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Wild Woody
Wild Woody (1995)
subdirectory_arrow_right Shady Lewd Kart (Game)
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Artwork/Illustration, Copyright, Corporate Affairs, Crossover, Downloadable Content (DLC), General, Real Life, Voice Acting
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month April 2, 2024
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Glover
Glover (1998)
subdirectory_arrow_right Glover 2 (Game)
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In 2018, an indie studio named Golden Mushroom claimed they were working on a sequel to Glover for the Nintendo Switch. However, it was soon discovered that they had only applied for the trademark to the name "Glover", and not the copyright, meaning they didn't actually own the rights to the IP. In reality, the copyright had been acquired by Piko Interactive, who had purchased it from Atari SA (the company that had purchased Hasbro Interactive in 2001).
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Copyright, General, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month September 20, 2023
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Pokémon FireRed Version
Pokémon FireRed Version (2004)
subdirectory_arrow_right Pokémon LeafGreen Version (Game)
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Attachment Shortly after the game's release, a screenshot started circulating online depicting the Seagallop ferryman in Vermilion City telling the player: "By the way: if you like this game, buy it or die." Those who posted the screenshot claimed that it was a hidden message which was only triggered if the game detected that it was running a pirated copy. This claim appeared to be further corroborated by people claiming that they had encountered the message themselves when playing the game with unofficial Game Boy Advance emulators or when hacking legitimate cartridges with cheat devices, and attracted further popularity after being disseminated by various gaming YouTubers.

However, while the screenshot was not photoshopped, the claim that it was an anti-piracy measure was not true. Rather, the text was added into the game's code by an anonymous individual who distributed a ROM of it online; the claim that it was an anti-piracy feature was most likely used by the individual to circumvent ROM distribution sites' restrictions on modified games. This explains why anecdotal reports of encountering the text were so much higher than what would be expected from a complete hoax, as well as why the text is absent when examining an unaltered ROM of the game in a hex editor.
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Anti-Piracy, Copyright, Hidden Message, Hoax, Rumor, Social Media, Version Difference
person VinchVolt calendar_month March 21, 2024
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DidYouKnowGaming video which mentions the rumor (before it was debunked):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HsxuGMWnXM

YouTube video by Tech Rules debunking the rumor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XjHZ-V4ooA&t=604s
Star Fox: Assault
Star Fox: Assault (2005)
subdirectory_arrow_right Assault (Game)
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The subtitle of Star Fox: Assault was suggested by Nintendo of America. Initially, there were legal concerns as Namco had already trademarked the name "Assault" for their 1988 arcade game of the same name. Fortunately for Nintendo, the trademark was only valid within Japan, and Namco, who were already the developers for Star Fox: Assault, had granted them permission to use the title.
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Copyright, Development, General, Title
person Dinoman96 calendar_month January 3, 2024
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Inverse Ninjas vs. The Public Domain
Inverse Ninjas vs. The Public Domain (2023)
subdirectory_arrow_right Mickey Mouse (Franchise)
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Copyright, Crossover, Mistake, Release Date, Tribute, Update Difference
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month January 1, 2024
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Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 (2001)
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In a 2001 interview featured in the Capcom vs. SNK 2 Another Play Guide, it was revealed that the team wanted to include Linn Kurosawa from Alien vs. Predator as a playable character, but that they couldn't do it due to copyright issues. Because of this, they went with Maki from Final Fight 2 instead.

At another point, they considered giving Maki a moveset identical to the one Linn has, but eventually decided against it, instead giving her a moveset that more closely matches the one she had in her debut game.
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Copyright, Development, Early Idea, Moveset, Unused Character
person ZpaceJ0ck0 calendar_month November 26, 2023
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Franchise: Sonic The Hedgehog
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Artwork/Illustration, Cancelled Release, Character Design, Complaint, Copyright, General, Legal Affairs, Multimedia Adaptation, Politics, Real Life, Social Media
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 17, 2023
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Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts (2002)
subdirectory_arrow_right Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse (Game), Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage (Game), Kingdom Hearts (Franchise)
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According to series producer Tetsuya Nomura, one reason that Mickey Mouse's role was limited in the original Kingdom Hearts was because around the same time as its release, Capcom owned the license to use Mickey Mouse for the game Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse. The developers persisted and were eventually given the go-ahead to add him into the game "as long as [they only had him in] one scene, from far away, as a silhouette, with him waving his hand or something". As such, Mickey only appears briefly and seen from behind near the end of the game, helping Sora and Riku seal Kingdom Hearts itself.

