Konami has acquired In The Groove

[SCWolf]

either way someone will lose something. if it's ITG then theres nothing we can do about it.

[nforcer06164]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

I was 100% joking, because since they can't rip off DDR's design anymore, they would rip off the closest thing to it.

Ever notice that ITG2 is officially named Pump It Up: In the Groove 2? Andamiro and RoXoR have a special relationship. I got your joke, but it wouldn't be a surprise.

You guys didn't read the UK article close enough, by the way.

Originally Posted by DDRUK

Konami has acquired the intellectual property rights to the In The Groove(R) dance game franchise. It was further agreed as a part of the settlement that Roxor would respect Konami’s intellectual property rights.

http://www.inthegroove.com/page/Press_Release

-

Basicaly, Konami won the legal battle, and proved that ITG infringed upon their patent. They own the intellectual rights to "In The Groove", because it was defined as technicaly being nothing more than a counterfeit of "Dance Dance Revolution".

This means Konami can continue to produce 'Dance Dance Revolution', and all games which resemble it's design.

Konami did NOT win control of the 'In The Groove' copyright, the game code, it's songs, anything like that. Those are still owned by whoever created them in the first place. Konami do not own or run the In The Groove franchise, they simply own the sole right to produce arcade games which resemble DDR / ITG's technical setup and gameplay elements.

Roxor can still produce dancing games, but have to think outside of the box. They cannot produce anything which resembles DDR.

By all reasonable logic, In The Groove 3 is canceled. All future PC / console releases are presumed to be canceled, as Roxor recently gave away In The Groove 2 to all owners of the PC version.

This also follows the release of an official patch which allows In The Groove 2 machines to play any song held on a memory stick - a move which seemed insane at the time, but makes sense if you assume that the development team were aware of what was coming.

Konami owns the DDR/ITG "intellectual property rights," meaning anything that resembles DDR or ITG can be produced solely by Konami. Konami by no means holds or has any rights to RoXoR or the game code, songs, artists, WHATEVER. RoXoR just can't produce the conventional ITG anymore. I highly doubt that RoXoR or ITG is dead... it'll just be somewhat different if and when it continues.

r21 makes sense now. I believe that's just appeasement until they can figure out a new way to produce ITG (9 panels? hehehe). There's sure to be some way to work around this without violating the property rights. We'll just have to wait and see.

[ducky285]

Beatmania IIDX 15th Style, now featuring songs by Kyle Ward and Digital Explosion

[CMG]

Is it just me or does anyone else believe that Konami will go after Roxor again? Do the names "Drummania/Guitar Freaks" and "Guitar Hero" ring a bell? Although Guitar Freaks isnt as popular as DDR, its still not an original idea of Roxors.

But beatmania? c'mon, like we really need more of those? I mean no disrespect to the players out there but that game has more machines than ddr and itg combined... specially if its like in its, what, 14th gold edition?

[ducky285]

Harmonix made Guitar Hero, not Roxor, and the game is different enough from Guitar Freaks that Konami really doesn't have a case.

And Beatmania IIDX is immensely popular in Japan, hence the frequent releases.

[Neonatrias]

Originally Posted by ducky285

Beatmania IIDX 15th Style, now featuring songs by Kyle Ward and Digital Explosion

While I think it'd be kickass to play Xuxa in IIDX, part of me doubts it's going to happen. Music licensing is entirely seperate from this discussion.

That said, d'you think RoXor is gonna try their hand at some new concept of music games? It could just work, since they've currently got such a hold on their fanbase.

[Snapps]

itg will do 9 panel it will be genius

wait

[ducky285]

Originally Posted by Neonatrias

While I think it'd be kickass to play Xuxa in IIDX, part of me doubts it's going to happen. Music licensing is entirely seperate from this discussion.

It was a joke

God, does everyone in this thread have to be so damn serious?

P.S. Technomotion will sue

[iPatcH]

Originally Posted by nforcer06164

Ever notice that ITG2 is officially named Pump It Up: In the Groove 2? Andamiro and RoXoR have a special relationship. I got your joke, but it wouldn't be a surprise.

You guys didn't read the UK article close enough, by the way.



Konami owns the DDR/ITG "intellectual property rights," meaning anything that resembles DDR or ITG can be produced solely by Konami. Konami by no means holds or has any rights to RoXoR or the game code, songs, artists, WHATEVER. RoXoR just can't produce the conventional ITG anymore. I highly doubt that RoXoR or ITG is dead... it'll just be somewhat different if and when it continues.

r21 makes sense now. I believe that's just appeasement until they can figure out a new way to produce ITG (9 panels? hehehe). There's sure to be some way to work around this without violating the property rights. We'll just have to wait and see.

Originally Posted by dj paranoia

The statement made on DDRUK is nothing more than speculation made by someone who failed to read Roxor's press release correctly. If you actually bother to read it, it clearly states that Konami now owns the intellectual propert that is the In The Groove franchise. Hell, the link leading to the press release even says "NEWS FLASH: Konami has acquired In The Groove". Last time I checked, acquire means "to take ownership of".

oic

[nforcer06164]

Originally Posted by iPatcH

Originally Posted by In the Groove Press Release

Press Release

October 18, 2006


Konami Corporation, developer of the Dance Dance Revolution(R) video dance game, and Roxor Games, Inc., developer of In The Groove(R) dance games, today announced the mutual settlement of the litigation between the parties in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas. Under the terms of the settlement, Konami has acquired the intellectual property rights to the In The Groove(R) dance game franchise. It was further agreed as a part of the settlement that Roxor would respect Konami’s intellectual property rights.

