Warner Bros Under Fire for Patenting Nemesis System

Well, it’s stupid as hell. If this is the new norm Nintendo should patent the entire 2d platform genre, bare minimum, the jump and jump on head to kill mechanic.

@OmegaStriver Don't think people can patent things that were already reproduced by others. Developers had a ***** ton of time to try and reproduce the Nemesis System, but they just didn't care, which is frustrating, because no one ever will.

In the same time, if all the games using it will be under this LOTR umbrella, I won't be able to care less.

Even scummier than this is if they actually never implement it in a game. EVER. Like what happened to the loading screen mini games patent. They patented that and never used it. It just sat there for 17 years.

How many games can they reuse this for, anyway? It doesn't seem to have any real purpose other than to keep rehashing the same type of game, a la Assassin's Creed.

Let's hope they see sense.

I sure I saw somewhere the makers of The Medium have also patented the 'dual-world' system. If the trend continues I'm not sure it will be good for games.

Where would gaming be today if id had done something like this with Doom?

The key question is how tightly is it enforced? As long as the system isn't being copied 1 for 1 then I don't think it matters too much. It's fine if we see a version that makes us say, oh this reminds me of Shadow of War and not just this is the same thing.

Oh Warner Bros. You never fail to make me despise you.

And nothing of value was lost. It's a tedious system that got old fast. Keep it.

@chullet
lol, exactly. Maybe even 3d graphics cards, too.

@OmegaStriver Nintendo wasnt the first so how can they patent that?

I can understand some patents but i believe stuff needs to be really special too patent not something like lets say jumping. And patents hold back the industry anyway.

Sounds like developers can still implement something a lot like it by just calling it something else. Doesn't seem that crazy for a company to not want another company to copy and paste the exact same thing into their game.

I guess it depends on who they want to go after for infringement in the future though.

Everyone saying this is bad for gaming is just jelly they don't have a patent of their own. I've never heard of any game developer saying they wish they could've had the nemesis system in their game.

@JustATomato Nah, the stuff in AC wasn't that. What makes the Nemesis System unique is that when the player inflicts changes to NPC A, it also inflicts changes to NPCs B, C, D, etc. That's now what happens in AC Odyssey. When you kill one of those brutes looking for you on the map, it gets replaced by another NPC that has slightly better skills than the one you killed. There's no hierarchy present.

Yes, there's a map of targets you need to kill in ACO, ACOdyssey and Valhalla, (and also in the last two Ghost Recon games), but the targets don't communicate between each other. No matter the order you kill them, it's always the same result.

@EddieGreenheart I think developpers weren't able to use it because of the pending status on the patent, you don't want to develop something and then find out you gotta pay royalties for a game you've already released or where in the mist of developping.

The nemesis is amazing combat is off the chart.one of the best games i ever play.its so fun.word up son

Well if they spent money and time developing such a system, why not patent it?

On the flip side practices like this do seem to against the spirit of gaming, after all all games lean on prior development of others and indeed some gamers complain that many can feel too similar to those played previously.

I'm sure for the creative types out there there's a way around this patent.

Imagine if FromSoftware patented the Soul gameplay or what if Rogue Legacy patented the "Rogue-like" nature of its gameplay these game mecanics created entire subgenres of games.

There’s always a way around patents, but as the article touches on, for smaller developers in particular the potential legal battles could certainly be a brick wall to creativity. Even a winning outcome could take years of expensive litigation.

I’m fairly pro business, but no doubt this is an ugly precedent, and another arrow in the quiver of big studios with deep pockets bullying smaller developers and stifling creativity.

@sabaki08 They did use Loading screen mini games in Ridge Racer games and maybe Tekken (maybe) but yeah, not too much.

@sabaki08 weird thing about that loading screen one was that namco weren't even the first to do it. A lot of the 8bit computers had a similar concept. Space invaders game to play while you waited 5+ minutes for the game to load.
I'm not sure how patents work, i guess they need someone to challenge them. I bet somewhere out there, in the thousands of games, there's a game that could even challenge this one for doing a similar system to this one first.

Another massive line crossing by game publishers - dislike, comment and unsubscribe

Did you know the reason loading screens don't have mini-games is because Namco holds/held a patent on it?

All this does is make games worse. Period.

Seems fair. They created it, just means other developers will need to pay to use it like they used to with havoc technology and unreal engine etc. Of course it would be cool in other games but why should they let everyone use something they put the effort in to make. "just because its more consumer friendly" will be the answer but business is business

That's a shame. I'd like cockney orcs giving me lip in all my games.

From my experience the nemesis system involved an orc saying "hey remember me, I was dead and I'm here again because its a video game and I can do that" 🤷

I wish EA would patent loot boxes, the industry would be better off then.

The only thing this does is that somebody could bring out a cool game with nemesis system and simply not sell it in the US.

Patent system is so messed up in a lot of ways

warner bros so out of touch. they have messed up new games doing new things that is remotely like this scrapped.
Greed the suits are in charge here.

This doesn't mean other companies cant use the nemesis system.

It means that if they want to use it that they would have to pay WB a licensing fee to use it for said game.

It's the exact same way UNREAL Engine or UNITY works.

This is not some gigantic switch up or disruption of the gane industry. It's basically business as usual. That's how capitalism works.

It's why the poor/working/hourly-wage classes should rise up against these greasy, greedy, ***** eating corporations and corrupt governments that perpetuate the "rich get richer" systems that ***** over the rest of us who are just trying to enjoy a tiny fraction of our lives (when we aren't killing our selves trying to maintain a roof over head, food in the fridge, and the ability to keep electricity on).

But we're probably all just gonna continue to gripe about it on the internet until we find something new to distract us or rage against.

*****.

WB needs to give their heads a shake. What a supremely idiotic move that I hope doesn’t set a precedent. Backlash well deserved in this case

It's like patenting taking a photo from a low angle, or patenting zooming in on a character in a movie. It's ludicrous that something like this could be patented.

It's really annoying and just ruins it for gamers. Much like the whole licensing thing between PES and FIFA.

@Balosi The patent doesn't forbid anyone to try and find another way, but every attempt grants the patent owner the right to drag them in court regardless of them being in the right or the wrong. They are betting on the fact that most developers won't want to suffer the costs of going into court. Unless someone with big cojones comes out and tells WB to go ***** themselves. Someone like Epic Games for instance. They have the capital to pull the rug underneath WB.

When you make a game that is built on many systems made by other parties it seems a bit cheeky to then anyone from using the bit you came up with.