Nintendo Sues Palworld! And I Know Why!

[@39zack]

Completely bonkrs what you can patent when it comes to game mechanics. No wonder why there is so little innovation now days

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It is getting a bit over the top

[@zerosam5541]

​@@VideoGameEsoterica little invation happen since imvoarion is risk and fans might not like it

[@rgm4646]

well when Nintendo patents walking, we will all have to run around lol

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Rumor has it they sue everyone named Mario and Luigi in Italy

[@johnclark926]

I have a genuine conspiracy theory that a significant part of Nintendo’s strong legacy (and part of the reason why the rest of the gaming industry went into a bland direction) has to do with Nintendo’s incessant patents permitting them to be the only ones allowed to be creative. I wouldn’t blame someone if they stopped making colorful platformers and switched to bland shooters if one of the biggest companies owned every cool idea for a colorful platformer. The problem now is that I have to do more research into this rabbit hole. I know of some of Nintendo’s baloney patents (the string of Tears of the Kingdom patents, the Dream Team patent, Eternal Darkness’s Insanity patents, and a patent for a Pikmin game that was never made), but I need to dig deeper to see the bigger picture and perhaps hear from other developers if that could be a factor for a shift in the industry.

[@ColdHighway7]

Nintendo continues to one up Disney in it's douchebaggery

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Race to the bottom

[@DennisHolmberg-sl1hz]

@@VideoGameEsoterica ..it does drain down, lately all N and D seem to want to do.

[@WhatAboutZoidberg]

No matter how they try to slow down Palworld, they'll never be as slow as the Pokemon company

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Nintendo is def after them all the same

[@majamystic256]

slow? i think its more they are too fast and keep pumping out games every other year they need to slow down and spend some more time on their games so they aren't buggy like SV were on release

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I haven’t heard much good about the new Pokémon games

[@OmegaRejectz]

@@majamystic256 I think they mean slow at making improvements

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Exactly. They release games. They don’t change much between them

[@cliftonchurch6039]

If this ends up being about the capture mechanics and I were the lawyer defending Palworld, I would focus on two things: finding and listing games where a capture mechanic existed before Pokemon, and arguing that the wording in the patent is too vague and therefore shouldn't be upheld, which I do believe is a possibility. The patent office tends to be liberal with patents and leave it to the court of law to decide if the patents are legal.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’d just argue the vagueness. It could mean ANYTHING. Hell the throw and capture mechanic could be Darius

[@leonildo15]

Or tahm kench😅​@@VideoGameEsoterica

[@Helvetica_Scenario]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Last Resort on Neo Geo, or R-Type?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

True too

[@snintendog]

I would focus on the patent fraud nintedo commited. they had 12 months to file these patents yet they didnt and now they want a retroactive injuntion of a patent they gained POST Palworld launch.

[@kellygiddens3356]

Nintendo and Pokemon ARE NOT the First Video Game To Throw A Ball at an Enemy!!!! Twinsen's Odyssey did it BEFORE Pokemon Ever Existed!!!

[@Zontar82]

and even that surely many other games

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’m sure there are tons others

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

For sure

[@Sparticulous]

But they patented it. Patents allow for people to troll ideas and hoard them. Patent trolling is a term for a reason Copyright protects actual artists and creators.

[@Toniestbook]

If anything the government is to blame for even letting this be allowed like you shouldn’t be able to patent a game mechanics or a basic idea/concept patents should only work for actual invention like a damn toaster or console

[@Lock2002ful]

Interesting as the makers of Palworld don’t even know. I’d be surprised if this goes somewhere though. There have been tons of Pokémon like games, even with similar mechanics and similar looking animals.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s very odd Nintendo announces the suit and the makers haven’t even been served with paperwork yet. Thats very out of expected order of events

[@martinh4982]

Next Nintendo will sue its customers for buying Nintendo games on a Nintendo console via a Nintendo eStore. Seriously people, FUCK NINTENDO!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

lol they are lawsuit crazy this year

[@recon8645]

One thing that might help Palworld is that there is an shown percentage rate on success of capture on capture of an palmon. When you catch an pal it builds up an percentage of capture before the success of capture. Pokemon doesn't do that at all and if that's what it is it could be the true meaning behind that deleted post, maybe they knew what Nintendo might poke and prod at to do this lawsuit in the first place.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Elaborating on may not be enough to satisfy the base fact of the initial concept

