Fighter's History vs. Street Fighter II Character Comparison - Lawsuit Exhibit Video

[@restartmag]

Thanks to everyone for checking out this video, and for all of the comments! Since I've been asked this a lot, wanted to be clear: I originally thought part 2 was also on the VHS tape I pulled this from, but sadly is wasn't. I swear I remember watching part 2 as well, but to be fair, this would have been almost 30 years ago now. I'll keep looking to see if by any chance I also took home another video with part 2 on it, but I'm not too hopeful on that. If I did, and I do find it, I'll absolutely post it! I've also got some other neat historical video game stuff that I'll try to get up on this channel as well.

[@gryzor6421]

@restartmag Definitely looking forward to all the treasures you unearth.

[@Wesblumarine]

Thank you!!!!

[@centenoservices1111]

Please post more stuff on whatever. You seem to have possible inrersting things

[@Soldmysoulforablurayplayer]

I bet Maximillian would find this video cool.

[@thelarryle]

Yes please my Saturday was made when I found this video then ruined when it cut off at part 2!

[@RaulFelixINC]

KZbin: You wanna watch an old VHS press release about legal suit about two fighting games from the 90s? Me: No.... wait... yes!

[@beloaded3736]

Thats me right now. Lol yes!

[@jjdmts4460]

Almost exactly what went through my head when I saw it. "I dont give a crap about this!" **Clicks on it**

[@apitterson17]

@@jjdmts4460 LMAOOOOOO SAME

[@philliusphoggwick8299]

For about 7 min probably

[@haruruben]

I don’t know why I find this so interesting

[@jonnyo2121]

15:47: "Feilin is a strong woman fighter who commands respect. Chun Li on the other hand grins and giggles portraying a stereotype of a young girl who need not be taken seriously." SHOTS FIRED

[@kevtinman]

I can see that though. And seeing how that jovial role went to Sakura and left Chun Li

[@RobsonRoverRepair]

I know right. God dam savage

[@akilreid9476]

She ate her up lmaoo

[@jamoladdintadjimov5319]

@@kevtinman I can argue that Chun Li is achieved the same strong woman status as Feilin with Street Fighter 6

[@Haterade420]

Data East is now dead.

[@maestrojon]

Fighters History is what grandma would get you for Christmas when you asked for Street Fighter II.

[@KenMasters.]

Grandma: "Uh… Here's your 'Fighter Guys' game you asked Santa for your SNES, darling." Me: "I specifically wrote to Santa a Genesis cartridge of Street Fighter II, Grandma…" Grandma: "Genesis? The Bible has pages, not cartridges. Even Santa will tell ya." Me: "Wow, Grandma… Seriously?!"

[@Sho_Ryu_Ken]

​@KenMasters. Hahaha I love this kinda stuff lol

[@newuser738-j8c]

Or mien kampf when you ask for mine craft

[@Robot666House]

My grandma knew I liked star wars so she got me star gate. True story

[@Theegoaat]

Great value ahh street fighter 😂

[@carpdog112]

“Look... me and the McDonald's people got this little misunderstanding. See, they're McDonald's... I'm McDowell's. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.”

[@dublev78]

Very fitting 😂

[@ThaRickiestRick]

Lol frfr

[@chaseesahc3100]

LMFAO

[@Diwasho]

My local copycat of McD's uses black sesame seeds instead of white, McDowell needs to up his game.

[@3aeren]

bwahahaha coming to america

[@VCR_Repairman]

Those who forget their Fighters History, are doomed to repeat it.

[@nickfry7839]

who are you, who are so wise in the way of the warrior?

[@jefff8130]

😂😂😂

[@kreiven.el.cazador.de.imagenes]

Peter Griffin: He said it!! 😂😅

[@mavsowned]

😂 amazing comment

[@MarquisDeSang]

I had more fun with Fighting History game.

[@ushireborn]

Eventually this lady, Etsuko Adelman, moved to Sony Entertainment and became licensing manager. She went by the name "Etsuko Kobata". She even worked on FF7

[@bobbyantrobus1805]

Nice sleuthing work

[@halroxdynasty8683]

Woah thats cool

[@Kauffy901]

This is a great tidbit-- when she first came on the screen, I was 100% expecting her to begin speaking Japanese, but then I was drawn in by her incredible level of professionalism with something that, ultimately, is really silly.

[@gadget00]

did she divorced Mr. Adelman? or was she actually american and married a japanese later?

[@ushireborn]

@gadget00 Her maiden name is Kobata. As far as I know, she did not get divorced but when she moved to Sony she dropped "Adelman" from her business name.

[@triple_lei]

What a treasure. The KZbin algorithm did not fail me.

[@retrogamer41_sepiamta]

I saw this on Twitter first. Glad the YT Algorithm recommend this just now.

[@JackMehoff-m3s]

Derp derp derp KZbin algorithm good! Derp derp derp

[@michellefernandez3155]

She looks like shes so done with this stuff. Also, WOULD.

[@erikpeterson778]

@@michellefernandez3155 yep WOULD

[@ErrrorWayz]

Boom! It looks pretty similar 😂

[@piercehubbard4086]

I’m embarrassed to say that until I saw this, I had never even heard of Fighter’s History.

[@ssvstheworld3372]

Me either bro, even though it's a win for them. They didn't win the long game.

[@retiredsnowbunnyhunterx5106]

I remember coming across this at the mall back in the day. They even had SNES game too

[@alichehabi7751]

No one has bro 😂

[@denn15m8]

I did, it was trash the controls were very clunky.

[@WOOKMEISTA]

Same!

[@zambimaru]

This video just showed up in my recommendation feed. I've never heard of Fighter's History or this lawsuit.

[@SarahNGeti]

Me either and I'm an 80s kid! This game must have been trash lol 😆

[@djoscartj]

I did, but I was a kid that lived (and worked) at the arcade. It was well known and obvious that it was a direct copy. No shame on these guys that produced Fighter's History.

