With the implementation of Patch v0.5.5 this week, we must make yet another compromise. From this patch onward, gliding will be performed using a glider rather than with Pals. Pals in the player’s team will still provide passive buffs to gliding, but players will now need to have a glider in their inventory in order to glide.

How lame. Japan needs to fix its patent laws, it’s ridiculous Nintendo owns the simple concept of using an animal to fly.

  • @[email protected]
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    14910 days ago

    Nintendo is just a garbage lawsuit company that sometimes makes hardware with stupid subscriptions attached.

    • @[email protected]
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      2710 days ago

      and none of it matters, cause they have literal legions of fans that will ride their ride, no matter how much it costs, no matter how poorly made it is, no matter how much nintendo spits in their face.

      So Nintendo sees no significant economic repercussions from their behavior, and thus has incentive to change.

      • @[email protected]
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        1710 days ago

        I was one of those but they were losing me more and more every year… But 3 years ago it became way too much, and I got off the bandwagon. Screw that lol.

        I hope they don’t make as many sales as they expect… But you may be right, too many people who will buy their crap however expensive and how much they’re being mistreated by the company.

        • @[email protected]
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          1310 days ago

          I’m not so sure.

          All of my friends who are less pissed off at Nintendo than I am are not even considering buying a Switch 2 because Nintendo basically priced themselves out of the market. All of my friends who have a Switch 1 will not be buying the Switch 2, that’s pretty significant IMO, but I guess we’ll see.

          • Robust Mirror
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            610 days ago

            I agree, they definitely priced themselves out of several demographics including casual gamers, parents of young children gamers, and “I guess I’ll get a switch as a second device” gamers. These people aren’t going to look at a switch that’s roughly the same price as the ps5 and xbox and think “yeah let’s grab that one”.

            The wii u showed their demographic of “die hard fans that buy no matter what” is actually really small compared to the rest of their sales. And I think we’re going to see a repeat of that.

            • @[email protected]
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              19 days ago

              I bought a WiiU refurbished directly from Nintendo shortly before the Switch came out. I did it purely because the first big hax was released and I was able to easily port my GC\Wii hacked HDD to it AND also have WiiU games hacked games available. WW and TWP were also a big part of that purchase decision for me.

              I got a Switch and BotW ultimate CE on release, but will be skipping the S2 for some time. Likely until the next Zelda comes out if the Steam Deck can’t easily emulate other S2 titles by that time. I’m bummed I’ll be missing the new DK game (only 10GB file size though so not very big) and Hyrule Warriors game as the last one was amazing, but it’s a basic beat em up so no love really lost there.

            • @[email protected]
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              410 days ago

              I hope it does worse than the Wii U tbh, Nintendo needs to be knocked down quite a few pegs. I am quite fed up with them.

        • @[email protected]
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          10 days ago

          and for every one like you.

          Theres people who buy multiple of the console.

          One person in my family bought 4 of the Nintendo Switch. One for him, his wife, and one each for each of their two grand kids.

          and they also buy multiple copies of games, so they don’t have to worry about wanting to play a game someone else is already playing.

          and I would not be shocked at all if they buy at least two of the Switch 2 the second it becomes commonly available.

          • @[email protected]
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            49 days ago

            Lemmy constantly falls into the same social trap as reddit: that we think we’re some monolith of consumerism and when we believe something we think everyone else will be on our side.

            Go on YouTube and look up the hundreds of videos from the past few months alone of scalpers and other Pokemon buyers getting into actual physical fights, buying literally 10+ of those huge box sets, and camping out at those vending machines and buying literally everything in them the minute they restock.

            I’m a vendor at comic and anime conventions here in the US. I did a show last month that was literally 99% Pokemon cards and merch, and everyone was buying that shit up regardless. There were actually maybe five booths including my own that weren’t selling just Pokemon stuff, if at all.

            • Robust Mirror
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              17 days ago

              I don’t think Nintendo has as many die hards as you think. The wii and switch had over 100 million sales. The wii u had 13 million.

              Now look at switch game sales, scroll past their major IPs and pokemon games, and once again the sales show around 13 million or less.

              On wii u mario kart had 8 million sales, and not one other game passed 6 million.

              The wii, wii u and switch all had around 3 million sales in their first quarter and didn’t really pass that 13 million mark in their first year.