[@circledude2362]

In japan, you only have one year to file a patent. Pocketpair made Craftopia in 2020. A year before a "Killer parent patent" was filed (Throw an item to catch a creature in an open field) And the patents you showed, you failed to mention that got filed AFTER palworld's released

[@ThomasSerruques]

those vague and generic patents are a complete mess. anybody can copy them and why shouldn’t they?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They are way too generic

[@dicegamenetwork]

I think Nintendo will actually lose this one. Pocketpair seems like a big enough company to pay for legal fees to fight this. Even if it dragged on awhile.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s not the firmest legal footing for Nintendo

[@kosmosyche]

Hmm. It's a Japanese court, I've heard Nintendo is basically the law there, when it comes to videogames.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

We shall see what happens

[@Jay34k]

hopefully the won't be asking for a business-ending sum in "compensation" so even if Pocketpair loses they can still continue operating, but still...

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Just depends on how they calculate potential damages. Knowing Nintendo it’ll be some astronomical number

[@psycho717]

Screw Nintendo...

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

A common sentiment these days

[@hykl8705]

i knew it!! i knew it's the pokeball thingy. it's way too similar you weakened the monster, throw the ball, it opens up and suck the monster in

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yeah I’m not surprised they have this patent either or might pursue it

[@hykl8705]

@@VideoGameEsoterica i still hope they can win against Nintendo. it's like when Nintendo patented the D-pad, Sega just copied it but in different way. maybe that's wishful thinking but it's crazy that someone/company can own the concept of "capturing a monster by throwing a ball at it"

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

@hykl8705 they shouldn’t be able to patent it. Patents have gotten out of hand with such basic concepts

[@johnstamopolis5257]

List of companies I NEVER buy games from: EA, Activision, UbiSoft, and NINTENDO!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Valve should run all of gaming

[@majamystic256]

maybe Bethesda too since I think FO76 and Starfield kind of made me unsure of them

[@snintendog]

Sony and Microshaft as well. The Big Three all have died before gen 10.

[@crossover-Incorporated]

I wish pocketpair the best for the lawsuit. Nintendo is start to getting greedy against other companies.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They picked a fight with a company who can afford to fight back

[@crossover-Incorporated]

@@VideoGameEsoterica And they will my support. Go for it pocketpair.

[@M1XART]

This is ridiculous. For years, Nintendo had been OK when BIG studios like SONY stole their technological innovations and game -concepts. But when some small developers that barely make any money, but actually rather advertise things Nintendo has made, then Nintendo gets angry. Nintendo, The Worlds Biggest Gaming Company, that has now more money and success than ever, is greed & bitter. But why? -Nothing good can come from this behaver.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Because they can’t innovate fast enough and if someone else beats them they get sued

[@Palendrome]

@@VideoGameEsoterica They could innovate, its that they dont WANT to. These indie devs are exposing how they are intentionally holding game design back

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They get stuck in their ways and get allergic to taking risks

[@rgm4646]

@@Palendrome Lets remember who we are talking about here. The same company that helped create the playstation then backed out of the deal to stick with cartridges. The switch was the first console to have your games tied to an account and not the just the hardware. The entire planet was already doing this. Nintendo wants to slow down innovation to keep themselves around longer.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

@rgm4646 they have enough cash in the bank to remain around forever

[@WWammyy]

Buy Palworld now before Nintendo shuts it down 😊

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The devs would probably be happy with a sales influx to show support

[@jonhard12]

One thing that i absolutely agree with you is nintendo will sue people until they lost everything 👍 Its a pity that nintendo put more effort on suing people than make better games Always nice to see you talking about nintendo lawsuits

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I wish I didn’t have to talk about it. That would been Nintendo learned to chill

[@DetroitMetroRetro]

Its funny how collectively when the news broke no one knew that nintendo had a patent on the way pokemon are stored and captured Guess i should watch half of the video lmao this is why you are the king

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha this is my wheelhouse

[@danielmalinen6337]

When this lawsuit came to light, people started checking and found that Nintendo actually has a long list of basic video game mechanics that they have patented over the past few years "to protect them from patent trolls" which is kind of scary because these mechanics are now their intellectual property and others are not allowed to use them without permission and paid licenses (can be compared to the cases of the nemesis system and the choice wheel). As a result, I have now learned in a short time that Nintendo owns the patents for aiming, throwing (an object), catching, recruiting, releasing (from an object), free movement during combat, dodging, jumping, sleeping, mounting, riding, flying, item droppings, collecting, harvesting, foraging, crafting, day-night cycle, in-game clock, storing and sorting inventory, and even boss battles in video games and 3D environments (and the list of their patents goes on and on much further than those few example I listed).

