system, like collectible power ups and a slower-paced build up of the action.
Regardless of the legal threats, it seems doubtful that Bizarre will be able to put the genie back in the bottle. The game is still available through a World of Stuart review and doubtless countless other sties. Even if Grid Wars is eradicated from the internet, other clones like HGEWars, Grid Assault, and Trigonometry Wars are available. Whether Bizzare likes it or not, it looks like Geometry Wars clones are destined to be as common as those of Tetris and Pac-man.
[Via GameSetWatch]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Abbas @ Aug 11th 2006 11:59AM
What a great PR stint!
Matthew Skinner-Thebo @ Oct 5th 2006 12:22PM
I'm sorry, did the second paragraph suggest that action builds too -slowly- in Geometry Wars? Puh-lease. It's all I can do to stay awake for the first two or three minutes.
It's still the very symbol of everything that works about XBLA, though. Those knock-offs need to KNOCK it OFF. Haha. Lord, how I rule.
ck @ Aug 11th 2006 12:21PM
No, the implication in the second paragraph is that the action builds too quickly with Geometry Wars. And something about this I just don't like. I was actually suprised when I read that Incitti agreed to shut it down. Clones are a part of the industry and no matter what Bizarre tries to do, they're going to pop up. Most people know that Tetris is the original puzzle game, no matter how many clones come out. And that's going to be the same with Wars, so lighten up, fellas.
Temple @ Aug 11th 2006 12:21PM
Weak on Bizarre's part.
Grid Wars is just a fan work that isn't sold for profit, in fact the fellow who makes the program does versions of Pac-man, Othello, Marble Madness, Asteroids, etc.
What next, makers of Pong going to sue the student who made Plasma Pong in his free time? Or those fellas who made the DDR-based PC mods.
Will @ Aug 11th 2006 12:22PM
I'm all about other developers using a game for inspiration and creating a similar game. But Grid Wars is a direct rip-off of Geometry Wars. They've got the same shapes, the same morphic grid in the background, etc. They just did a half-assed version of it in order to sell it on a platform Geometry Wars isn't currently on.
Go get 'em, Bizarre. It would be a shame if such a blatant rip-off was allowed to be sold.
Canadian Geese @ Aug 11th 2006 12:23PM
This is my favorite game for the 360 so far, and that is by no means a diss on the 360.
It's funny... the more I play this game, the more I like it and get addicted to it.
I'm currently at 850,000+ but getting better every day.
bv @ Aug 11th 2006 12:25PM
If anything, I thought Grid Wars would boost sales for Bizarre. Take the example of someone who hasn't purchased a 360 yet, hears about Geometry Wars and is excited to play, but can't. He is recommended Grid Wars by a friend and he plays hours on end till on his 19" computer screen until he finally breaks down and purchases an xbox 360 just so he can play on his big screen on the couch. I mean we are talking about 2 different platforms here: PC vs. Xbox 360. Bizarre still has a selling point and it's not like Grid Wars is being offered for free off of Xbox Live. It suprises me though that Bizarre would be angry about this now and not before Geometry Wars came out. Maybe they are hurting for sales and this is the easiest way to point a finger?
Adam @ Aug 11th 2006 12:36PM
Release a pc version then for fuck sake.
Jeff @ Aug 11th 2006 12:39PM
"But Grid Wars is a direct rip-off of Geometry Wars."
And Geometry Wars is a direct rip-off of Space Duel. So what else is new? Bizarre gets to rip people off but other developers don't?
Will @ Aug 11th 2006 12:41PM
Guys, we all want indie developers to be able to be viable making small, fun, creative games. Part of that vability, though, is making sure their work is protected. It will undoubtedly hurt sales if a half-assed knock-off of their game is available cheaper, or free, elsewhere.
Don't get me wrong, Grid Wars wouldn't have sunk Bizarre. But just on the principle of it, this is something we need to support. We should want to ensure that developers don't lose sales because someone else made a direct copy of their game. We should also be encouraging people like Mark Incitti to take his passion and his reasonable technical ability and bring something new to the table. Find some inspiration and put his own creative twist on it, enough so that it's not an obvious rip-off.
If we want indie developers to be viable by making small, creative, fun games, we need to make sure their work is protected, plain and simple.
Azrael @ Aug 11th 2006 12:42PM
#5 psst. (very low discreet voice) your fly is open.. also gridwars isnt for sale.. is free, free as in "free beer" even the source code is available.