              If only die hard fans that buy no matter what buy it, I think it absolutely will be a problem for them. And I think it has a real chance of happening. Half my casual gamer friends didn’t even know switch 2 was a thing, and the ones that did know about it said they haven’t seen any reason to get it yet, especially at the prices they’re seeing.

              The reality is, the family and casual markets are what carried them whether they like it or not. Not the rabbid fans. And like with the wii u, if they don’t appeal to those markets properly, they won’t sell well.

            • @[email protected]
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              39 days ago

              Lemmy constantly falls into the same social trap as reddit: that we think we’re some monolith of consumerism and when we believe something we think everyone else will be on our side.

              I dont know why you are whinging about this when literally no one is making this claim. In fact, we are talking about the exact opposite of it.

              Go on YouTube and look up the hundreds of videos from the past few months alone of scalpers and other Pokemon buyers getting into actual physical fights, buying literally 10+ of those huge box sets, and camping out at those vending machines and buying literally everything in them the minute they restock.

              I’m a vendor at comic and anime conventions here in the US. I did a show last month that was literally 99% Pokemon cards and merch, and everyone was buying that shit up regardless. There were actually maybe five booths including my own that weren’t selling just Pokemon stuff, if at all.

              Yes, thats the legions of people we were talking about, before you came in with this weird tangent.

              • @[email protected]
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                9 days ago

                I was agreeing with you with my anecdotal experience.

                The comment you replied to said Nintendo is going to lose customers over this, while your comment said Nintendo fans are still gonna be their dumb shitty selves by buying multiple of the same system or even game. Where does my comment diverge from that line of thinking?

                ETA: the consumerism claim was just something that I’ve noticed between reddit and Lemmy. Reddit might have thousands of users in one sub, while Lemmy only might have a few hundred. Both sites/whatever you call the collective of Lemmy, constantly think that people will go along with their beliefs about boycotting certain games/not buying certain products for whatever reason; when the fact of reality is that both of these places are actual echo chambers full of common denominators, and we need to face reality.

                • @[email protected]
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                  29 days ago

                  I think they will lose customers over this, sure, but nowhere near enough to make them reconsider being the biggest a-holes in gaming (take that 2nd place, EA)

  • NONE
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    12110 days ago

    I mean… Patents in general are bullshit just for things like this.

    • @[email protected]
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      2810 days ago

      There’s a parasitic egg layer that uses leaves some get put into birds and then get shit out? Why isn’t Nintendo suing these insects for using birds to fly around?

    • BombOmOm
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      4510 days ago

      Japanese ones are particularly worse. In the US a successful defense is prior art, there is no such defense in Japan.

  • @[email protected]
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    10 days ago

    This lawsuit is so stupid. In my opinion, patenting, copyrighting, or trademarking concepts or mechanics in video games shouldn’t be allowed at all. The nemesis system in the Shadow of Mordor games was so cool, but we’re never going to see anything like it again. Warner went through the trouble to copyright (or something idk I’m not a lawyer) that system, and then let the series die out.

    I’m waiting to see the headlines that any other games with a shooty thing that goes bang is illegal, and the concept of shooting a gun in a video game is going to be owned by either Rockstar/Take Two or the collective mob of Call of Duty developers. If the world is gonna get that stupid, I got my fingers crossed that Bubsy 3D owns the rights to jumping

    Edit: Thought about it for 10 more seconds and I have questions. Is it specifically gliding using a creature that Nintendo has a problem with, or is it creature-assisted traversal in general? Can they sue Skyrim since you can ride horses? Palworld made the change so that you need to build a glider to glide around. BOTW and TOTK used gliders. Is Nintendo gonna sue them for that now too? I fucking hate all of this so God damned much

    • I Cast Fist
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      1310 days ago

      It’s the using a creature to glide that’s the specific problem this time. Not the “using a creature” per se, but “pressing a button to instantly summon a non-player-controlled game-creature to allow for gliding, which is instantly dismissed once the player touches the ground” or something like that in the patent

        • I Cast Fist
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          2910 days ago

          Yes, the more you read the patent the more you just want to grab whoever approved it and force them to explain how and why it deserved it, despite lots of prior implementations.

          • @[email protected]
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            610 days ago

            As far as I understand patent law, if nobody has actually patented something someone can just say “mine lol” and scoop up royalties and block shit for spite.