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

@danielmalinen6337 and they will use these JUST against companies that threaten their bottom line

[@Idelacio]

You can't copyright gameplay mechanics but you can patent them? And decades after the first implementation? Hm.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

You can

[@Redhotsmasher]

I would think that that first implementation technically constitutes Prior Art, which invalidates the patent, but IANAL.

[@snintendog]

@@Redhotsmasher even if we go by latest that would be nov 17th 2022. They have only 12 months to file or it goes public domain. Filing after is Patent Fraud and leads to BOTH Trademark and IP loss if going by court punishments in the past. This is going to be Big eitherway. This will start the paten wars if they win and if they lose Pokemon will go PD.

[@danielmalinen6337]

If someone hasn't bothered to patent something that hasn't been patented before, you can try to be the first to patent it because it's "free game" and that's how, for example, patent trolls can hoard and gatekeep patents. Most of the time, patent applications may be rejected, like various tableware manufacturers' attempts to patent a spoon, fork, knife and scissors, but sometimes they just get through.

[@exxe2454]

Actually mario party does loading minigames literally every single round of moving on the board, its literally half the game bring minigames played between rounds of moving on the game board. You literally cant patent having interactable comtent on a loading screen, fallout 4 loading screens lets you tinker with a 3d model & show hints/lore. DO XYZ WHILE LOADING IS NOT PATENTABLE, its not even a concept its not even a game design, its hey i can fill this empty space/waiting period while something less boring, which isnt unique in thw slightest.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Didn’t stop Namco for awhile there

[@exxe2454]

@@VideoGameEsotericaWell if I built a new game with long loading time, I'd certainly has a mini game in the load screen to manage player resources called stock market/trading hub, you would click resources you have collected from a settlement/build zone & let you auction off stuff & click merchant guilds/local trading outposts to make a few extra coins during loading before heading into town or something via fast travel & what not.

[@Sparticulous]

There was a law suit in 2002 over the patent to have your gaming controller vibrate. They will sue and patent everything

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They most def will

[@exxe2454]

@@VideoGameEsoterica & I in that position would most def settle the matter out of court wink wink, I'm not against firing off a space laser that blasts apart entire planets, because I'm that petty, but I'm lazy & would get bored without a planet soo...

[@cptncutleg]

The Pokeball throwing patent was submitted AFTER Palworld's release, so surely that can't be retroactively applied? Are they going to sue SMT and Dragonquest as well?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s possible it’s an evolution of an earlier patent too. Researching Japanese patent filings is not easy

[@tabana_minamoto]

@@VideoGameEsoterica It would make sense in that case. You usually can't patent things that are already out. They'll just lose their patent.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Once I can see the actual lawsuit it’ll answer a lot more

[@VitalityRichPlus]

Can't wait for nintendo to sue gachapon companies in Japan for having prize balls

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

@VitalityRichPlus gotta catch em all! (The prizes)

[@srvuk]

If the interaction between a ball and a monster is patented, is it not likely that during the decades of gaming and even movies and cartoons that such an action will already have been done first? Can a granted patent be invalidated if prior proof of use is shown to exist? It is interesting to note that this was filed in Japan , where, if my memory serves me correctly, the same rules and laws regarding tech have been historically different and sometimes in favour of Japanese companies?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Very likely. But it’s who gets to the patent first

[@PopeTheRevXXVIII]

The Kyoto Yakuza are at it again

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They can’t be helped

[@PopeTheRevXXVIII]

Usually Nintendo files these things and hope they don't have the money to fight it. Pal world just so happens to have both Sony and Game pass money backing them. This is going to be a bloodbath

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It could very well go against Nintendo but then again it’s likely Palworld pays out to avoid a bigger headache

[@PopeTheRevXXVIII]

The case hubris vs hubris

[@keithflippers4429]

No that's Sega

[@washuai]

This is the one situation I might be down with mtx. $1, 5,10,100,300,,500,1000 limited lawsuit support items.