Linkman2004 @ Aug 11th 2006 12:44PM
Dude, I don't know why they think they have the rights to do it when Geometry Wars is just a rip off of other games. Robotron, anyone?
Will @ Aug 11th 2006 12:54PM
"And Geometry Wars is a direct rip-off of Space Duel. So what else is new? Bizarre gets to rip people off but other developers don't?"
The mechanics are definitely similar. Even the very basic look of it is similar. (By very basic, I mean there's a black background and some colored shapes.)
But Bizarre undeniably added new things to their game. That's what I'm talking about. Be inspired by a game, but bring something new to the table. As a result, Geometry Wars looks and plays (outside the basic mechanics) almost nothing like Space Duel.
Grid Wars can't make that same claim. All the creator did was make a direct copy of Geometry Wars, except for the obvious technical limitations of the creator. If he were to make a game inspired by Geometry Wars, but add his own flavor to it, great. That sort of thing is what helps evolve games and offers players different experiences even in the same narrow genres.
But to make a direct copy of the game? That can't happen.
rdaneel72 @ Aug 11th 2006 1:10PM
"And Geometry Wars is a direct rip-off of Space Duel"
I thought it was a rip-off of the greatest arcade game in history, Robotron 2084.
the2bears @ Aug 11th 2006 1:28PM
@12 "Grid Wars can't make that same claim. All the creator did was make a direct copy of Geometry Wars, except for the obvious technical limitations of the creator."
From what I've heard it plays quite differently. Do Bizarre own the "look and feel"? What exactly is their I.P. that needs protection?
Bill
Martin Austin @ Aug 11th 2006 1:45PM
This is yet another reason why Intellectual Property laws are idiotic. To #14's (the2bears) point, who is that DEFINES what is protected and what is not? If anyone knows I'm genuinely interested.
I would think that the reason he removed it from his site is because he knows that others have it on their sites, and it won't die.
Matthew @ Aug 11th 2006 2:01PM
It's not about similar gameplay.
Look at the SCREENSHOTS of Grid Wars. If I didn't know it was another game, it looks EXACTLY like Geometry wars.
David @ Aug 11th 2006 2:19PM
I liked Grid Wars, and I was driven to find it because I wanted to play Geometry Wars and didn't have an XBox 360.
Something people haven't mentioned yet is that Bizarre is likely planning a PC release at some point in the future. XBox 360 is using some kind of DirectX variant, so a PC port is relatively easy.
Leaving it as a 360 exclusive for now helps drive sales, prevents piracy, and also has a no packaging advantage and e-commerce transactions handled by Microsoft.
Once Bizarre sees the demand for Geometry for 360 soften and/or it releases a new version (I'd bet on multi-player online next) it will release for PC.
In the meantime it has to protect the property.
As a final incendiary comment, I will note that Geometry Wars looks very Mono inspired (my current fave PC freeware game).
The ZeroCorpse @ Aug 11th 2006 2:21PM
Re: Grid Wars.
It's plagiarism. No doubt about it. Any fool can see it's not only duplicating game-play elements, but art style, controls, and sounds. It's a counterfeit version of Geometry Wars, and it not only stands a chance of hurting sales, but giving Geometry Wars a bad name if it has glitches not present in the original.
Just like you can't make a song that sounds JUST LIKE "Hey Jude" but title it "Jude... Hey!", you can't make a duplicate of a game and just rename it and change it up a bit. It's PLAGIARISM, guys.
If anyone ever copied my music and released it under a different name, I'd be ticked. I think those same ethics should apply to games and other media.
subnet6 @ Aug 11th 2006 2:31PM
Am I the only one who thought Grid Wars actually IMPROVED upon geometry wars? I love having the mouse. I prefer the power up system on Grid Wars. I agree its a clone for sure but I felt like this guy actually did some things to make it better than the original.
LongshotX @ Aug 11th 2006 2:55PM
http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/grid/wars.htm
Excellent in depth look at both Grid Wars 2 and Geometry Wars: RE and the differences in both games. Clearly Grid Wars requires more strategy to rack up points. Its not based on merely killing enemies. Grid Wars is not a rip, it is Geometry Wars Evolved.
Michael @ Aug 11th 2006 3:00PM
"All the creator did was make a direct copy of Geometry Wars"
OK, so if someone makes a game for ...say...the Pocket PC. And its awesome, noone can copy the mechanics and make it for the PC? like seriously now, if the original developer didn't want to make a game for a system thats more widely used someone else should be able to. It's for the good of all gamers. Besides, I think this clone and IP issue should be played on the battlefield, not in the courts. Let the consumers decide whats ethical and what isn't.