CTRL + F: "NEWS FLASH: Konami has acquired In The Groove"

! Phrase not found

CTRL + F: “acquired In The Groove"

! Phrase not found

Actually, the link says "Konami Owns In The Groove (Realistic facts)". He tried to use the very source he is attempting to disprove by quoting parts of that very source as true. djparanoia in no way justified his statement. He attempted to use the "Ad hominem" logical fallacy. He couldn’t even pull off a logical fallacy. His statement is nil.

iPatcH, with what djparanoia said, I thought you’d be smart enough to reread the statements. Go back to the bolded part of the Press Release quote. Konami has acquired "intellectual property rights".

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

In law, intellectual property (IP) is an umbrella term for various legal entitlements which attach to certain types of information, ideas, or other intangibles in their expressed form. The holder of this legal entitlement is generally entitled to exercise various exclusive rights in relation to the subject matter of the IP. The term intellectual property reflects the idea that this subject matter is the product of the mind or the intellect, and that IP rights may be protected at law in the same way as any other form of property.

When you speak of "intellectual property rights", you speak of an idea. This means that RoXoR can no longer create the game "In the Groove" as it is now because the concept too closely resembles the game "Dance Dance Revolution". Because Konami already has intellectual property rights to any four panel cardinal-points dance game, RoXor was guilty of infringing upon Konami’s existing rights. Therefore, they had to give up their rights to the concept of In the Groove. Further, RoXoR must respect Konami’s intellectual property rights by not creating, producing, and marketing any game that resembles "In the Groove" or "Dance Dance Revolution".

By interpretation, you could say that Konami does own "In the Groove". But, all they own is the concept. They DO NOT own the game code, song licenses, cabinet design (Andamiro’s, not the "BoXoR" design), or any of that. That is very, very clear from the press release. RoXoR is very much still alive. What is fuzzy and undeterminable from this point is where they can go from here, and what they can do to continue "In the Groove", albeit without the "In the Groove" name.


I’m sorry if this is way over anyone’s head, but, in a nutshell, RoXoR isn’t gone. The "In the Groove" name is likely gone, the current game concept is gone. But, I don’t think RoXoR has any intention of disappointing us.

[iPatcH]

Originally Posted by nforcer06164

CTRL + F: "NEWS FLASH: Konami has acquired In The Groove"

! Phrase not found

CTRL + F: “acquired In The Groove"

! Phrase not found

other pointless blah blah

http://www.inthegroove.com

[Afrobean]

iPatcH, that's still wrong.

If you click that link, it clearly says that Konami now owns the INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (which I suppose they owned all along and ITG was just infringing on them haha). Owning the intellectual property rights to something does not equate to owning the entire thing. All it means is that if RoXoR wants to make more ITG games, they'd have to get permission from Konami.

Why don't people understand things such as that? I just got done editing RoXoR's wikipedia article, because somebody added something saying "Konami now owns the ITG franchise."

[MixMasterLar]

"INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS"

ok, I might be missing something here but that says to me 'if it has 4 buttons in a shape of a t, then Konami owns it.' so then SM,DWI,FFR, and countless others are illegal. This is not good.

And if that applise to DDR, then it goes with PIU,BM,ID,PM, etc. etc.

What can Roxor do that hasnt been done? ITG is dead and the chance that a new game will come are nill. my only Q on the matter is what will become of FFR? what will Synthlight do?

[Afrobean]

As long as Konami doesn't come after FFR (which they likely won't, due to what Synth said before), we'll be fine. Presumeably, the same can be said about Stepmania (like Synth also said before).

At least FFR and Stepmania have an ace up their sleeve anyway. ITG was essentially the same thing as DDR. FFR and SM tend to be played on keyboards and not on dance pads.

[nforcer06164]

And to add to what Afrobean said, Konami would not profit in any way from attacking SM or FFR. SM and FFR promote DDR. ITG was a danger to Konami's profits, so it was logical to file a lawsuit. A lawsuit against SM or FFR would only cost money and slow the growth of a fanbase.

[Clocklover]

This is probably why ITG2 cs was "leaked" on bittorrent servers as well. ****ing america with our excessive use of lawsuits.

[WillTalbot]

Konami has horrible buisness practices. Instead of making a partnership deal with RoXor (which would lead to ITG being owned by RoXor, Andamiro, and Konami) they just rip the game right out of their hands.

[Eyoshi]

Originally Posted by WillTalbot

Konami has horrible buisness practices. Instead of making a partnership deal with RoXor (which would lead to ITG being owned by RoXor, Andamiro, and Konami) they just rip the game right out of their hands.

Actually, Andamiro has no ownership over ITG. They only made the cabinets for ITG2.

And there would be no deal because ITG is a rival competitor for dancing-game profits. At a random arcade, people won't care whether their machine is an ITG machine or a DDR one; they just consider it a dancing game. They might just buy one machine.

Also, if you were a chairman for Konami, would you continue a franchise that ultimately eats off your profits? No, you wouldn't.

[WillTalbot]

My fault for mistakening the word "owned" with "co-owned" I do believe that Andamiro does have some ownership over ITG though, maybe it is unheard of but I think if I were Andamiro and I made the cabinets for ITG i would want a piece of the game itself.

[Neonatrias]

Originally Posted by WillTalbot

My fault for mistakening the word "owned" with "co-owned" I do believe that Andamiro does have some ownership over ITG though, maybe it is unheard of but I think if I were Andamiro and I made the cabinets for ITG i would want a piece of the game itself.

Andamiro only made the cabinets, end of story.