          • I Cast Fist
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            910 days ago

            As described in the patent, yes. You press one button, you start riding said mount. If it’s glider mount, it automatically changes to the stag once you touch the ground OR to the fish if you fall to the water.

            Palworld never had this “automatic change from one mount to another”, at best it was the glider pals that you didn’t have to manually summon in order to glide and went away once you touched the ground or water. I’ve skimmed the patent a few times, but I don’t recall it having a case for going from creature-assisted-gliding to back on foot

    • @[email protected]
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      7810 days ago

      The tried to patent fucking MOUNTS. Someone get square and blizzard on the sue-train and ream Nintendo a new one.

        • MagnyusG
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          3110 days ago

          most consumers don’t care, that’s why they’re consumers. Switch 2 is gonna sell gangbusters and no amount of frivolous lawsuits is going to put a dent in that.

          Plus you still have people mad at Palworld for no reason other than they think it “copied” Pokémon, like the guy getting downvoted into oblivion.

        • @[email protected]
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          1210 days ago

          All the nintendo boot licking neckbearded incels that you see defending the company like if its their own.

          • thermal_shock
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            10 days ago

            Children will, from their parents who don’t see these articles or care, just that their kid is entertained… Don’t be an ass.

              • thermal_shock
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                10 days ago

                I have already boycotted Nintendo, but nice try? I’m on PC and steam deck.

                Also a lot of these concerns were not major issues when the switch 1 came out. So I don’t really go off the switch 1 ownership results since Nintendo seems to have done some serious damage to themselves in the past 1-3 years alone.

          • @[email protected]
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            1010 days ago

            Even that group is a tiny minority. Most buyers are people who just want to play Nintendo games and don’t care about anything else.

        • I Cast Fist
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          410 days ago

          I won’t, unless I can buy one 2nd hand AND there’s a way to jailbreak it

    • @[email protected]
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      2410 days ago

      patenting, copyrighting, or trademarking concepts or mechanics in video games shouldn’t be allowed at all

      It’s not allowed at all in board games. There’s a known issue that someone could completly copy the mechanics of a board game, and as long as they don’t copy the art or the exact text of the rulebook there is no legal means to stop it.

      Boardgamers are aware of this, and agree that it is better for development of future games than if someone could own the idea of “rolling a dice”, so if knockoffs do come around they tend to quickly get called out and not purchased.

      I don’t know how videogames managed to get different rules.

      • I Cast Fist
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        18 days ago

        I don’t know how videogames managed to get different rules.

        A lot of people in those offices really don’t understand the technical mumbo jumbo that can be summed up as “doing something that already exists, but on a computer”

        Like scanning a document on a printer and immediately sending it as email. That was patented

      • @[email protected]
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        210 days ago

        That’s probably Richard Garfield’s fault for setting precedent with his collectable card game patent.

    • @[email protected]
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      9910 days ago

      I’m unconvinced that the Nemesis system would have worked well in too many other settings, but one game patent that had a tangible effect on the industry was Bandai-Namco’s patent on loading screen mini games. Remember how you could make the Soul Calibur II characters yell stuff while the match loaded? Funny that we didn’t see it again until Street Fighter 6, isn’t it? Conveniently after a patent would have expired. We went through an entire era of games with load times that could have benefited from mini games, and by the time the patent expired, we had largely come up with ways to get rid of load screens altogether.

      • @[email protected]
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        3010 days ago

        Well saying the nemesis system wouldn’t have worked well in other games is almost assuming that it wouldn’t be changed or evolved to fit other genres. People forget that the real damage some patents/copyrights do is not in their explicit existence, it’s the sphere of influence they exert on related concepts entirely. We weren’t just robbed of the nemesis system, we were robbed of anything even slightly resembling it.

        And I feel like once you understand that you realize it can be adapted to greater things. Spider Man games could have used it. Assassins creed would have been an amazing place for experimentation with those ideas. Could be adapted to Star Wars games, dragons dogma, yakuza, borderlands. And it doesn’t need to be a central focus of these games like it was with the WB games. But even the concept of having enemies that kill you be leveled up in some way is now tainted.

        • @[email protected]
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          510 days ago

          Maybe it is a lack of imagination on my part, but that mechanic seems to rely heavily on characters that can be killed and come back to life with a vengeance on a regular basis, which I don’t think makes sense in any of the settings you listed except for Borderlands, with its New-U stations, funny enough. You could adapt it into something where both you and an enemy are defeated non-lethally, I suppose, but that’s a concept that strangely doesn’t have a common template in video games.