AceQ @ Aug 11th 2006 3:00PM
How can you consider Geometry Wars a rip of Robotron?
Because you can move in one direction and fire in another? ( 8 way firing btw )
I didn't see one person to save in GW. I didn't notice any dynamic enemy spawns either.
I love Robotron and have it on XBLA - also GW. They share a firing mechanic and have a high score system. Hard to go beyond that.
trent @ Aug 11th 2006 3:07PM
whoever made geometry wars should be sued by the guys who made asteroids. or they could just shut up and let grid wars continue on its merry way. its not like grid wars is on xbox360. sheesh.
HaloBreaker @ Aug 11th 2006 3:09PM
It's funny how one of the more popular games on the 360 is a 5mb game, shows how much RAW UNDAUNTED COSMIC POOOWWEERRRR is needed to make a good game.
JPRacer @ Aug 11th 2006 3:15PM
I can't check right now, but I think it's ~14mb.
CheekyLee @ Aug 11th 2006 3:36PM
Grid Wars is pretty much the reason I own my 360 now. Because, having read about Geometry Wars over and over, I was desperate to play the game. The retro version present in PGR 2 whetted my appetite, but then someone told me about Grid Wars. A couple of minutes later I had installed the free game, and was blown away.
I finally forked out for the 360 about a week later, and downloaded Geometry Wars that very same night. And, I can name at least 3 other people who have only bought Geometry Wars after trying Grid Wars out first.
Grid Wars is extremely effective advertising for Geometry Wars, in my opinion. Sure, once you have played both games the differences become clear. But, if anyone needs convincing to fork out for Geometry Wars, then Bizarre could do a LOT worse than show then the game it inspired.
HaloBreaker @ Aug 11th 2006 4:00PM
I took a shot, my gridwars is 4.96 MB and it's sub folders equal about 3mb. Probably with some music files and splash screens I could see it being bigger.
I just felt like stretching it a little. =D
Seroth @ Aug 11th 2006 4:36PM
Grid Wars was free and it was available to people who didn't have a 360. This sucks. I'm not paying 400 dollars just to play Geometry Wars. Release a PC version, Bizarre!
007craft @ Aug 11th 2006 10:22PM
erm, why would he remove the download? Grid wars is FREE so there is nothing that bizarre can do to touch the developer of it. The day Grid wars starts costing money, is the day they can demand a C&D.
This also proves that 1 man can make a game and release it free which is almost identical to a 360 arcade game which costs money. This just tells us that we shouldent be buying these live arcade games. How many times hgave you heard about a developer duplicating a real big game and releaseing it free? none, beceause it cant be done, thus making games worth the money.
Hart704 @ Aug 12th 2006 12:42AM
It doesn't matter if the guy who made Grid Wars takes down the file. Someone like myself should put it up. Bizarre Creations, you lose!
Parallax Abstraction @ Aug 12th 2006 2:15AM
I'm surprised no one here has yet mentioned that almost all PopCap Games titles (many of which are on Xbox Live Arcade) are blatant plagiarism of other titles from the past (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuma_(game)#Plagiarism_Controversy). I wonder how Bizarre feels knowing that while they shut down a free, open source project that is doing them no proveable harm (the majority of GW sales were before Grid Wars was released), the same service that hosts them also hosts many for-profit ripoffs.
Blaine @ Aug 12th 2006 7:44AM
Grid Wars is actually legal. It's just a fan made game, they're not selling it, it's free.
Waccoon @ Aug 12th 2006 8:27AM
Everything is a rip-off of something else.
The problem with these cheap, easily created titles is that they are cheap and easily created. Fun? Yeah, but the simpler the game, the easier it is to rip off. Besides, why are people are buying expensive new consoles to play budget games?
Developer: "Hey, there are thosands of Flash games available for free! Let's see how we can make people pay for this stuff because it's for a console!"
Games like this are best suited for hand-held systems, which can be played on a whim for a short while. It takes more effort to get good graphics from those systems, too. Home consoles should have deeper, more sophisticated gameplay that actually justifies the new technology (and initial investment).
That's an interesting point for those who think graphics don't matter. If two games are both fun, craftsmanship is usually the tie-breaker.
Frankie23 @ Aug 14th 2006 3:02AM
Just because they aren't profiting off of it, doesn't mean they're allowed to duplicate something. I don't agree with their actions, but Bizarre has every legal right to make them take it off the net. It's too much of a duplication to fall under fair use.