[@gsggshhhh455]

Love the name of this series 😂😂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha glad you enjoy

[@ZinBelamuthTV]

another company provides what nintendon't. they can't get'em with a dmca takedown so they go for the patent. comes across to me as petty and anti-competitive. wonder if a class action suit would eventually result of their attitude towards up and coming competition.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def anticompetitive. If you can’t beat them sue them

[@kathleendelcourt8136]

I'm less mad at Nintendo for abusing the system than at the system itself for allowing absolutely ridiculous patents to be granted.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a problem on both ends

[@cmr2079]

This honestly looks like patent trolling to me. Nintendo filed this patent int 2022, and it's for things that seem really general or that have already been around for 25+ years.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It has those vibes. So generic it could be used for damn near anything

[@snintendog]

may 2nd 2024 is the filing date 30 months after the mechanic first showed up. In JP Law this is 100% patent fraud. They missed the 12 month due date to start the filing. This is a can of worms no matter what occurs now. nintendo wins ,the PATENT WARS breaks out in Japan. or Nintendo loses and faces GIGANTIC fines along with Highly possible Trademark and IP Revocation on pokemon.

[@Pridetoons]

Nintendo and GameFreak are just mad that another company copied their absolutely generic and copy and paste Pokemon designs.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They are upset someone else was seeing success

[@KBroly]

Nintendo usually doesn't do patent lawsuits, unless someone else tries to step on toes. So I have to wonder what the play is here.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I think Nintendo hates that Palworld exists and it’s personal

[@KBroly]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Maybe. Palworld for PS5 was taken off Sony's TGS lineup, today. As a result of the lawsuit? Maybe.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Oh I’m sure. Sony will distance themselves from it lest they get wrapped up in something

[@m0rvidusm0rvidus18]

So we can all patent game mechanics now. D&D and early 'Western' RPG companies can now sue every JRPG maker for stealing role-playing game mechanics and making billions of off them. Or these JRPG makers can prove they independently invented turn-based RPG fight systems with hit points etc.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That’s basically the problem…generic concepts

[@Ziyoblader]

If that's true about throwing something into the space to capture an opponent or monster what about tem tem it's not a ball it's a digital card disc so maybe they're complaining about the ball shape

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Patent seems like throwing anything is “wrong”

[@Ziyoblader]

@@VideoGameEsoterica oh man if that's the case then why didn't Temtem get sued or maybe they came to an agreement when their game got ported to the switch

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Selective enforcement it feels like

[@danielmalinen6337]

Nintendo has a patent for aiming and throwing an object, but the patent is broad and vague and doesn't specify the thrown object or its shape and function in video games and 3D space. A Finnish game magazine that covered this Palword situation gave an example that Nintendo's patent can even be applied to a hand grenade in war games or a baseball in sports games if they have to be thrown and aimed.

[@danielmalinen6337]

​@@ZiyobladerTemtem was made and published before the patent was filed, but if Nintendo wins the court case against PocketPair, it is open to see how it will affect other games. But at least the developers of Temtem were really convinced that it won't affect them because they are a European studio based on what they have answered.

[@washuai]

This video should be trending like the others. You actually tracked down the stuff. If the patent came after pal-world released, that's some BS. There are other games with those mechanics predating pokemon, it's dumb

[@beingsupersonic7499]

Nintendo need to chillout. Also, didn’t know that about the Sega racing cockpit thing!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yep. They had a patent on it

[@beingsupersonic7499]

@@VideoGameEsoterica That’s mad!

[@apr2499]

It makes me want to buy a copy of Palworld!

[@giancarlolugo7048]

Same

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

You should. We all should. I mean having seen more footage I’m semi intrigued

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Do it

[@Zontar82]

@@VideoGameEsoterica it has the elements of zelda botw, ark and pokemon, what's not to like and unlike those it can be played no problem offline even on your own

[@Jay34k]

Can't wait to play the Switch 2... on PC 😈

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha I’m sure it’ll happen

[@visiblelog]

I like that picture going around comparing all the first gen Pokemon to previous Dragon Quest creatures. Nintendo should get nothing and deserves even less.