[@TWzi_QOd9E7fAYcKiT]

Now this is what the internet is for. Incredible rare content. Please can we have part 2.

[@thenostalgiabusiness]

I think part 2 would be even funnier, since the presenter said it would be a comparison of special moves. I can't wait to see how she differentiates between Guile's sonic boom and flash kick and Matlock's uh... single arm sonic boom and uh... flash kick but flipping the other direction.

[@Kawayolnyo]

@@thenostalgiabusiness Nash/Charlie and Remy both do single-handed sonic booms. Just Saiyan. Really makes your noggins jogging when you start thinking about it, since Remy's entire backstory is that "he seeks revenge on his father because he abandoned him and his sister when they were young". The implying is insanely thick. Especially since Remy appeared literally in only one canonically mainline SF entry thus far (SF III 3-rd Strike), Nash/Charlie "was dead".

[@Chuck_Tarnish]

PLEASE!!! 🙏

[@normalpsychology]

@@Kawayolnyo Nash is from Capcom just like Guile though, so it wouldn't be trademark infringement.

[@olivere5497]

Part 2 gets a little 'hot'

[@lontr9771]

This is not Guile. Throws Sonic booms a few moments later.

[@griloleatherface]

This is not Ken * throws hadowken

[@apollosungod2819]

Ehh the characters are NOT copied... Capcom LOST the lawsuit and got Data East to waste money and time cause that's what lawsuits are until proven.

[@apollosungod2819]

Grow up kid, I bet you never played these games when they first came out in arcades so being a SF2 fanboy just makes you a tool.

[@deputado]

And a reverse Flash Kick

[@CEEPMDEE]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 That's what I was thinking. F.H. borrows a lot from SF2

[@FS-ky5hk]

Came because KZbin thought it was a good idea. Stayed because her voice is soothing.

[@orlanzo2621]

I’ve always known about the infamous lawsuit that Capcom filed against Data East but to actually see a video from the case is really cool. This is some historic gold right here.

[@afropowa1598]

Yeah man, this is awesome but Capcom were complete fools for going thru with this lawsuit. Which is so funny since Street Fighter was inspired by Karate Champ a Data East made game, lol! I am hype for part 2 of this video.

[@meganinten0078]

@@orlanzo2621 You could say that Fighter's History made...history .... ... Okay, I will see myself out 😅 But seriously, thanks to Data East, the entire fighting game genre was saved! Fighting game fans and players should respect Data East and Fighter's History 🫡 Thanks for everything DE 🥲 'Mizoguchi Wins!!"

[@orlanzo2621]

@@meganinten0078 Definitely agree! If Capcom would have won the lawsuit the entire fighting game genre as we know it wouldn’t be what it is today, scary to think about one company basically having a monopoly on an entire genre.

[@orlanzo2621]

@@afropowa1598 Yea Capcom was just trying to be greedy and basically have the genre to themselves. It was a selfish move on their part, I love the company but they were definitely wrong in this case, I’m glad that Data East won. The genre definitely wouldn’t be as diverse and healthy as it is today if things had gone the other way.

[@iTiZaQUeStiOnMaRk]

At the end of the day the moves and fighting style of the characters r way too similar lol

[@SAPProd]

“Vega wears a white hockey mask.” Capcom: “OBJECTION!”

[@meganinten0078]

Nick Commando (Fight Fever): "HEY! THAT IS MY THING! I WILL SUE THEM!" 😆

[@CoolWave01]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@johnnynorrisjr.39]

"HOLD IT!!" (slams desk)

[@Dark_Jaguar]

Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th also wears a hockey mask, and Rick from Splatter House, as does Casey Jones from Ninja Turtles, and Wayne Gretzky from.... Hockey... for that matter.

[@MrCageCat]

To be fair though you can say that Data East CLEARLY took a lot of "inspiration" from Street Fighter 2 when making this game.

[@realce666]

"They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs."

[@aalex2606]

Big Mic

[@pHiLKizer]

Fighter's Street Deux

[@norfillyson]

Coming to America

[@lobotomyscam1051]

McDowell's.

[@joelynch1172]

We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.

[@noahboat580]

This is the rare VHS footage people like me would get giddy for. Someone from data east comparing and contrasting 2 arcade games, imagine that.

[@daowonimdee]

Gold.

[@AdversaryOne]

I like that nice little jab at the end. "Chun-Li is just a giggling girl not to be taken seriously." Just like this lawsuit, I bet they were thinking.

[@luisreyes1963]

Chun-Li is way more sexy than Feilin.

[@Kawayolnyo]

@@luisreyes1963 To each their own.

[@JeckyJ]

@@luisreyes1963chun-li was my video game crush, until I was introduced to Mai from King of Fighters 😍

[@edomint945]

I read about this in gaming magazines back in the day, but never thought I would actually see a tape with Data East's argument. I always wondered what that would looked like. Thanks for this.

[@joey-r5c]

Thank you for taking the time to upload this piece of gaming history to the internet! I've never even heard of such a video existing from Data East yet 30 years later here it is thanks to you! Also we all complain about the mysterious KZbin algorithm with the videos it decides to show us, well Google hit it out the park with this recommendation.

[@Wladislav]

Thank you for preserving this artefact.

[@Kawayolnyo]

This ain't no artifact. This is a guide for action.

[@cladysmith9505]

4:07 "Matlok is not Guile" Matlok throws Sonic Boom 🤦

[@MattyOvessi]

That’s a projectile like in many Japanese games. It resembles a boomerang. Doesn’t mean it belongs to guile

[@cladysmith9505]

@MattyOvessi amazing lol

[@latinrapinstrumentals]

@@MattyOvessi Wow well that about wraps it up then.

