Clones and copies of games have existed since the dawn of the industry so (unless they have trademarked elements that have been directly copied by Microsoft) I think they’re SoL on suing based on the content of the game; and the title "Scrap Metal" is such a common term that it would be difficult to argue that it infringed upon the trademark of "Twisted Metal". While it may seem similar to changing "Megaman" to "Megadude", and in practice it may be the exact same thing, legally there would be quite a distinction because of the commonality of the title.

Now, Microsoft may have (or may not have) copied the bulk of Twisted Metal when they made Scrap Metal but that is really not a problem unless it causes product confusion; and I don't really think it would, after all I didn't notice how similar the names were until I saw this thread.

Let's see, one features a god whose role is to oversee war, who was a formal mortal who stages his own crusade to tear down Olympus.  The other one possible features a war between different Greek Gods.

If you want to go this "COME ON" route, I guess then Jaffe needs to be sued by DC Comics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Gods_%28comics%29

Look at the date on that.  That is the in the 1990s. 

I think some people are overrated the cultural impact God of War has in society, and how little those outside of the Playstation camp are actually aware of it, or care about it.

WTF is
War of the Gods and scrap metal?

actually war of the gods says a war is going on between the gods, god of war says exactly that god of war, see aeris (i think he was god or war), greek and roman and probably norse and all the rest mythology have a god of war. What a silly guy this jaffe is.

The two titles mean two very very different things

This Just in ----------------> Jaffe to sue makers of "Clash Of The Titans"

Lots of similarities and infringements.

Harry Hamlin served with cease and desist order for activities in 1981.

lol, are you saying god of war isn't an influential game?

Or merely that soccer moms don't know about it?  Obviously a really violent game is going to be more popular with a certain demographic of gamers.  But saying that only the "sony camp" is aware of it seems like you might be drinking a little bit more console-war koolaid than the shadows of ps fanboys you sound like you're seeing around every corner, with a statement like that.  Most people owned a PS2 last gen anyway, right?  When the God of War games came out...

Anyway, the issue comes down to product confusion, if you make a product that sounds enough like another IP, looks like it, and basically does the same thing as well (has the same type of gameplay and characters?) then you absolutely could get sued for it.  I'm not going to say whether I think that's the case here -- I'd have to see the games to even give a guess of an opinion!

Quick update from Jaffe about his post:

(Or just go to his site with this link.)

I checked out a few boards last nite and it seems this latest post has rubbed some folks the wrong way. Let me try to address here some of the most common complaints some of the game forum folks seem to be having.

#1- I AM NOT SUE HAPPY- I have never sued anyone and unless someone really steps over the line, I look at lawsuits as a last line of defense. Trust me, as someone who gone thru the process of being sued, the whole thing is a nasty, nasty, expensive business and it seems- to me- that it is meant to be. Like burying someone, divorce, our complicated tax system, and so many other institutions of our society that are important but more and more just seem like they exist for the sake of big business, there's a whole lot of people with expensive suits and expensive degrees who make a crap ton of cash off lawsuits. And I sure as hell don't want to contribute to their bottom line. And that is why I suggested sending a letter. I would guess in 99% of cases like this, no one is out to harm anyone else. It is simply a misunderstanding or an oversight that, when brought to light, could be corrected. I harbor no ill will or resentment towards the people making SCRAP METAL or the people making WAR OF THE GODS. They both sound like products right up my alley and I will be purchasing a download and a ticket to each one, respectively, once they hit...whatever their names end up being.

#2- YOU ARE NOT AN EXPERT AT COPYRIGHT LAW AND NEITHER AM I- I know experts in copyright law (I actually do) and you, sir, are not an expert in copyright law. With the exception of MAYBE .1% of the people who are even aware of this discussion we are having, you don't know if my claims have merit in court and neither do I. And frankly, just because you or I think we are right on this, there is no real right or wrong. There is a judge who decides if there is a case and if there is, then there is a jury who decides who wins the case. And there is a lot of gray area simply because- while the law is very concrete- the subjective interpretation of that law requires a human brain. I can tell you that when I saw the titles, they rubbed me the wrong way and seemed worth mentioning. I can live with the fact that I could be wrong and I can live with the fact that most folks may not agree with me. This doesn't make me an idiot and it doesn't make you a genius. YOU go spend your precious time on this planet working with others and giving everything you've got to create some intellectual property and I assure you, you will feel protective of it. Again, being protective does not mean my assumption that these titles cross the line is right. But being a smarmy asshole- like a good % of board posters have been towards me over this issue- doesn't make you right either. It just makes you a smarmy asshole.

#3- TONE- See the big Chris Rock picture? You know, the comedian? See the quote from a Kevin Smith movie that I use for the title of this post? See the smiley face at the bottom of this post? People, I'm not on a crazy rampage about this. I never said I was going to sue anyone. I was bringing it up as something that interests me and something I thought would be worth sharing with people who come to this blog to hear about- mainly- my game making life. And I was doing so in a lighthearted manner. I assure you, this is the farthest thing from a big deal in my life. If nothing were to change on this front, I really would not care.

#4- FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK- Finally, for the people who are like, "JAFFE! GET BACK TO WORK ON YOUR GAME!"...please, let me assure you, I am working very hard. The team is working very hard. Sony is working very hard. We are all busting ass and- even tho we may not agree on these particular legal issues- we are still eager to entertain each and every one of you with what we've got cooking. Just like you, I don't work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even during my day, I take breaks. But as some of you know, I work at home. So while at your job you may hang in the breakroom with your buddies and chat about last nite's episode of LOST or what game you are playing, I video chat with friends and I blog. Fucking sue me. But the point IS, we are working hard on our game and we're looking forward to showing it to you today on GTTV...oh wait...that's not us :)

Ok so that's my update. Thanks for reading. Later.

Like me and others said It actually share 2 words not one. Metal is the same, scrap and twisted are synonym, each of the titles means the  exact same thing: deform metal.

Hahaha, I thought he posted that as a jab at apple for all the lawsuits they've been throwing around recently over ridiculous phone patents. I guess that was giving him too much credit.

It doesn't matter, they have to prove confusion. It doesn't matter if they are similar, all that counts is that the average person would be confused by the conflicting trademarks.

Scrap metal = Waste metal

Twisted metal = litterally twisted metal. But twisted does not make it scrap.

Anyone who gets confused between the two is seriously lacking in the mental department. Are you confused between the two.