Mickey's perspective of this event also appears in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep: A fragmentary passage. The reason that Mickey loses his shirt is to partially keep the continuity of the original Kingdom Hearts that showed Mickey in his classic shirtless look.
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Copyright, Development, Retcon
person NintendOtaku calendar_month October 9, 2023
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Cookie's Bustle
Cookie's Bustle (1999)
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In 2023, an unknown person by the name of Brandon White bought the UK rights to Cookie's Bustle under the fake company name of "Graceware" and began filing DMCA takedowns against any website or video with documentation of the game, in some cases fraudulently using the name of Nintendo, believed to be in an act of copyright trolling. This led to an uptick in interest in the game, with many content creators streaming, making fan works based on, and reviewing the game in retaliation.
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Anti-Piracy, Censorship, Complaint, Copyright, Fan Works, Real Life, Reviews, Secret
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month September 11, 2023
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Inverse Ninjas vs. The Public Domain
Inverse Ninjas vs. The Public Domain (2023)
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According to the game's official Twitter account, the developers claimed that the only characters they would not add to the game if they became, or were discovered to secretly be, public domain were Calvin and Hobbes from the comic strip of the same name. While the characters are still copyrighted thereby ruling them out, the reasoning for refusing to consider them was out of respect for creator Bill Watterson and his refusal to license the comics for merchandise despite their popularity, feeling that it would go against the strip's ideals and ruin its authenticity.
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Copyright, Crossover, General, Merchandise, Real Life, Roster Speculation
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month April 27, 2024
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The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (2021)
subdirectory_arrow_right The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures (Game), The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (Game)
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Due to long-standing copyright issues regarding the character Sherlock Holmes brought about by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate (which had previously delayed the games' release), the international release of The Great Ace Attorney games changed his name to "Herlock Sholmes". According to series creator Shu Takumi, this was done as an allusion to "Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes", a story collection by Maurice Leblanc.

Following the announcement of the name "Herlock Sholmes", various memes came about surrounding the character and the circumstances for the renaming in regards to copyright law. This got to the point where major news outlets began covering it, with some noting that the goofy-sounding name "fit with the comedic and sometimes irreverent tone of the Ace Attorney series, even if it does leave a few things lost in translation."
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Copyright, Development, General, Inspiration, Legal Affairs, Name Change, Real Life, Reference, Regional Difference
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month January 24, 2024
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Diddy Kong Racing
Diddy Kong Racing (1997)
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Attachment The racer Krunch wasn't originally designed as a Kremling. According to former Rare artist Kevin Bayliss (in a now defunct Facebook page for Rare alumni), the character predated the conversion from Pro-Am 64 to Diddy Kong Racing and was originally a generic crocodile character, brought in to introduce a "bad guy" into the game's roster.

When it was decided to incorporate Diddy Kong into the game and change the title to Diddy Kong Racing, it was also decided to turn the crocodile character into a Kremling named Krunch, perhaps to better tie it into the new Donkey Kong-infused lore. The decision to turn Krunch into a Kremling, a Nintendo-owned species, also automatically gave Nintendo the rights to the character as well, even retaining said rights after the Microsoft buyout in 2002, whereas all the other Diddy Kong Racing racers outside of obviously Diddy are now owned by Microsoft.
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Character Design, Copyright, Corporate Affairs, Development, Early Idea, Inspiration, Legal Affairs
person Dinoman96 calendar_month January 19, 2024
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Source Gaming article on Krunch's history:
https://sourcegaming.info/2017/11/15/new-content-approaching-krunch/