[@MattyOvessi]

@@latinrapinstrumentals dude. I don’t know lol. Let us hear one of your songs

[@napoleon_radio]

and he's fighting Zangief

[@ericwood3709]

You know what this reminds me of? The scene in Coming To America where John Amos's character is explaining how his McDowell's restaurant is not copying McDonald's.

[@hbitsorg2275]

YAAAASSS: They have the golden arches, ours are the Golden Archs, lol So sad he and James Earl Jones are gone. ''MY SON WORKS?!?!?!" -King Jaffe Jaffer about Hakeems (Eddie Murphy)

[@NOWONMAI73]

Definitely some “Big Mac vs. Big Mick” vibes here 😂

[@lmcgregoruk]

Although Mr McDowell DID have the McDonald's Operations Manual.

[@chadcas]

😂😂😂😂 exactly what I was thinking

[@Kawayolnyo]

@@NOWONMAI73 DonMak VS Vkusno & Tochka.

[@evandavis5223]

No we didn't copy Capcom's homework, but we did read the same textbook.

[@SVanTha]

No we didn't copy Capcom's homework, but we did copy the guy who copied Capcom's homework.

[@graymattermedia5046]

Tekken was homeschooled.

[@adobetaco1578]

Capcom is petty much like their fan base.

[@Donkehy-puncharello]

​@adobetaco1578 what's that awesome as fuck?? Cause they are

[@walterwhite1]

It was a straight up copy haha

[@kampretman]

wow. thabk you for uploading. this was a trip through memory lane. just in case if anyone's; In spite of the intentional similarities between the two games, the court concluded that Data East did not infringe upon Capcom's copyright, as most of these similarities were not protected under copyright.

[@HouMat-if5fi]

For some reason this is extremely entertaining.

[@Bryan-b1r2i]

For every reason

[@NecromancyLabz]

I feel like this lady's passive aggressive factual way of speaking could end wars simply by destroying the opposition's self confidence alone.

[@jabrondestoroyah]

This has the possibility to turn sexual. I will get back to you after research and development gets back to me.

[@garymarion7497]

Read the room. We don't. Your whiteness is on hubble level display here.

[@f5673-t1h]

I see nothing passive aggressive. Her way of speaking is neutral.

[@BPCRevere]

​@@f5673-t1hother than using a calm method of speaking and pointing out surface differences in costumes, the two rhetoric devices are not similar.

[@MrCactuar13]

@@f5673-t1h Pay more attention to what she's saying and not just how she's saying it. She consistently portrays the Fighters History characters and stages as being more authentic in representing their cultures and fighting styles. And also that last jab on Chun Li lol. Data East's legal team nailed their case.

[@fernandocorral8997]

I love this type of behind the scenes stuff, I remember reading about this foolish lawsuit in magazines as a teen in the 90s to get some tangible syntax to it is amazing! Thank you for sharing this!

[@davesmilingcoyote]

Anyone else notice that she called Ryu’s uniform a “Gi” and Ken’s uniform a “costume”?

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

Ryu is going to train while Ken is going to "Trick or Treat".

[@baconx6476]

@@Blas4ublasphemy lol

[@allenu]

"Clearly, Ken is cosplaying as a fighter and not to be taken seriously, unlike Ray, the detective."

[@svovy5358]

Im going to assume her motives were racial

[@theduddha2]

Also, a traditional Shotokan outfit does not have the arms ripped off to show bare shoulders...

[@exclamatia]

i need to see part 2

[@asturides]

Same, I'd love to see it

[@eglaiosdeminecraft9259]

Part 2 is ArcSys suing Capcom because Ryu is too similar to Sol Badguy

[@ThePhoenixBoi]

Dude this is Awesome!! Thanks for sharing 💯

[@meganinten0078]

It's a good thing Data East ended up winning in the end 😄 If Capcom had won, they would have monopolized the entire fighting game industry! The judge said that those alleged similarities that Capcom claimed were either superficial or something that all fighting games shared The judge also clarified that Capcom didn't own martial arts and sports For example, Sagat practices and does Muay Thai techniques but he didn't invent it

[@goatbone]

Capcom was already monopolising the fighting game industry with how popular Street Fighter II was.

[@liukang85]

the judge didn't know shit lol the main arguments were the weak spot mechanic and the different settings/visual styles. But even Ken's stance got copied lmao and movements etc. are similar. It's only about bitmaps/background settings and character story. But there have been enough fighting games to show that the similarities in gameplay don't just come by chance 😂😂😂

[@luhental]

They did invent tiger uppercut and tiger energy wave attack which isn't in any Muai Thai school.

[@last7509]

can't blame them for trying to steal money from the competition. it would be foolish not to.

[@rugalbernstein7822]

Really dickriding the shitty copy company lmao

[@realizewave1513]

and she won the case.

[@japposaurusrex]

But Capcom won the war. A marathon, not a race.

[@xAZN-UAE_Legendx]

Where is Capcom's defendant?! lol!

[@sladejosephwilson2300]

She saved the fighting game genre.

[@JoeyBullet222]

​@japposaurusrex Capcom still lost the case that they brought. That's law not metaphor.

[@jokerzwild00]

​@@japposaurusrex kinda. Sure they have long term success with the SF franchise, however if Capcom had won this case then they would have set a precedent that allowed for less competition going forward. It would affect more than just the fighting game genre as well, as many other publishers would have followed, bringing suit to any similar competition.