[@Zontar82]

thiz but zoomers will defende them for your life

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes it’s all shared ideas

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Some already are

[@HydraDelDiablo]

Nintendo will sue anyone who even mentions mario

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’m surprised they don’t sue every Mario and Luigi in Italy

[@Zontar82]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Italian here, there are layers everywhere on pizzeria and restaurants exactly for that reason

[@Zontar82]

They will patent oxyegn next, just wait and see

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Italian too haha

[@andysmith5940]

I have my name on six patents and the vast majority of all patents, (including mine) are total BS. This move makes Nintendo look like the Umbrella Corporation

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Umbrella Corp is still more charming

[@retroarcadefan]

Total garbage patents that should not be able to be enforced. I really dislike Shinblendo.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s an extremely vague patent. But that’s what they love doing…make it so obtuse you can argue something easily violates it

[@TwinDanceSnesDad]

Take this with a grain of salt, but below is what chatGPT thinks about the situation, and chatGPT claims to be knowledgeable about Japanese patent law, but who knows if that's true 😅: Under Japanese patent law, the principle is generally the same as in U.S. patent law: a company cannot sue for patent infringement for something that predates the patent itself. In Japan, as in most countries, a patent grants exclusive rights starting from the date of filing or the date of grant, but not retroactively. If the other company's video game was released before Nintendo filed their patent, it would be difficult for Nintendo to claim infringement unless there are other factors at play, such as trade secrets, agreements, or prior collaboration. Generally, the date of patent filing is key, and the alleged infringement would need to occur after the patent was filed or granted.

[@TwinDanceSnesDad]

More from chatGPT, it read a bunch of websites and it thinks the below summary may be a main contributor: In Nintendo's patent infringement lawsuit against the creators of Palworld, it is believed that the patents involved are related to gameplay mechanics from Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Specifically, Nintendo holds a patent for a system that allows players to interact with and catch creatures in the overworld without transitioning to a separate battle screen. This is seen as a significant innovation compared to earlier games where catching creatures was limited to battle scenarios. The patent, originally filed in Japan and later in the U.S. (US patent 20230191255), describes the process of launching an item to catch a creature or deploy it in battle-mechanics closely mirrored in Palworld with its use of orbs to capture and deploy creatures. Although Palworld uses "Pal Spheres" instead of Poké Balls, the similarity in how they function, including capturing creatures and deploying them in battle, is central to Nintendo’s claim. While character design or copyright issues might not be at the forefront of this case, Nintendo is focusing on the technical aspects protected under its patents.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That would be true. But we need to see if this patent date doesn’t just have a predating patent from before. Researching patents in Japan is not easy

[@TwinDanceSnesDad]

You might be right, chatGPT thinks Nintendo filed a patent both in Japan, then later in the US (US patent 20230191255) related to Arceus mechanics, such as catching and deploying a monster without a battle transition.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That’s like parenting real time rpg battles. It’s so ubiquitous as to be near unpatentable

[@TwinDanceSnesDad]

I agree 100%, I actually think it's crazy we allow videogame mechanics to be patented. I don't believe movie or music producers have to deal with these things. Someone in the comments already said this but these parents damage creative freedom. I just checked and the Simpsons for example don't have a patent for yellow skin people. I mean, people know that would be ridiculous - why allow patenting mini games during loading screens. (Old Flash games would be in trouble 😅)

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

I will be very interested to see whether Palworld is actually in violation of a patent which existed prior to the game's release.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

May take some years for a decision to ever be reached

[@KitsuManko]

How blind are people to buy a soulless game that is no matter how you look at it was a hodge podge of everything?. It's like asking chatgpt for an idea then it generates this.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

You talking Pokemon or Palworld?

[@KitsuManko]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Which one do you think?.

[@Ragesauce]

it's almost as if nintendo has been crapping out every kind of animal they can think of to label it a "pokemon" to sue anyone who makes a game based on animals.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

That wouldn’t hold up to well I’d presume

[@custardo]

Software patents are evil, luckily I live in the EU where that nonsense doesn't fly, at least not in general. No idea how it works in Japan. That aside, on the Namco patent (playing a mini game while loading), there is prior art that would invalidate such a patent (c64's Load-'n-Play and Invade-a-load, 1987 for example), but nobody felt it was important enough to contest it.