DKVine article on Diddy Kong Racing's copyrights:
https://dkvine.com/?p=news_body&post=6391

Rare scribes confirming that Krunch is still owned by Nintendo:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070628215552/http://rareware.com/extras/scribes/25jun07/index.html
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid (1998)
subdirectory_arrow_right Gran Turismo 2 (Game), Tekken 3 (Game), One (Game), Dreamcast (Platform), PlayStation (Platform), Xbox (Platform), PC (Microsoft Windows) (Platform), Sony Interactive Entertainment (Company)
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Attachment Bleem! was a PlayStation emulator released for Microsoft Windows 98 and the Sega Dreamcast. Unlike the vast majority of emulators before and since, it was released as a paid product on store shelves. Bleem!, although very impressive for the time and capable of running on low-end PCs, had many compatability issues, with the only game that ran perfectly on Windows Bleem! being the US version of One, while the only games that could be run at all on Dreamcast were Tekken 3, Metal Gear Solid, and Gran Turismo 2, all with specialised emulators released on their own "Bleemcast" discs.

Sony would sue Bleem! twice over alleged copyright infringement, and despite all odds, Sony lost due to Bleem!'s use of screenshots in promo material and the PS1 BIOS being protected by fair use. However, a mix of legal fees and Sony threatening retailers stocking Bleem! products with subpoenas would force Bleem! off of shelves anyway, and its website would be replaced with an image of Sonic the Hedgehog mourning at a grave with the Bleem! logo carved on it. Bleem! would countersue Sony for anti-competitive activity.

The popularity of Bleem! would lead both Sega and Microsoft to attempt to work with Bleem! officially to make PS1 games run on Dreamcast and Xbox, though these plans fell through due to Sega being afraid of Sony's litigation, while the developers of Bleem! simply felt Microsoft wasn't paying high enough for the license for Bleem! (something they had come to regret in the years since).
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Console Difference, Copyright, Emulation, Legal Affairs
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month December 28, 2023
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Franchise: Sonic The Hedgehog
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In the aftermath of Ken Penders' lawsuit against Archie Comics that lead to their Sonic the Hedgehog comics getting rebooted, a common misconception among fans is that one of the characters he acquired the rights to as a result was Fiona Fox. This is not actually true: while Penders did help "recreate" the character, the initial character (an Auto-Automaton dubbed "Auto-Fiona"), was created by another former writer, Michael Gallagher. While it's uncertain if that he means he owns the character, Penders has stated that he did not want to claim a character that he did not create.
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Copyright, General, Misconception, Multimedia Adaptation, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month December 3, 2023
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Sonic the Hedgehog Issue #28 where Michael Gallagher created the character:
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Sonic-The-Hedgehog/Issue-28?id=20261

Knuckles the Echidna Issue #26 where Ken Penders redesigned the character:
https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/Knuckles-the-Echidna/Issue-26?id=50225

Ken Penders tweet:
https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/428688547114004481
Millipede
Millipede (1982)
subdirectory_arrow_right Stargate (Game), Balloon Fight (Game), Joust (Game)
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Attachment The Nintendo Entertainment System versions of Defender II, Joust, and Millipede were all conceived as part of a failed deal between Nintendo and Atari to distribute the Famicom internationally. Development was outsourced to HAL Laboratory, who decided to publish the games themselves in 1987 after Nintendo took international distribution of the console into their own hands two years prior. One additional title was put together as part of the Atari deal, but it was never released, with none of the parties involved revealing what it was.

Because of the circumstances behind their conception, the Japanese versions of these three games all feature title screens reminiscent of Famicom launch titles, with the copyright information uniformly reading "COPYRIGHT 1983 ATARI". When Nintendo of America exported the games to North America in 1988, the title screens were made more elaborate and the copyright info was updated. The ways of accessing the game's modes are also changed in the North American release; instead of having them all available on the title screen, the player must press Start in Defender II and Millipede to bring up a menu (itself displaying additional copyright information). In Joust, pressing Start skips the menu and automatically begins Game A; the player must press Select in order to access the menu.

