teh "from Movies/Animes stolen Videogame Backgrounds" - Thread

[nodtveidt]

They're booting each other. Who will win?

[ccovell]

Just discovered this one.  Not from a movie, but an instance where an Amiga game rips off a game console's art.  Quite common in the European PC world, too.   

Fushigina Blobi- (A Boy and his Blob) GB, 1990

http://www.suruga-ya.jp/database/265000190001.html

and P.P. Hammer, Amiga, 1991

http://www.exotica.org.uk/wiki/File:PPHammer.jpg

[SignOfZeta]

What the f*ck?

First, there is a game called "P.P. Hammer"? I thought this was a PP Hammer:



Since it makes a "Pi!" noise when you hit something with it.

Secondly, those two images are extremely similar, but not actually identical in any way. Is it possible that they are two different drafts of the same concept and they just got sent to two different publishers by the same freelancer? While its better than %90 of all TG-16 cover art, its hardly anything worth "ripping off".

[esteban]

While its better than %90 of all TG-16 cover art, its hardly anything worth "ripping off".

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

[ccovell]

I never said they were identical... but P.P. Hammer is clearly ripping off the art for Blobby.  Rip-offs usually take the same composition and linework, but add things like moustaches (Star Wars -> Chase H.Q.), sunglasses, and change the hairstyles of characters in the pic.

Some aspects of this pair of pics are in fact nearly identical: His hairstyle & yellow glow, the hat & shading on it, The blob's eyes, the angle of the dungeon wall, torch placement, backpack straps, jeans outline, and even the presence of 3 shaved (?) stripes in his hair.  Jaleco and Demonware did not hire the same artist; the latter copied art ideas from the former. 

[esteban]

Jaleco and Demonware did not hire the same artist; the latter copied art ideas from the former. 

Don't worry, Zeta dropped his DS in his Rice Crispies this morning and was cranky when he made that post

For the record, though, I love Rice Crispies.

[Tatsujin]

It's also obvious that the former artwork clearly came out of a japanese feather, while the latter one is kinda ugly western crap style.

[SignOfZeta]

Jaleco and Demonware did not hire the same artist; the latter copied art ideas from the former. 

Don't worry, Zeta dropped his DS in his Rice Crispies this morning and was cranky when he made that post

For the record, though, I love Rice Crispies.

I don't see what's so cranky about my post. I'm just...baffled. Its not traced or actually copied, it (whichever one is the knock-off) is built up again from scratch. This would make sense of they were knocking off a Giger Alien or a Gundam or something, but is this dipshit with a jackhammer actually considered such a brilliant concept that its worth stealing? Both images are pretty C-.

[esteban]

Jaleco and Demonware did not hire the same artist; the latter copied art ideas from the former. 

Don't worry, Zeta dropped his DS in his Rice Crispies this morning and was cranky when he made that post

For the record, though, I love Rice Crispies.

I don't see what's so cranky about my post. I'm just...baffled. Its not traced or actually copied, it (whichever one is the knock-off) is built up again from scratch. This would make sense of they were knocking off a Giger Alien or a Gundam or something, but is this dipshit with a jackhammer actually considered such a brilliant concept that its worth stealing? Both images are pretty C-.

I think it went down like this:

A Boy and His Blob (GB) --> "inspiration" --> P.P. Hammer

I don't think the similarities are merely coincidental.

[ccovell]

I think Zeta is questioning the quality of the original pic.  Which was never implied.

[SignOfZeta]

I think Zeta is questioning the quality of the original pic.  Which was never implied.

I'm questioning the risk/reward ratio of steeling these lame-ass characters. Even a shitty drawing like those still takes hours to complete. Why not draw something about a million times cooler? Because...anyone could, honestly. Shmoo and a retard with a power tool. It was not some sort of magic archtype that made A Boy and His Blob so popular.

[esteban]

I think Zeta is questioning the quality of the original pic.  Which was never implied.

I'm questioning the risk/reward ratio of steeling these lame-ass characters.

And yet, we have overwhelming evidence that folks do this (risk/reward):

(1) plagiarism is not simply the domain of lazy students, but even accomplished/professional artists/writers/poets (there is actually a lot of interesting academic work on this subject...digitizing texts has allowed researchers to identify "suspect" passages! It's crazy.)

(2) Professional "legit" websites scrape content from other sites.

(2.5) Electronic publications routinely use photos/illustrations without crediting original source or paying royalties. My friend is constantly requesting modest fees for the few places that actually want to use his photography.

(3) Homage vs. rip-off (it's a fine line, wouldn't you say? "Paying respect" vs. "Being too damn lazy")

(4) But wait! This was 1990-91: LIFE IN THE PRE-INTERNET WORLD:

     P.P. Hammer artist, circa 1991: "What are the chances that anyone will ever identify my source material, a Japanese-only illustration for a Gameboy title?"

     P.P. Hammer artist, moments later: "Even if the source material is identified, my paycheck will have been long-spent!  Plus, it's an homage, anyway."

I would suggest that the crucial observation is not:

"Plagiarizing is too risky, especially when minimal extra effort would result in an original work."

but rather:

"Desperation/laziness/ignorance/brazen disregard for content creators --> leads to plagiarization, even in a post-1991 digital world that allows for quicker identification of plagiarism."

[Tatsujin]

a good write

[rag-time4]

I think Zeta is questioning the quality of the original pic.  Which was never implied.

I'm questioning the risk/reward ratio of steeling these lame-ass characters. Even a shitty drawing like those still takes hours to complete. Why not draw something about a million times cooler? Because...anyone could, honestly. Shmoo and a retard with a power tool. It was not some sort of magic archtype that made A Boy and His Blob so popular.

Zeta I think the points you bring up, ie that plagiarizing such a lame original is absurd, is what makes this a fun thread.

On the topic of plagiarism, I once came across a sports article written by Ron Tillery of the Memphis Commercial appeal circa 2006-2007 that contained segments lifted verbatim from an article written earlier in 2006 by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. No credit was given to Feigen.

The ironic thing was that Feigens original article began with an inaccuracy and was written as a biased hatchet job of a player that Feigen didnt like. So plagiarism certainly happens, even from flawed and bogus originals.

[HercTNT]

I think nausicaa has been ripped off in more than a few games. The first real boss you face in crystalis on the nes is a giant bug in a toxic jungle. Looks just like the ones from nausicaa.