[@pakasack]

yeah the EU just bans "offensive" memes, no problem...wait

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes sometimes people get patents on what already exists

[@pakasack]

also wtf are you even talking about, the EU was formed largely to protect European patents of all sorts.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

@pakasack haha every region has its own issues

[@psymagearcade]

Sadly, Nintendo has a good chance of winning because this case will be happening in Japan.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Interestingly these cases don’t always go in favor of the plaintiff in Japan. I checked stats on patent suits. It’s very fair across the board as to who prevails

[@psymagearcade]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Well that's good to know. I kind of figured Nintendo had Japan in their hands at this point but maybe not if that's the case.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Not exactly the case no

[@recon8645]

​@@VideoGameEsotericaI thought at an certain length of time patents expire at least 10 to 20 years, am I wrong? I think it has to do with an recently filed patient too. That's what I was thinking this morning it had to have been something recent which if it is from the best of my understanding could greatly backfire on Nintendo because doing something like that in that way no one would even know about it before hand. With the way you explained it I really think Nintendo is using the legal system to bully them and regardless of even if they get there way it won't look good at all for Nintendo and they will bring out that I'll persona that usually only the emulation, fan and modding scene gets to see. I think if Palworld actually fights which Nintendo might call their bluff but if they do and can and they win it will certainly be something great to see, hopefully they do I'm past tired of Nintendo dinosaur has to go the way of the dinosaur at this point!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Nintendo doesn’t really care about looking good it seems. They don’t want to innovate but if someone else does they go after them

[@sat_stacker]

I'm not sure if its just me or if its behind a paywall but The discord link says invalid. Thanks for your time

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It expired. Try this :) discord.gg/zt7amBnD

[@Reprogrammed_By_SEGA]

I'm going to be pretty harsh here, people can complain about Nintendo litigation all they want but as long as they keep buying or using their products then it means absolutely zero. If people are just going to go weak at the knees and buy their hardware for that one Mario or Zelda game then it there isn't much point in complaining about this. They get your money and the money from the court case wins. So why are they going to stop with this strategy, it is a double win. The only things that get Nintendo to kowtow is when their products stop selling or when their child friendly policy comes into question. Regarding the child friendly policy, Someone with the legal chops can easily play dirty and question why is Nintendo creating games that promote the capturing, imprisonment and slavery of creatures then forcing them to fight. Just because they are fictional you can still easily argue that this sends a negative message to kids and doesn't fit with their company image. You would need be pretty motivated to do this but Nintendo have dropped IP in the past for far less egregious reasons.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes this isn’t affecting Nintendos bottom line

[@ThirdXavier]

Nintendo's target audience is kids. Kids do not understand whats going on here and most parents arent in the know. They can get away with anything due to ignorance.

[@wizard5408]

will this affect europe

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Hasn’t seem to yet

[@wizard5408]

@@VideoGameEsoterica yeah lets go fuck everyone else aslong as i can play it

[@Blood-Moon-Pack]

hope trashtendo loses and loses all there littel reputation they have left

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They may lose

[@Blood-Moon-Pack]

@@VideoGameEsoterica yeap hope pokemon fans finaly activate there 1 and only brain cell to finaly realize trashtendo dosent care for them they just want there money but knowing them aka the fans they be like duhhhh pokemon go brrr XD thats how games fall the stupid fans dont have an opinion the devs realize they love it and so there games become more and more sloppy

[@Blood-Moon-Pack]

they are doing it because they are afraid trashtendo is trash but its the fans fault so many games no one complained thats what killed pokemon they stoped carring because they say those losers will buy our game no need to worry and what do you get you guys get nothing new just some dumb cretures nerf of older once and new maps that to me is not a new game if it was world of warcraft and warframe woud have 30 games in 1 they dont care for you they just want your money if they did care they will do what pocket pear dose give you updates on everything new not make a game and are like hers a game now give us your money we dont care about you we just care about your money im surprised they did not do a lawsuit on tem tem because yk that game is a creture fighthing game thats turn based

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Nintendo def seems a bit scared

[@Blood-Moon-Pack]

@@VideoGameEsoterica 100%

[@dissonanceparadiddle]

If Nintendo wins this sets a horrifically bad precedence

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s such a vague patent and can be abused it’s not a slam dunk for Nintendo this time

