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Pata-Pata-Plagiarism: Is Patapon a rip-off?
Papapishu \| 12:33 PM on 05.24.2008	10 comments

Repost from my main, new, super shiney blog Papapishu.blogspot.com

A few weeks back, the following video by made the rounds on Digg:

Cute huh? Apparently it's a short film called Bendito Machine and was created by an artist named Jossie Malis (he has a site for it too!) but wait...this reminds me of something. What ever couuuuld it beeee....

Yep. It's everyone's favorite games-as-art portable RTS "Patapon" for the PSP on Sony. Now, here's the rub; Bendito Machine came out in 2006 as far as I can tell (it at least won awards for it). Patapon came out 2007, just a year later.

Is it possible that everyone's favorite artsy tactical rhythm strategy game is a work of plagiarism?

I don't know about you, but what bugs me about it isn't simply that the animation style is similar and that certain key elements (the eyes that the god machine crap out, the color scheme, the outlines) are similar, what really gets me is that it's also thematically similar. In both cases we have a tribe of small people combating huge monsters, in both cases there is a focus on tribal dance or reverence doing something and in both we get the sensation that the little tribal people are going to be stomped into so many tiny pieces (which, consequentially, happens).

What's your take? Is Patapon ripping off this guy? Did he have a hand in making this game? If the former, I'm kinda miffed. If the latter, I'm surprised we haven't heard about it. Or maybe, oddly enough, it's just one big coincidence.

Update: a LINK to the artist responsible for Patapon's art thanks to good friend SuperJenn. She comments that he doesn't seem the type. I'm willing to concede that it's coincidental.

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10 comments | showing # 1 to 10

animateria says:
(# 0) on 05/24/2008 12:57

I've had picture books in that style when I was a kid.

Just because it has a certain style doesn't mean its plagiarism.

It definitely borrows from shadow puppets (2D mentional puppets shown on a cloth screen with light to create shadows of the puppets), the way it animates.

And heck, if they really had any connection, you can say it was inspired by the art style.

Zavaro says:
(# 1) on 05/24/2008 13:10

It looks as though both are based on old Etruscan or African pottery artwork. I think it's called black-on-red or something of the type.

Papapishu says:
(# 2) on 05/24/2008 13:17

Part of it is that one came out a year after the other. That's part of it.

Papapishu says:
(# 3) on 05/24/2008 13:29

It's also not just the style: It's the style PLUS the color palate PLUS the theme.

B-Radicate says:
(# 4) on 05/24/2008 14:18

I'm pretty darn sure it's only plagiarism if the medium is print. Copyright infringement, possibly. Plagiarism, no.

Electro Lemon says:
(# 5) on 05/24/2008 15:17

I just came to say: Great usage of Lichtenstein's "Drowning Girl". I love his stuff.

boatorious says:
(# 6) on 05/24/2008 18:09

Plagiarism means taking the work of another person and calling it your own. Ripping off a theme or an animation style (even if that was the case) is not plagiarism. Consider how many times that "Romeo and Juliet" has been redone (and "Romeo and Juliet" was based on something similar as well).

Furthermore, games are part creative work and part machine. There's no such thing as ripping off a machine -- machines aren't supposed to be creative -- they are supposed to work.

brainderailment says:
(# 7) on 05/24/2008 18:47

Yeah, it's a pretty common art style. But I'm pretty sure this game took longer than one year to make. Pre-production to post.

Papapishu says:
(# 8) on 05/26/2008 23:08

Actually, plagiarism incorporates both written and creative work. At least according to both the dictionary and wikipedia. Aside from which, Pata-pata-plagurism was a way better title :)

Boatorious, Romeo and Juliet is an extremely bad example, because it exists well within the public domain. As to your second point: What the hell are you talking about? Honestly, I have no idea what that sentence even means. Code is not creative? Videogames are not intellectual property? A virtual work is not copyrightable? Because in all three cases the law is against you.

I used Lichtenstein's Drowing Girl for a point: It was a recreated swipe. Lichtenstien became famous by copying the work of a lesser known artist and calling it his own. That is, in a way, what made him a controversial figure.

And again, it's not just the art style. It's the scale and it's the theme.

nintendoll says:
(# 9) on 05/27/2008 12:37

You're right about the public domain thing.

However, brainderailment is right. Games take longer for a year to make, so it might even be possible that the reverse is true in this situation. Maybe the man who made the video was otherwise involved in the production of the game (not necessarily art) and decided to do his own take.

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