[@gadget00]

FASCINATING!! Amazing upload. As many here, I had no idea this was happening back in the day; quite a treasure of VG history

[@FabioGnecco]

from The Cut Room Floor article: "Fighter's History is Data East's first attempt to hop on fighting games trend of early 90's. This game is infamously known for being sued by Capcom, accusing it in plagiarism of Street Fighter II. However, Data East won the lawsuit on grounds that the copied elements like mechanics, 6-button layout and character archetypes were a standard for the genre and cannot be copyrighted. And after that the game received a sequel one year later, Fighter's History Dynamite, which was a major improvement over the original and got a niche cult following over the years"

[@tunkunrunk]

fighter's History Dynamite / Karnorv revenge (arcade version) was ten times superior to street fighter sequels

[@waverazor]

​@@tunkunrunki agree its a good game but... def not as good as sfa and sf2 and darkstalker and cyberbots and xmen cota, etc I looovve karnov revenge tho, very fun game

[@tunkunrunk]

@@waverazor sorry to disagree , but Karnov's revenge Aka fighters' history 2 is way more superior to the games you mentionned . just play the arcade game (not snes version ) with an emulator , do no set the game level to easy , start the game , reach Mizogushi stage and fight against him , then come back and tell me if you still think it doesn't beat street fighters series ( except for SF ex and SF4 et above)

[@SdotG_]

@@waverazorit’s not better then sf3 either but not a bad game at all

[@last7509]

this is like vanilla ice claiming his sound is completely different from queen

[@danielrecommends]

Very cool to see this! Hopefully you'll have part 2 uploaded because I'd like to see the fighting moves comparison.

[@BenHaMiqra]

Why did I need this on a random Friday, after work? This isn't pertinent to my life in any way, but I'm glued to the screen rn...😅

[@javaly78]

I like the subtle jab of Guile looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Who’s copying who?

[@DPXEntertainment]

I have no idea why Arnold was used for the comparison, when Guile was modeled after "Iceman" from Top Gun.

[@sridrawings4510]

​@@DPXEntertainmentguile is based on strohiem from jojo

[@Wykesidefruitmachine]

​@@sridrawings4510 Guile is based on Paul Phoenix from the Tekken series. So is Ken.

[@burgertim7878]

@@Wykesidefruitmachine I hope you're trolling.

[@sridrawings4510]

@@Wykesidefruitmachine 🤣

[@Dan-di9jd]

I'm both surprised and not surprised that Capcom lost this case! I'm reading into it and the judge agreed with Capcom that it was obvious they were imitating street fighter. But they lost on the ground that Capcom was too generic in description to really say they "owned" those moves or styles or technique. I'm sort of glad Capcom lost because I feel that it would open the door to being sued for anything. You can say the entire concept of having 1 vs 1 on the left and right sides being something Capcom originally came up with or even another lesser company could sue Capcom saying they copied their game! Even more so other games could come out and say special moves, or combos, etc is being copied by some other game.

[@TrueToTheCraft]

Yeah but come on! This was a blatant lift. They didn’t even try that hard to make it different. Even the colour palette was a lift.

[@kruks]

Heavyweight Champ has 1v1, left to right fighting in 1976. Atari's Karate did the same for martial arts in 1982. Heck, Data East themselves made Karate Champ in 1984. Ironically Data East USA sued Epyx prior to this, over World Karate Championship copying Karate Champ. Epyx defended themselves successfully in appeals using the same argument Data East would use here, that the expression is inseparable from the idea. It would only be later, when graphics improved, that would make it harder to dismiss similarities as coincidence of graphic limitations. Tetris Holding LLC v. Xio Interactive, Inc. set the precedence in the other direction and Blizzard, Nintendo and others defended their IP in the years after.

[@MardukTheSunGodInsideMe]

A win would have been huge, but the real goal is a protracted expensive legal battle. In a war of money attrition, capcon wins.

[@SecretSquaff]

@@TrueToTheCraft People like you shouldn't be voting. Last thing we need is someone thinking Capcom owns the rights to game mechanics they didn't even create.

[@KusaMigeru]

Thanks for sharing this info! That’s a common way these things go in copyright cases - plaintiff points to the similarities in the original expression, while defendant points that there are no similarities or they’re restricted to elements that are not original or to broader concepts or ideas that copyright isn’t supposed to cover. The latter mostly makes sense to me in this case.

[@leonardoreyes1697]

Holy shit this was amazing and VERY random to be recomended by the algo. If you have more like this, please upload it. This is history.

[@nonome8206]

She feels like a parody of a dead inside 80s lawyer. I love her.

[@SpaceGhostMars94]

She's all real dead inside lawyer. 😂

[@c6h5choh-cn82]

Pretty face but as deadly as a katana in court 😁 Yikes!

[@JimmyJohn-r1y]

That's no parody

[@MavHunter20XX]

This woman, they couldn't have picked a better one to do this presentation. She flawlessly pronounce the name of the fighters. From respondents: Except Zen Jeef

[@ngjeremy8062]

Not just character name. Now that I suspect the online dictionary/ translator were made with her voice😂

[@actuallynotsteve]

Her delivery is so subtly condescending, she makes you feel racist if you don't agree with her

[@jedcauffield1858]

@@actuallynotsteveStill would SMASH that Mortal in sexuality Kombat.. she has some killer instincts

[@KyokujiFGC]

@@actuallynotsteve She kinda lowkey throws some shade at Capcom for petty in a few of these, lol

[@PlasmaSnake369]

@@MavHunter20XX She has a Japanese name probably speaks it too

[@mr.horseshoe2301]

This is incredible lost media. Thanks for preserving it!

[@JohnJohn-m7o]

Growing up playing SFII, believe me...we took Chun Li seriously. Very seriously

[@bezoticallyyours83]

Chun Li rocks. Dhalsim is a close second.

[@tmp-3mtempest79]

Thank you so much for uploading this! I've always had an interest in the case, and seeing a real piece of its history is one hell of a treat, I loved watching it.

[@Zycyzyx]

This is a great find, very interesting and entertaining. :) Mostly I love seeing all the behind the scenes stuff, character sketches and source photos, being a big Data East and FH fan.