[@blarghblargh]

gameplay mechanic patents are pretty horse shit to begin with. a reasonable IP system would have made them impossible a while ago. really not very different than if book authors tried to patent genres or plot devices.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Pretty much the issue. They are way too broad and rife for abuse

[@dissonanceparadiddle]

@@blarghblargh heck it's almost like them patterning common words

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Nearly the same

[@bedwablackburn]

Everyone does what Nintendont.... Until Nintendo says NO

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha basically

[@Zontar82]

So according to shitntendo (and their fanboys shills) games like Tekken and Mortal Kombat shouldn't exist because Capcom should have sued the hell out of them for stealing the "two guys fighting on the street" mechanic? :D get a frigging life, losers.

[@MegaManNeo]

I mean if it's all about the stupid pokeball thing, no biggie. The Palworld devs can simply change that to something else and call it a day. That's probably also the best outcome for Nintendo because if Pocket Pair somehow manages to win in court, others would notice that the juggernaut that Nintendo is can indeed be defeated and that'd be much worse than crying about monsters getting captured through a round object.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I just hope they don’t settle to make it go away and Nintendo gets emboldened

[@simon41978]

Nintendo are suing more people than I've ever seen. It's getting silly.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

2024 has gotten out of hand

[@blakegriplingph]

Nintendo should just change their name to Bengoshi by now. They care more about zealously enforcing their IP than anything else.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They’ve been a bit stagnant game wise lately and probably are starting to feel threatened

[@Redhotsmasher]

Except surely Nintendo can't just file a patent for something they first did nearly 30 years ago, right? Like, prior art made by the patent holder is still prior art invalidating the patent, right? And surely Nintendo can't get away with suing Palworld for a patent predated by Palworld? Surerly it's gotta be some other patent they're allegedly infringing upon, because the obvious defense there is "Actually, your honor, there is prior art showing that this mechanic existed before Nintendo's patent was granted, a game called Palworld. We rest our case.", right?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Honestly I’m not as well versed in Japanese patent law. I’d have to read more

[@Redhotsmasher]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Fair enough, IANAL either.

[@Redhotsmasher]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Fair enough, IANAL either.

[@Helvetica_Scenario]

Yeah, this "patent" is vague as hell. Nintendo is suing because the monsters look similar. They'll lose. Precedent was set already that you can't sue for similarity. Did they violate copyright, or not? Capcom tried suing Data East in the 90s because Fighter's History was "similar" to Street Fighter. They lost because Data East did not violate copyright. Nintendo needs to do the work, and actually compete, for fuck's sake.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

They don’t want to compete. Only stifle

[@Hreasvalgor1234]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo released next Pokémon game that copied palworld game by giving Pokémon guns. Just to rub it in their face! I’m going to make sure to patent moving right in a game so I can take in money.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha I dunno if they will ever give Pokémon real weapons

[@derekv6479]

Those are some frivolous patents if I've ever seen any. Also, how can you file a patent after the fact and then sue something proactively that was created before the patent was granted? Wouldn't that be thrown out on the face of it? What in the Fning hell? Nintendo seems actually evil. Haha

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s possible it’s a refile of an earlier patent. It’s just very hard to search Japanese patents. There are similar language ones back from 2019

[@LoganE01]

How does Nintendo get to legally cry wolf so much, and actually win most of the time at that? Honestly I just hope I live long enough to watch Nintendo disband, and never release anything ever again.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Mostly because they take on people without the money to fight. This time is different

[@bengineer_the]

The fact the patent wasn't prior-art leaves a scummy taste in the mouth.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

There may be a predating patent. As I mentioned in a diff comment researching and find patents out of Japan isn’t easy

[@METR0lD]

The latest episode in my favorite series!-Nintendo sues the fudge out of everyone!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

This has become a very “didn’t know it would become a thing I do” series

[@EnigmaHood]

In all fairness, Palworld did ripoff a lot of Pokemon designs. A lot of their monsters are two or more Pokemon combined into one, and the resemblance was deliberate. With that said, the gameplay is obviously completely different, and that's what helped Palworld dodge a lawsuit until now. Nintendo's lawyers likely found a loophole and are now leveraging it to have legal grounds to sue. What the loophole is, I'm not sure. Apparently software patents are kind of a dubious thing to begin with.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Very dubious. This almost feels like harassment from Nintendo

[@Zontar82]

So according to shitntendo (and their fanboys shills) games like Tekken and Mortal Kombat shouldn't exist because Capcom should have sued the hell out of them for stealing the "two guys fighting on the street" mechanic? :D get a frigging life, losers.