          • @[email protected]
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            1510 days ago

            Spiderman and Batman are literally famous for not killing their enemies, so I think your first sentence is way more than a maybe.

        • @[email protected]
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          59 days ago

          Horizon Zero Dawn would have been awesome with a nemesis system, especially if it was applied to the robo-dinosaurs. You could have the in-universe justification that a particular robot uploads its consciousness upon death and downloads into a new body, and now it remembers how you killed it before and it will adapt accordingly. Start having epic robots that know you, and you have to keep an eye out for them, but also upon being destroyed they could dispense better scraps.

    • @[email protected]
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      2910 days ago

      Iirc sony has a patent on an input device having two separate data streams. It seems you write the most general thing you can on patents and patent offices don’t care

      • Lv_InSaNe_vL
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        2110 days ago

        Amazon has a patent on the “one click purchase” button…

      • @[email protected]
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        1110 days ago

        Unfortunately, at least in the US (and from the sound of it, probably Japan), the patent office has the viewpoint of ‘patent everything and let the courts sort them out.’ The courts, on the other hand, defer to the patent office because ‘it’s they’re job so they must know what they’re doing.’

  • @[email protected]
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    359 days ago

    I can get the pokéball, but mounts in games are older than pokémon. That one makes no sense.

  • Miles O'Brien
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    1410 days ago

    Shit like this is why I haven’t bought a Nintendo product in many years.

    They might think it’s keeping their profits up, but it’s hurting their business, as a lot more people than me feel the exact same way.

  • @[email protected]
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    2110 days ago

    I wonder how hard it would be for an “unofficial” patch to “somehow” be released that restores the previous functionality

  • Destide
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    3910 days ago

    Nintendo are rightly losing their free pass with gamers.

    • tiredofsametab
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      129 days ago

      I’ve seen no evidence of this. People are clamoring for the switch 2 and talking about all they want to buy. Fuck Nintendo, but people keep giving them money so they’re going to keep doing anti-consumer shit with no sign of any government stopping them. The government isn’t going to attack one of the most beloved companies in Japan whose mascot they used at their olympics. A lot of Japanese are event against things like free, labour-of-love randomizers made for old games. People need to stop buying their shit globally if they want anything to happen.

      • @[email protected]
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        59 days ago

        that was the same issues with swsh all the way to arceus, people were repeatadly warned how half-assed the games were, and then complain later on the subs. they still bought it.

    • Dr. Moose
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      109 days ago

      Where is that? Cause Switch 2 pre orders are sold out.

      • @[email protected]
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        9 days ago

        That has happened my whole life, I’m 44. Nintendo supposedly does low first batch numbers so the can get in the news that they sold out. Then scalpers sell the machines for $1500.

        • Dr. Moose
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          39 days ago

          Sure but I don’t see any evidence of Nintendo’s decline. The truth is that gamers are incredibly spineless and will continue to bootlick corporate boot unless they put “something woke in the game” at which point they’ll leave a review somewhere and still clock in 300 hours if entertained enough.

    • @[email protected]
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      2010 days ago

      That is very true, but the Venn Diagram overlap between GamersTM and ‘Nintendo gamers’ is a rapidly shrinking area.

  • @[email protected]
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    1510 days ago

    Wouldn’t a game mechanic/animation like that be equivalent to a stunt in a movie?

    Like, imagine if a film director wanted to blow up a car in his movie, but was getting sued by Paramount because Michael Bay already blew up a car in Transformers.

  • Gristle
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    1110 days ago

    I wonder how much of this game they can force them to change. I know Steam has a 2 hour limit for returns but at what point does this game become “not the game I bought”?

    • kadup
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      3610 days ago

      I mean, the game is in early access so if you bought it and are now complaining it changed… It’s a you problem, not something that should be refundable.

      • Gristle
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        810 days ago

        Nah, not complaining, idly wondering. I made my bed, I’ll sleep in it, I’m just wondering how far a game can go to change a game and still claim it’s the same game.

        • @[email protected]
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          210 days ago

          There’s and endless list of games people have complained about changing during early access. It’s a stupid idea. Don’t preorder games.