[@6TheBACH]

Thanks, this is amazing! I can't stop thinking about the audience talking about this case, specially after watching this video 😂 We need to found part 2, this is now a LOST MEDIA HUNT!

[@raygunpyle]

So awesome this was found and uploaded. It's a perfect example of media you'd think would have been lost to time. Since this was probably assumed to have no practical use after the trial and the fact companies sometimes shred old data after so many years. I always liked playing Fighter's History and its characters and I'd be excited if a new one was in development or if most of the cast appear in a crossover Vs. game.

[@markula_4040]

Pretty silly when you consider that Ken's theme is a ripoff of a song from Top Gun and Balrog (the boxer) is a complete ripoff of Mike Tyson likeness.

[@meganinten0078]

Also Bison/Dictador is a rip off of Washizaki from Riki-Oh Guile's theme is very similar to the song 'Travelers' by T-Square

[@JB9000x]

Mike Bison

[@MrDebauch]

And the rest of the characters i think they probably ripped off the characters in the movie the master of the flying guillotine, and the idea of a world tournament as well.

[@Jri3102]

Claw, Boxer, and Dictator were Balrog, M. Bison and, Vega. But we're changed because of likeness to M. Tyson.

[@midinerd]

@@MrDebauch omg someone should copyright the idea of competing

[@ShinFahima]

My favorite part is how it feels like throughout this whole thing, she's VERY subtly throwing shade at Capcom's designs. XD So subtle but it still comes off as completely professional.

[@weirddudehi]

I love the Guile animations on the ARCADE,how he change the position of arms,This change of animations gives a lot of beauty to the game, unfortunately not a single 16-bit version "sfc/md/pce" kept those details,Only the Sharp X68000 retains that, but that hardware was absolutely impossible to have in those days.

[@trogo5858]

More, more, more, more!!!!! More info on video game lawsuits...I've played both of these games to embarrassing levels and still want this on speed dial. ITS BEAUTIFUL 😢

[@hollowneedles]

This was fascinating actually. Never heard of this. Thanks so much for posting!

[@CrackerVolley]

Thank you for uploading. This is very nice piece of 90s videogames history.

[@destronger5313]

I remember this. My dad was the video editor on some of the videos used in the courtroom. I don’t recall if he was on data Eastside or Capcom, however.

[@martinlutherking6550]

I’m glad Capcom lost the case. Imagine if they won and set that precedent, we’d only have one game for every genre. This would’ve been our gaming world growing up: - Command & Conquer and no Warcraft - Doom and no Golden Eye - Diablo and no Neverwinter night - Gran Turismo and no Forza - Mario and no Sonic/Crash Bandicoot Just to name a few. Man what a shitty world it would have been for video games.

[@lmcgregoruk]

We would have more than one game, just the games in the same genre would be from the same company, I mean Dune 2 came before C&C , both made by Westwood, Wolf3D came before Doom, both by id, Motor Toon Grand Prix came before GT, both by Polys/Polyphony digital. They would carry on making newer games in the genre. Although a LOT of those games arguably were NOT the first to do that genre.

[@Blink_____]

Don't look now but Nintendo still trying to realize the plan

[@ToadstedCroaks]

I mean ... for the warcraft / starcraft bit , those games were clearly ripoffs of Warhammer. I'm actually astonished no lawsuit went down over it. It was probably because they weren't fighting over the same space at the time and went unnoticed; then when warhammer finally did enter the gaming space it had already been too late to dispute something that had been out for 10 years and 4 games owned by the entertainment giant Viacom. In regards to your game comparisons, none of those games other than the racing ones are even remotely comparable to each other, so they never would have been brought up in court.

[@Kawayolnyo]

Quite frankly and honestly, given the absolute state of Blizzfart, I would gladly get any C&C over WarCraft every single time.

[@nooneofconsequence1251]

or we'd have the same number of games but no shitty unoriginal knockoffs? I mean... who tf cares about or even remembers Fighters History? It seems obvious from the video that Capcom had a very strong case... even being narrated by a Data East representative. Yet, I never even knew this game existed. There were a million other fighting games that were not such blatant ripoffs like Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Killer Instinct, Super Smash Brothers, Soul Calibre and Bushido Blade.... Data East could have lost the suit, nobody would have even noticed, and the genre would have been exactly the same or perhaps even stronger for it.

[@L_Train]

13:00 "we didnt rip off street fighter. See, we ripped of Bruiser Brody."

[@bezoticallyyours83]

😅

[@justanobody0]

if this was a problem, then street fighter would be guilty of it too and even moreso, it's one thing if it's a fashion accessory like in Bruiser Brody's case Usually it's a bigger deal if you copy a person's face look at balrog's loading screen face, looks identical to a certain popular boxer in the 90s also, I've heard that Balrog was named M Bison in Japan hmmm, what boxer could this Mike Bison possibly be

[@81rbutler]

"inspired by."

[@disappt]

Ngl, flipping the Guile archetype into a punk, perfectly retaining the “sonic” attack concept, and then even going further with their stereotypes is just … *chef’s kiss*

[@retrokidbk83]

Hilariously homie is tossing CD's and not Sonic Boom's.

[@TheTech660]

This made my night! SF2 & FH, are both my favorite Games back then. Thanks for this. I remember that this was brought up back in my arcade days, but being a teen, it didn't really matter. Because playing Video games and having fun was what REALLY MATTERED! Anyways, looking forward to more Arcade Gaming History! Thanks again!

[@Kauffy901]

Important question: did you feel like the two games were basically the same? Like, one was just a re-skin of the other?

[@jakefr5150]

To summarize: The Muy Thai guy looks like the Muy Thai Guy, the Karate man looks like the other Karate man, and the Chinese girl looks like the other Chinese girl. I’m stunned…

[@wtf4446]

She won the case, and my heart.

