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Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off 'Tiny Tower' With Canadian Release of 'Dream Heights'

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Re: Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off 'Tiny Tower' With Canadian Release of 'Dream Heights'

#31

Post by mbrzuzy »

teej wrote: post #24
tensor wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Standing on the shoulders of giants generally means you evolve or build upon your predecessor. I haven't played either game, but this looks to be a plain reimplementation of the game right down to the mechanics with little or no change. Based on other similar news stories in the past, it seems like this is Zynga's general business plan. While it appears profitable and is legal, it's hardly a laudable practice.

I could do a screen-for-screen comparison of Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 and you would have a hard time telling them apart. Each actually has distinct gameplay that sets it apart. I think it's a stretch to say there's clearly "little or no change" from 4 cherry-picked screenshots. Zynga has actually had an improving track record in the last 6 months with Adventure World, Hidden Chronicles and Dream Zoo. They'r…

I see where you're coming from but I'd have to disagree. Battlefield and Call of Duty are both in a pretty much generic first person shooter genre.

The game made by Nimblebit looks like a fairly specific and deliberate Sim type game designed in a specific way for mobile devices. I think the screenshots chosen are good enough to come to the conclusion that it's a clone.

Re: Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off 'Tiny Tower' With Canadian Release of 'Dream Heights'

#32

Post by teej »

Uchikoma wrote: post #26
molmalo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know. It's like saying that all those *ville are copies of Sim City. Maxis's games were centered on simulation, while this new generation of games are targeted to a much more casual gamer. And it's bad when a Giant tries to crush a little studio, copying their games, while at the same time, suing others for doing the exact same thing. (Vostu)

According to some, Zygna is not targeting casual gamers but casual gamblers (same motivations, same demographic) There was a discussion about that on HN some days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3453040

> According to some

According to a marketing guy from Betable, a real-money gambling platform with a vested interest in making you think exactly that.

Re: Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off 'Tiny Tower' With Canadian Release of 'Dream Heights'

#33

Post by tedivm »

pork wrote: post #20
tedivm wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By that logic there is only one first person shooter.

Modern FPS games have detailed stories, considerable original acting and dialog (motion and voice capture), and incredibly detailed artwork. So your analogy doesn't really hold.

Perhaps I should have gone into more detail, but I disagree that the analogy doesn't hold. What tobtoh described is a genre- it may be a shitty one, but it's still simply a genre. There are different game mechanics, goals, art work and so on- it's just not super complex.

Ignoring the differences is like ignoring the acting, dialog and artwork in a first person shooter because they're all just grabbing weapons, running around, and hitting the shoot button.

Re: Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off 'Tiny Tower' With Canadian Release of 'Dream Heights'

#35

Post by intended »

Uchikoma wrote: post #26
molmalo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know. It's like saying that all those *ville are copies of Sim City. Maxis's games were centered on simulation, while this new generation of games are targeted to a much more casual gamer. And it's bad when a Giant tries to crush a little studio, copying their games, while at the same time, suing others for doing the exact same thing. (Vostu)

According to some, Zygna is not targeting casual gamers but casual gamblers (same motivations, same demographic) There was a discussion about that on HN some days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3453040

I think they are.

WoW, Farmville, all use a skinnerian model - different reward types on variable, regular and random schedules designed to make sure that you get that next dopamine buzz just right in time. leastI don't doubt that some of these games need someone to take a look into them. Likely we need legislation such as that which covers the gambling industry or rules such as those that cover the slot machine industry.

I know the regulation idea may not be popular here though (I dislike it). Yet we agree that the gambling industry needs checks and balances, in which case Zynga does too (or at the very least, someone to check)

Edit: For clarity. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Also: If I am getting downvoted, I'd love to know why people disagree with me.

Re: Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off 'Tiny Tower' With Canadian Release of 'Dream Heights'

#37

Post by gavanwoolery »

wdewind wrote: post #3

Honestly, this isn't really even that bad. There are a ton of games ripped off of Zynga that are MUCH closer to the Zynga assets. You could argue Tiny Tower ripped off Sim Tower etc. The whole thing is stupid. We all stand on the shoulders of giants, even other giants.

Maybe it is "wrong," maybe it isn't. But it still goes to prove that Zynga is still the shit-eating company we have always known it to be (no disrespect to most of the employees, who probably want to make fun, original games against the will of their superiors). Zynga has boatloads of cash, and yet it can't afford to innovate just a little bit? Pathetic.

Re: Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off 'Tiny Tower' With Canadian Release of 'Dream Heights'

#38

Post by potatolicious »

wavephorm wrote: post #28
potatolicious wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except we have good reason to believe that Zynga has peaked. They haven't been able to replicate the success of Farmville, their active user base is shrinking, and customer acquisition is becoming prohibitively expensive. All in all it certainly looks like the "glorified slot machine" formula of "social gaming" is dying, and that is immensely gratifying to me.

That's exactly the same thing as saying the number of people who fall prey to email marketing has peaked.

How so?

I want to make sure I'm reading your comment correctly: are you trying to say that people are too stupid to figure out they're being played, and that they'll run on the Zynga treadmill for as long as Zynga pleases?

I think data presents a reality less cynical than yours.

Re: Zynga Shamelessly Rips Off 'Tiny Tower' With Canadian Release of 'Dream Heights'

#39

Post by teej »

mbrzuzy wrote: post #31
teej wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could do a screen-for-screen comparison of Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 and you would have a hard time telling them apart. Each actually has distinct gameplay that sets it apart. I think it's a stretch to say there's clearly "little or no change" from 4 cherry-picked screenshots. Zynga has actually had an improving track record in the last 6 months with Adventure World, Hidden Chronicles and Dream Zoo. They'r…

I see where you're coming from but I'd have to disagree. Battlefield and Call of Duty are both in a pretty much generic first person shooter genre. The game made by Nimblebit looks like a fairly specific and deliberate Sim type game designed in a specific way for mobile devices. I think the screenshots chosen are good enough to come to the conclusion that it's a clone.

I'm not denying that it's a clone. I'm saying that Zynga's "ripoffs" have gone from literal feature-for-feature clones to progressively more "innovative" titles in the last 5 years. Back in 2007, my game was the second game Zynga ever copied. I've been there, I know what it feels like. It sucks.

What I'm saying is that Zynga is aware of their past and is moving towards less copy and more creativity. I think their actually released products in the last 6 months are a testament to that. Dream Zoo is a great example of coming into a genre, "Zyngafying" it, and coming out with a hit product that's better than the competition. They even built new tech that they've open sourced and shared with the Cocos2d community. But no one talks about that because it's easier to hate Zynga than it is to make a reasoned discussion about them.

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