          • Gristle
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            29 days ago

            Yuuup, Palworld was a rare early access buy for me. Burned too many times but a sale burnt a hole in my pocket after holding off for years and I got curious, I knew what I was getting into haha

    • @[email protected]
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      410 days ago

      Pretty much anything so long as Palworld doesn’t have 1.- a backbone and 2.- a dictionary at hand. Because it is as simple as finding a picture of any of a long list of animals that can glide, state the words “previous art” and they should be free from this ridiculous demand.

      Mechanics that already exist in nature should not be copyrightable. Can you imagine if the first videogame company ever patented “character walking”?

      • @[email protected]
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        29 days ago

        they were pretty much in hotwater for copying pokemons likeness, they probably dint want to have more expensive legal and drawn out fight.

    • @[email protected]
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      410 days ago

      point does this game become “not the game I bought”?

      Anytime you can’t access the version of a game you spent money on

  • Psychadelligoat
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    1210 days ago

    Cowards, you haven’t lost a legal battle yet so what the fuck are you doing

    • I Cast Fist
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      2410 days ago

      Legal battles aren’t exactly cheap and they can drag on for years. Pocket Pair could end up bankrupt in the meantime from excessive legal costs, while Nintendo can keep that shit going for decades.

      • @[email protected]
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        9 days ago

        Sounds like a system in need of reform.

        Looks like people with money can just use the law to bully those without.

        Copyright and patent laws need to die.

  • @[email protected]
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    3210 days ago

    Can’t they just release free DLC with those features worldwide exlcuding Japan where those patents are enforceable ?

    • @[email protected]
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      1010 days ago

      That would be a nice “fuck you,” but it’s probably not worth the extra effort to them.

      • Miles O'Brien
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        1610 days ago

        The spectacle of it would certainly boost sales for a little bit. How much and whether it covers the development time, who knows.

        I’d do it on principle alone, but I’m a petty bitch.

          • Miles O'Brien
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            810 days ago

            I’m sure they will.

            And as long as none of them try profiting off it, Nintendo has no leg to stand on with their usual C&D bullshit.

          • @[email protected]
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            410 days ago

            That’s another thing if they could allow specific api and opensource those parts they remove so someone can create mod that brings all of this back. Like we removed it but we make those things opensource, do what you want, we don’t care. It’s not in paid version of our app.

    • MolochAlter
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      710 days ago

      Most companies do stuff like that but pocketpair is based in Japan so they can’t, they’d be held accountable.

      • @[email protected]
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        29 days ago

        I think everyone understands that nintendo are bad guys in this this situation but pocketpair is just scared. They just say we want to get over it as soon as possible to focus on our game. I understand that small company is scared of old, long timer in this business. But they need to turn it over because if they behave like a sheep they will be eaten by wolf.

        If they could change narrative and simply add. We removed those things and replaced it with this but we don’t care what you do with our game. Here is api. Do what the fuck you want.

        • MolochAlter
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          39 days ago

          Sorry, I meant that most companies do fixes to comply with local legislations/sentences and then ignore them everywhere else, Pocketpair can’t do that because they are being sentenced in their home jurisdiction, so their infractions in other jurisdictions could and would still be brought to court.

  • @[email protected]
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    6710 days ago

    This is bullshit. Warner Brothers and Nintendo need to lose, hard.

    Also, why the hell does Nintendo think they were first when it comes to the concept? Animals and gliding have been a thing for a long time.

    • @[email protected]
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      139 days ago

      You see, the patent system is based on a “first to file the paperwork” basis, thereby enabling literal legalized theft. Neoliberalism at work, precisely as designed.

        • @[email protected]
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          49 days ago

          I definitely blame the patent office.

          But also, patents should not exist. They need to be completely abolished. Copyrights are one thing, copyrights make sense, patents are another entirely, existing solely to facilitate intellectual theft from both individual entities and the broader public.

  • @[email protected]
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    9 days ago

    Palworld did more for the monster-collecting genre in one early access title than Pokémon has in the last decade of AAA titles.

    Why does Nintendo deserve these patents when they aren’t going to produce anything meaningful with them and simply weaponize them to squash any real threatening competition?

    Pokémon is the highest grossing franchise in the world, and 2nd place isn’t even close. I think they can give a little ground to an indie developer who makes games that people are actually interested in playing. The patent bullshit is ridiculous.