The development of Joust as a launch title for an Atari-distributed system would have a prominent knock-on effect on HAL and Nintendo's future. The game was one of the first titles to be programmed by Satoru Iwata, who would go on to become a vital asset to HAL thanks to his coding skills before becoming Nintendo's president in 2002, and his experiences developing Joust would help him program Balloon Fight.
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Copyright, Corporate Affairs, Development, Early Idea, Real Life, Regional Difference, Release Date, Title
person VinchVolt calendar_month November 28, 2023
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Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (2008)
subdirectory_arrow_right Sonic The Hedgehog (Franchise), Sega (Company), EA Games (Company)
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Upon the release of Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Ken Penders, a former writer on the Archie Comics Sonic comics, sued Sega and EA for supposedly using Sonic character concepts he had independently trademarked prior - particularly the Nocturnas Clan, a futuristic echidna tribe which he deemed as too similar to his own Dark Legion, a futuristic echidna technocracy. This lawsuit came months after Archie Comics filed their own suit against Penders due to a breach of contract after the trademarking, causing Archie to allow their contract with Sega to expire so they could negotiate new terms for the rights to create Sonic comics. This legal fiasco ended in Archie settling the case with Penders, losing the exclusivity to produce Sonic comics after negotiations with Sega, and causing them to write the "Super Genesis Wave", a super-charged energy blast utilizing the Chaos Emeralds that acted as a massive continuity rewrite where over 500 original characters and concepts created by Penders and other writers for the Archie Sonic comics were retconned. The Sega case on the other hand ended in a stalemate due to the statute of limitations, and will not be able to continue unless Sega uses characters from The Dark Brotherhood again.
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Character Design, Complaint, Copyright, General, Legal Affairs, Multimedia Adaptation, Real Life, Retcon
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 16, 2023
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GoldenEye 007
GoldenEye 007 (1997)
subdirectory_arrow_right Nintendo (Company)
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In the Xbox One version of GoldenEye 007, the DK Mode - named after Donkey Kong for changing the proportions of in-game models to those of DK's from Donkey Kong 64 - retains its name. Given that Nintendo were directly involved in the project to re-release GoldenEye 007, with the game having a simultaneous relaunch on Nintendo Switch Online and Microsoft Store, this could be the first time Nintendo has officially allowed their IP to be referenced on a direct rival console.
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Bonus Content, Console Wars, Copyright, Reference, Release Difference, Theory
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 16, 2023
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Chip's Challenge 2
Chip's Challenge 2 (2015)
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Chip's Challenge 2 was finished in 1990, two years after the completion of Chip's Challenge and a year after the latter game's release, but due to the IP being sold, it had to wait 25 years to see an official release in 2015, following five years of negotiation over the series' rights.
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Copyright, Corporate Affairs, Development, General, Real Life, Release Date
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 10, 2023
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Blue Ninja: Superhero Game
Blue Ninja: Superhero Game (2020)
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As stated in the game's official app store description, Blue Ninja is intended to be a parody of superheroes and "the best of ninja trained spider games". Based on the initial teaser trailer (when it was known as "Superhero Game 2021") featuring a different red and black design from the final game, using music from the film "Spider-Man 3", and the game description's numerous references to "spider heroes", it's very obvious that this game is meant to specifically be a parody of the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The visual similarities to Spider-Man in Blue Ninja's early design were most likely changed for the final game to avoid copyright disputes.
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Copyright, Development, General, Inspiration, Real Life, Reskin
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 8, 2023
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Sqij!
Sqij! (1986)
subdirectory_arrow_right Obitus (Game)
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The mutant bird illustration on the box art for Sqij! and Obitus, drawn by speculative fiction artist Tim White, seems to have originated from the 1979 edition of the 1975 book Under a Calculating Star. It is unknown if either use was licensed.
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Asset Reuse, Box Art, Copyright, Unsolved Mystery
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 2, 2023
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Article mentioning the asset reuse:
https://www.badgamehalloffame.com/sqij/

Release date of bird cover Calculating Star:
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7807719382
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