[@ozbullymorales1020]

She would look great in some Chun-Li cosplay, or the rip-off equivalent of Fighter’s History. 😍🤣

[@barrymaslow8441]

You are fvcking TRIPPIN

[@senpaismooth2355]

@@ozbullymorales1020 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@DJ-Krimson-Steele]

It's refreshing to hear Ryu's name pronounced right at 6:52.

[@micksmith7207]

Yes everyone in the 90’s used to say rie you

[@TheWolfWon]

​@@micksmith7207still do

[@bezoticallyyours83]

Thanks for showing off this piece of gaming history. It was interesting.

[@LuminescentShine]

It's not like Capcom fighters are inspired or took ideas from other medias or games. Oh wait they did.

[@Tr1klops]

i don't doubt you and I'm certainly no expert, if it were one or 2 characters and a music track then yeah, but honestly as being made aware of this for the first time and watching it, there are SO many similarities its crazy, the amount of characters, art design, moves, and even motion of the characters that I can't say I really blame them for trying to sue is it Data East?

[@LuminescentShine]

@@Tr1klops But, no one owns those. Another thing is that it's still going on today but, developers are being more creative about it with tons of references from many fighters. Unlike back then at the start of 90's when there isn't much references for fighting games.

[@midinerd]

@@LuminescentShine There's so many options for variation that just didn' thappen; the character selection screen, the fadiing from character selection to VS. with seemingly the exact same background color - "Round 1, FIGHT" - - round ends: Same type of game-over music and duration for gameover screen with quips from the winner. SO many chances to put any creative difference or spin, that weren't. All of that shit on top of the character's appearance, countries of origin, special moves (lol) - all of that stuff coincidentally lining up is what makes it a copy. In music, if a person 'steals a melody' - you can shift it by having it at a different tempo, key signature, groove - changing any of those things can drastically change the feel. The feel of this game looked fuckin identical brah

[@dn30001]

Mike Bison.....then TROLLED Balrog's alternate costume in SF4 years decades later with a bison/buffalo 😂

[@darktetsuya]

wow never thought I would see the evidence tape out of data east for this! all the fighters may have had similarities but were mostly different enough to not be direct copies.

[@TheLandofObscusion]

And, in the end, Data East managed to win the lawsuit because it was (correctly) argued that the way the characters played were pretty much inherent to how fighting games themselves are played, i.e. QC motions, DP motions, charge moves, fireballs, anti-air specials, etc., while any similarities between the character designs themselves were because of shared influences from around the world.

[@MagmaMKII]

The characters were based on similar archetypes. The type of stuff you can't claim copyright over.

[@jisungchoi7511]

The moves though. It's such a copy. LOL

[@TheLandofObscusion]

@@jisungchoi7511 Yeah, but those too are general concepts found within any fighting game. Fireballs for zoning, DPs for anti-air, charge moves for defensive play, command throws, etc. Capcom couldn't claim copyright over that stuff, since they were to be expected for the genre.

[@derekerickson4144]

​@@TheLandofObscusionI'm playing devil's advocate here but all of those motions and move archetypes only became the standard after Capcom made street fighter 2. SF2 is literally the reason they are the standard. That being said I still think Data East rightfully won the lawsuit it's not like the NBA can sue the National Handball Association (if that's a thing) because both have dribbling.

[@afgdfdgdfddf42]

Thanks for uploading!

[@1982Hiei]

¡Uffff....yo recuerdo cómo la revista Game Pro le tiraba mierda a Fighters History, diciendoles plagiadores, ladrones descarados, imitafores baratos y demás insultos...y es que Dave Winstead, trabajaba de redactor para esa revista! 🤔 Y yo la verdad, juego mas hoy día Fighters History que Street Fighter 2, tiene muchas mecánicas adelantadas a su época.. los puntos débiles en ciertas partes del cuerpo, un sistema de combos mas elaborado, buenas visuales, buenos detalles gráficos en los escenarios por citar algunas. Infortunadamente Fighters History no pudo trascender más que a 2 juegos por lo viral que fué Street Fighter 2, pero para mi Fighters History es un juego.. ¡FANTÁSTICO! 🤔

[@f.e.farias7897]

A company who put Mike Tyson in their game and then change his name to M. Bison shouldn't be taken seriously filing a lawsuit for copyright infringement. Ever.

[@TonySkittleAlive184]

Facts 😂

[@hirumaryuei]

TBH other than the name, Boxer/Balrog/M.Bison is not much like Mike Tyson. Tyson is/was a small heavyweight of relatively average height, while Boxer is huge, towering over most of the cast. His limbs are especially huge. Tyson was a mobile and slippery counterpuncher/infighter especially well-known for his sharp hooks, brutal combinations, and incredible evasive techniques. Boxer is more of a boxer/puncher with long-reaching punches and fierce straight punches. Boxer also has a number of illegal boxing techniques, especially headbutts. Tyson on the other hand detested that sort of boxing, and it was Holyfield's repeated use of headbutts and thigh punches that infuriated Tyson enough to attempt his infamous ear bite.

[@erickh.r.9087]

@@hirumaryuei Dont be ridiculous, is clearly based on Mike Tyson

[@rongill1234]

@@hirumaryuei now look at the pic used for him and say they didn't clearly use mike tyson lol

[@grimTales1]

@@hirumaryuei When he was called Boxer? I've known him as Balrog, and they changed the character in the General's outfit to M. Bison in USA/Europe

[@ronaldom566]

What a hilarious attempt to say "our imitation is not an imitation"! 😂😂😂 Nice video, that's what YT worth for.

[@KevTheGalaxybender]

I like how they tried to throw shade at Chun Li saying she grins and giggles and not to be taken seriously lol

[@Rocket1377]

They undermined their argument there by showing some clear bias towards Data East. I'm glad they won the lawsuit, as it helped prevent Capcom from monopolising the genre, but Chun-Li is a much better character. She works for Interpol, is trying to avenge the death of her father, and is not just some giggly little girl.

