Peggle turf war causes 'Peggie' to change its name

Can I call you the Zoot Suit Zuma Zealot?

Like that game mechanic in Zooma that they created? Or the innovative game mechanic in Bejewled?

I hold to the belief that it is not the mechanic, but rather the name "Zuma" and the cuteness of the frog that is worth money.

Yeah, and those games are actually fun. "Pegs in Space" doesn't sound very appealing. I

No, it's cool, because they used their own name. That's the moral here.

Well... strictly speaking, yeah, Tiptup. It may be morally queastionable, but that's pretty legally acruate. Game mechanics aren't protectable intellectual property in the US. (Not that you'd know it from the way some game makers behave when someone makes a knockoff.) Names, however, can be trademarked, so they ARE protectable intellectual property.

I suppose if we want to look for a silver lining here, it's that unlike similar stories recently, PopCap was only concerned about the name. Peggie still exists as the same game, thank goodness - just with a name that isn't half a character away from Peggle. For SOME reason, PopCap doesn't seem to be in the mood to try and claim people can't steal game ideas... ;)

I agree that PopCap can't protect the "pachinko+extra stuff" gameply mechanic, but I do think they might be able to protect their trademark style and/or trade dress. Just look at that picture--blue and orange pegs, dotted launch guide, etc. The biggest difference is that the Peggie folks swapped the bonus multiplier and the (presumptive) free ball gauge.

That said, I've seen much closer imitations held to be non-infringing. Maybe we can get Methenitis to weigh in on this one?

I would like to replace this for the "keep it!"

If there's one thing LS2LS7 won't stand for it's actually reading the blog post.

I did read the article, and I used the term "knocking off" for a reason.

There are different forms of knocking off. In PopCap's case it was to completely copy the game and change the name. In this case, it is to almost copy the name and try to select a name that is reminiscent of the original.

This company knocked off PopCap's game much like PopCap started out by knocking off others' games.

Perhaps PopCap realizes they would have no legal leg to stand on there, especially since they made their money by copying other people's games (they copied Puzz Loop to make Zuma and got away with it).