[@TLSelarus]

F these patents being vague, and being on a mechanic

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s a very broad patent

[@Zontar82]

So according to shitntendo (and their fanboys shills) games like Tekken and Mortal Kombat shouldn't exist because Capcom should have sued the hell out of them for stealing the "two guys fighting on the street" mechanic? :D get a frigging life, losers.

[@Aqua_Xenossia]

They probably wouldn’t care so much if it wasn’t such a shameless rip on Pokémon, but more than anything I’m guessing something egregious must’ve been found, because this isn’t just some average weekday thing for the legal department to take care of; whether the code and mannerisms of the capture mechanic are too similar to be a coincidence, or because basically making derivative models wasn’t seen as being worthy enough to go to court over. I’m sure the perceived lost sales has some weight, but Scarlet and Violet sold like 25m copies on a single platform, making it the 3rd-best selling entry in the entire 25yr+ franchise. Nintendo’s legal team is EXTREMELY good at what they do, even to the detriment of the company’s goodwill, so they must be pretty sure on this.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

There could be something we all don’t know yet as even Palworld devs said they don’t have the suit so nobody knows what it co rains

[@Zontar82]

So according to shitntendo (and their fanboys shills) games like Tekken and Mortal Kombat shouldn't exist because Capcom should have sued the hell out of them for stealing the "two guys fighting on the street" mechanic? :D get a frigging life, losers.

[@davidpalmer5967]

Nintendo trying to Bully Palworld to do what they want

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Absolutely

[@bluelyoko1041]

World of Final Fantasy Maxima exist

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

This is true

[@DefaultUsername0001]

🎉🎉🎉

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

An interesting vid on a bummer topic

[@guser7137]

So Nintendo patented dodgeball.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha 🤣

[@sppspharmdude]

So buy palworld now? I don't even play pokemon

[@dsshocktrooper7523]

Palworld is nothing like Pokémon gameplay wise

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I don’t play either but sure send them a purchase. Help fight big N

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’m not super familiar with it

[@majamystic256]

@@dsshocktrooper7523 its survival build and craft game but with pokemon like creatures that you can catch to run your machines and use them to fight in battles

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lemmings with an attitude lol

[@Un_Pour_Tous]

They have AI legal team

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha this is probably real lawyers

[@ProjectGameVault]

Its not just mechanics, the models are copy paste and slightly changed

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Legally distinct different

[@vincentgagnon8569]

Japan vs Japan, wonder who's gonna win.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I checked stats on patent law cases in Japan and many are dismissed or NOT found for the plaintiff. Nintendo is reaching here. That patent is pretty vague and could be considered not enforceable which would backfire on them

[@DimensionX84]

they have pokemon....zelda 2 music and sound effects

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Huh?

[@DimensionX84]

@@VideoGameEsoterica palworld uses assets from Pokémon and some effects from zelda 2

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haven’t seen that mentioned. Sure they aren’t just library assets for license?

[@rhnirsilva652]

that would be copyright, not patent

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes but question still stands

[@simonshura9144]

Cute voice u got 😏

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Haha thanks

[@MrJinRoh]

“Something they don’t like” Like ripped of pokeball …and all designs

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Throwing a ball is such a generic concept it shouldn’t be protected

[@MrJinRoh]

@@VideoGameEsoterica catching a pokemon in a pokeball is not a generic concept

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s relatively generic. Think of the ghostbusters game. Catching ghosts by throwing an item. No it’s not a ball but “catching things by throwing things” is a very generic concept

[@manofsteelix]

That lucario clone was brutal though 😂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Super close but still diff enough to be legally distinct

[@CrimeonZ]

Game’s bad anyway

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Isn’t really the point

[@kunka592]

Modern Pokemon games? Yes, I agree.

[@CrazyPCgamercatguy]

I wasn't interested in Palworld but I guess, now I'll have to buy it. F U C K Nintendon't.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’m sure the devs would welcome a rush of sales and an influx of cash