[@ShatteredPedestal7]

@@Rocket1377but she failed to avenge her father. Bison is still alive, and she’s a joke that can’t do what she claimed to do.

[@Red_Sutter]

Capcom claiming copyright infringement while openly stealing ideas from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and various movies

[@caucasoidape8838]

Those are more blatant to me, than Data East's special move, and archetype similarities. Could Akira Toriyma have bitched about the "hadouken" being a "kamehameha"? lol

[@marcusbullock630]

You're leaving out their biggest ripoff- Hokuto no Ken. The entire streetfighter story from 1 to alpha 3 is a ripoff of Hokuto no Ken. Ryu and ken are Kenshiro and Rei, Akuma is Raoh. the whole akuma slaying Goutetsu and injuring Gouken, his brother, was a total copy of what happened to Kenshiro's master *RYUKEN* several street fighter characters are direct ripoffs of HNK characters- ROlento, Zangief, even M Bison was ripped from it. and to make it worse, HNK is a ripoff of Mad Max

[@TBSEminem]

​@@marcusbullock630 hnk isnt a mad max rip off. I never saw max using martial arts. It's just the same setting

[@last7509]

everyone does this. it would be foolish not to try to get some money from your competition. ever hear of the Japanese cartoon disney borrowed for lion king?

[@DoomKid]

@@last7509That cartoon is really, really different through. Fraudulently suing competitors is the exact reason the "lawyers are scum" trope is so commonly accepted as the truth

[@Xijor]

This is a real treat of a video.

[@meganinten0078]

Funny how Capcom sued Data East but later they copied their homework Capcom copied Lee's gameplay and gave it to Yun. No wonder Yun ended up so OP, Lee was Top Tier in every Fighter's History game Mizoguchi's TsuuTenSai is the original Shinryuken They gave it to Ken Ryoko Kano, the first female grappler, was the inspiration for Makoto Jean is the first character who throws a rose for his projectile and likes his suspenders. Something that Dudley got Meanwhile, SNK copied Ray's Dynamite Tackle and gave it to Terry Bogard as the Power Charge

[@benakhiangte4856]

yes, out of spite since they did not win the lawsuit.

[@orlanzo2621]

That’s something I noticed immediately when I first played New Generation back in 1997, the fact that Yun basically had Lee’s entire moveset. That definitely wasn’t a coincidence.

[@directedby5759]

FeiLing, Chinese actress...FeiLong, Chinese actor. Chun-Li def moves more like FeiLing in SFIII...in SFII she walked toward the opponent like it's her bf she caught cheating red-handed

[@ChibiFighter]

Ryoko Kanno is also very much based off of real life Japanese athlete Ryoko Tani.

[@AdversaryOne]

They definitely were heavily inspired by SF2, but I don't see anything worthy of suing over. Data East did a good job of making sure the games were different enough but with a hint of SF2 sprinkled in.

[@PlasmaSnake369]

So many games were heavily inspired by other games.

[@sridrawings4510]

Lol even world heroes is inspired by it yet it did get away from it

[@last7509]

this is like vanilla ice and queen

[@tamdunk]

They changed just enough so they didn't need to pay us

[@Pedro_Kantor]

That little biddy change. It's not the same!

[@misterripple]

I enjoyed this so much. Thx for sharing.

[@michiganjack1337]

I remember following this in issues of EGM. I always thought the lawsuit was frivolous. Grossly inspired by yes, but not the same. It was just Capcom bullying the market. Great to actually see this video after all these years is fantastic

[@filipe.estima]

Looks to me like Capcom wanting to flaunt "We are doing so well that competitors try to copy us, but remember, we are the originals!"

[@JustSomeSuy805]

What are u talking about? Matlock literally throws a sonic boom. Everyone who saw this game for the first time was like wtf

[@cladysmith9505]

​@@JustSomeSuy805he knows it's the same game. Unless he's really, REALLY, retarded

[@M0j0J0j0]

​That's about all... That really is about all there is.

[@wrena79]

The American artwork in that strategy guide was good awful. Remember seeing it back in the day and I'm sure I've got it somewhere. Proper nightmare fuel.

[@Jucelegario]

is like some amateur 10 year old that isnt a fan, made it while bored during class.

[@DPXEntertainment]

​@@Jucelegario😂

[@joe718gt4]

I remember the Gamepro art was so bad compared to the Japanese art

[@キラキラくりくり頭]

Even as an 11 year old kid, I HATED the box art for the Western SNES version of Street Fighter 2. Just awful. The Turbo version was just as bad.

[@DPXEntertainment]

@@キラキラくりくり頭 Agreed

[@davidca96]

I remember this, but never knew footage of the legal issues was ever recorded like this, excellent.

[@TSDT]

This was great. Kudos to the folks at Data East breaking down fighting game terminology and tropes for someone uninformed to follow along easily. I remember when I first saw Fighter's History, I was confused since it DID take a lot of inspiration, but also fascinated by the handful unique touches. It's definitely trying to the RC Cola to Street Fighter's Coke and Fatal Fury's Pepsi, but that's just it - you can't copyright the idea of guys from the around the world conking each other while occasionally throwing ki blasts since that stuff's been around since antiquity.

[@Fusso]

Let's be real. Of all games that Capcom could have pick for a lawsuit, Fighters History is not even close to the most agregious one. It's good they lost it. It was an absurd lawsuit to begin with.

[@LeeONardo]

And now Nintendo is doing it with Palworld.

[@TonySkittleAlive184]

Lawsuit should be for ADK's "World Heroes" and not Data East's "Fighters History".

[@Fusso]

@@TonySkittleAlive184 ADK folks were friends and co-workers with the SNK folks and Capcom and SNK would never sue each other since they both shared staff and ideas all the time. Data East got the shaft exactly for not being part of the Osaka group.

