MikeRox said:
Of course this omits the fact that the Wii Remote basically copied Sega's prototype NiGHTS controller. The Mega Drive/Genesis also had an analogue control pad, so surely the N64 was an abomination? Nintendo seemed to do nothing but copy Sega after the NES wah wah wah. Sega also had a modem in their console before Microsoft. Xbox Live should be pulled immediately because SEGA INVENTED THAT SHIT!!!! Seriously, this is how retarded this argument against Sony is. |
*Sigh* This is what I mean. Sony fans dig up some obscure picture from the corner of the internet to say "SEE SONY COPIED NOTHING!!! NINTENDO COPIED IT FROM SOMEONE ELSE!!! HAH!!!"
There is I believe like 4images of a prototype controller that may or may not have been planned to be used for use with nights. Nobody actually knows if the image shown had motion sensing capabilities,if the device was meant to be held in two hands, featured an analog stick on the bottom and a dpad on top and didn't really resemble the Wiimote aside from being long and white. People have assumed it was a prototype motion controller, but there is no evidence at all to that effect that I'm aware of. I would be willing to guess you were not aware of this device until you saw it in a topic just like this one.
Furthermore there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that Nintendo was even aware in the slightest bit that this concept controller even existed. The odds that Nintendo was aware of an abandoned prototype lying around in Sega's office and decided to hang the future of their company on the device is absolutely laughable. You should feel very bad for suggesting it, especially since we know exactly how Nintendo came up with the Wii-mote (a company brought the idea to them after being laughed out of Sony and Microsoft's buildings). This is a sad and despereate stretch.
Supposed motion control prototype...
Wii Remote...
Thriimote
There is a difference between Nintendo and Sega both having the idea of a motion controller and what happened with Sony. You see Sony, after dismissing the guys who made the Wii, saw that Nintendo had made it a huge success (the Wii wasn't an abandoned prototype shoved in some locked but a prominent and successful device others were aware of). Nintendo had the vision to market it, saw its potential, took a tremendous risk, and reaped tremendous benefits. Sony decided to rip the device off wholesale. This isn't a vague similarity like the Wii mote and the prototype Sega controller that was not public knowledge at all and may or may not have been motion controlled. They took the whole idea down to the nunchuck attachment and bundling it with a sports game. You can not reasonably make the claim that Sony was not aware of the Wii mote and did not use it as the model for the Move Controller. Unless you're willfully ignorant.
You know why nobody calls the Kinect a rip off of the Wii-mote? Because it's not. Like Sony, Microsoft wanted to get in on the motion control frenzy, but instead of taking exactly what Nintendo did they created a unique device (you could say it ripped off the eye toy but that's neither here nor there). Sony just put a ball on top of a Wiimote and called it a day. At least they came up with a ridiculous steering wheel for it). They took no risk, showed no vision, and they failed spectacularly.
Similarly, Sega didn't invent modems, nor were they the first to use modems in a gaming console (that I know of. Atari actually had an add on to it. No online multiplayer but you could download games. Genesis had the Sega Channel, SNES had Satelliview, and both had a third party multiplayer add on that didn't really work. At any rate I'm sure online PC gaming preceeded all of that.). Internet connectivity is not a very specific idea that a company can really rip off. However, achievements were a very specific thing that Microsoft created that was not very similar to other things out there. Nor was it a vague concept like "online gaming" or motion controlled gaming. It was a very concrete and distinct service. Sony saw that and said "ooooh people like that. We'll take it!" And they took it wholesale while adding basically nothing (platinum! Exciting!).
If you're going to accuse Nintendo of copying a controller design, don't accuse them of copying an obscure controller that was compatible with all of 3 game for the genesis. I don't know how similar the analog stick design actually was, but considering its lack of success I doubt Nintendo thought of it at all when they were designing the N64 controller if they were aware of its existence. At least accuse them of taking the Dualshock's two analog stick design and eventually the dual shoulder triggers, because they actually DID steal that. Yeah, Nintendo takes ideas sometimes too. Just not quite so often or blatantly.
Here is the thing that Sony fans either don't get, or pretend not to get as a cop out. If you create something that is similar in general idea to another existing product, that's not necessarily ripping someone off. For example, nobody accuses Little Big Planet of being a rip off just because it's a 2D platformer like Mario or has a level creation feature like MM: Powered Up. However, when you copy something down to very specific details (say the Wiimote's nunchuck) then it's a rip off. Kung Fu Panda is not a Ninja Turtle rip off just because they btoh feature anthropomorphic critters and martial arts. Chop Kick Panda however is definitely a Kung Fu Panda rip off (look it up).