[@TonySkittleAlive184]

@@Fusso ah ok ok.... Understood 😃

[@godfist314]

Yep. In the grand scheme of things barely anyone even knows fighter's history exists. Probably didn't even make that much money 😂

[@tribulacion]

Thank you for uploading this

[@GeordiLaForgery]

Fascinating bit of history thanks for sharing

[@FinkPloyd.]

I had never heard of Fighter's History but now I really wanna play it

[@DoomKid]

It's a fun SF inspired game for sure!

[@affegpus4195]

It has a cult following. You can even play it online

[@orlanzo2621]

You should play the update, Fighter’s History Dynamite. Great underrated game.

[@esta7763]

It was released on Super Nintendo. Just gotta find the rom and an emulator for it.

[@markdz2477]

It's on the switch market and I believe the sequel is too

[@guardshack9865]

R.I.P. Data East 1976 - 2003 Thanks for the memories. Best Game - Burger Time

[@tonytom5242]

Im 100% glad capcom lost this case... Imagine a monopoly of a game genre

[@JB9000x]

It is undeniably a massive rip off though

[@darkkingastos4369]

If only Nintndo could suffer the same pokefate

[@johnboydojo]

Glad they lost! This lawsuit was a joke back then!

[@last7509]

saying Capcom lost is kind of delusional. they did exactly what any smart business would do. and it made the smaller weaker company waste money on lawyers.

[@ds6972]

FH was an obvious ripoff. Glad SF became successful and the standard bearer for fighting games. Not that hack FH.

[@onizuka1833]

@@last7509Sure Capcom won in the long run but thanks to them losing in this lawsuit, other fighting games are free to take inspiration and create original characters without having to worry Capcom will sue them. Who’d know how many fighting games we have today if Fighter’s History lost this.

[@LorenzoVargas1981]

The problem with FH was that even some of character sprites animations looked like they were just drawn on top of

[@81ironmonk]

Yoooo thanks for sharing this gem of a VHS history

[@iamfiefo]

7:01 "This is a picture of Ryu..." *BURN IT! BURN IT WITH FIRE!*

[@aeonicbutterfly9662]

Now I want to see Part 2

[@AskYwalker973]

You and me BOTH lol

[@0utrunner237]

Yeah ain't no way she gonna be able to convince me the special moves weren't "inspired by" Capcom.

[@neddyf00]

No link yet ?

[@ngjeremy8062]

How can she pronounce every word like a dictionary!

[@MeongMiao]

We arguing that too on 90's, the biggest issue is the fact that characters are from various country, but that also a common concept at that time, for example, racing, flight shooter. Fighter history is awesome, the clown and karnov's themes music and the voice entrance is fit with arcade.

[@AmahlAmahlAmahl]

The Chun-Li shade was wild!

[@vodkagobalsky]

This lawyer obvious did not win with Chun Li since she didn't know Chun Li was the strongest woman in the world.

[@kerokerocola99]

​@@vodkagobalskyI think the issue is that Capcom didn't seem to provide much info on the characters and their backgrounds beyond what was on those strategy guides.

[@vodkagobalsky]

@@kerokerocola99 On the contrary, I think Capcom provided just the right amount of backstory for all the characters. It was enough for you to build your own understanding around each character with a 2 screen ending a handful of dialogue text. I didn't need anymore lore beyond what was given in SF2.

[@caucasoidape8838]

That's because she is Feilin in civilian clothing.

[@entrynotfound6938]

The library is closed, officially.

[@famyemil]

07:40 She pronounced Karate both ways. Awesome!

[@poetparagraph]

Thanks for uploading this....I forgot all about Fighter's History. The game was fun from what I can recall.

[@palody_en-ja]

I wasn't prepared for her perfect Japanese pronunciation, but it makes perfect sense 😅

[@SENATORPAIN1]

It's a little confusing is she Japanese with a very good American accent? What's going on here

[@rupertbee]

Same, but she puts a little stank on it when saying "karate" in an American accent.

[@rupertbee]

​@@SENATORPAIN1probably a Japanese lawyer that works with Western firms

[@ushireborn]

​​@@SENATORPAIN1her name is Etsuko. she is of Japanese descent

[@KazeShikamaru]

​@@ushirebornShe is really cute.

[@mixmeow]

McDonald’s = Street Fighter II DcMonald’s = Fighters History

[@mixmeow]

DcMonald’s sounds way more fun

[@spidey0123]

Lmao. Easy guilty as charged. Their clothes yeah not “exactly” the same but their movements, fireballs… 🙄 My mind could hear Sonic boom! Hadouken! When the Fighter’s History characters do their moves. Love this classic video BTW. ☺️

[@nvrmltice]

3:06 is my dude playing an air guitar while fighting? That's pretty awesome

[@sridrawings4510]

Thanks...now I can't unseen it

[@MSlocum669]

I played both of these back in the day. I think Fighters history is inspired by buy legally destinct from Street fighter. You really don't want companies to have copy right over Karate guy from Korea or Kung Fu guy from China. It would make it impossible to make anything new ever again.

[@nurmuhammad5472]

Wonder how I ended up here at 2am. But thoroughly enjoyed the video 😂

[@xiaoka]

Etsuko Adelman deserves her own video. 😅 ❤

[@bobbyantrobus1805]

a fellow man of culture eh? 😉

[@Arrownawt]

Her pronunciation of all the Capcom character names are so precise to how I say them except Zangief which makes me think I need to change immediately 😅

[@allenussher5884]

Her pronunciation of Ryu is impeccable

[@budgetcoinhunter]

Hers is off. It should be "zan-gi-ef", as it's based on the name 'Зангиеф'.

[@ngjeremy8062]

Google translate copy her voice😂