I think this is what we call "Irony."

Sinistar · Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:13 am Post subject:

It is true that the box uses a gothic style font over a graphic of flames, but that's no worse than any dance pad showing arrows on the box.

It is true that the guitar comes with a set of stickers for decoration, but many competing toys have sticker sheets. As long as the artwork on the stickers is not lifted from the Guitar Hero sheet, there isn't a violation of copyright here.

It is true that the Star Power sensor isn't the best in the Guitar Mania controllers, but that's a design flaw, not something to justify a law suit. I can only guess they mentioned this on the supposition that people will think RO makes crappy guitars based on TACs products. But that would be like Konami saying people will think they make crappy pads based on RO's products. Or RO saying people will think they make crappy pads based on Intec's products.

It is true that the packaging specifically references "Star Power", but I have been unable to find "Star Power" registered to RedOctane in the US trademark database... Which is not to say it isn't a valid mark, just that it isn't registered. The box for the Shredder uses the Guitar Hero mark in the form of "Compatible with Sony PS2 Guitar Hero Game" whereas the Freedom boxes say "Compatible with PS2 Guitar Game", so it looks like they've already fixed that issue.

It is also true that the Guitar Mania manuals reference Guitar Hero (once) without any mention that GH is a trademark of Activision/RedOctane. That's a problem. It seems like that's a problem that could be addressed by officially requesting that TAC include reference to the GH trademark in their documentation or by removing it altogether (the manual could just say "Please refer to the guitar game manual for further instructions").

I see some valid complaints here, but none that justify the surrender of all product for destruction or the remittance of all profits. One or two box changes and one manual change would be all that is required to nullify the majority of complaints. Certainly, that can be done without smashing guitar controllers.

Of course, we haven't seen the full lawsuit filing, so maybe there's something else in there.
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CF cbox mods and more at the 'Pad'

yyr · Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:24 am Post subject:

Sinistar · Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:45 am Post subject:

Synaesthesia · Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:55 am Post subject: Re: Red Octane

Cutriss · Staff Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002

He's still around - he didn't get banned. I think he just got tired of the audience. He quit posting at the beginning of the year, right at about the same time SuperNOVA was announced.

http://www.ddrfreak.com/phpBB2/search.php?search_author=PedanticOmbudsman
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Sentient Mode is capable...

DDRManiacMark · Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:19 am Post subject:

ok so lets back track a little...

DDR pads made my red octane.
ITG made, looks like a knock off of DDR
ITG machines are made to look just like DDR cabinets, and can even be runned on them.
Red Octane makes Guitar Hero, a knock off of Guitar freaks.
some company steals their Guitar look, to make 3rd party accesories, just like red octane has been doing its whole life.

I mean come on, no one is on your side now red octane.
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shadow0290 · Trick Member Joined: 30 Jun 2005

Wow... Why doesn't Konami sue RedOctane for making an Ignition pad with the same colors, size, and layout as the Konami DX pad?

Not to mention Guitar Hero is a Guitar Freaks ripoff.
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jpoppyz · Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:01 pm Post subject:

how bout konami sues redoctane because if it wasnt for them they probably would have never released guitar hero....really, redoctane owes everything it owns to konami. If it wasnt for konami, they'd still be some no name online game rental company.
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ceraf · Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:23 pm Post subject:

i think red octane is suing because they can...it's a US based company, whereas all the other knockoff products are generally made in China, which is notorious for them. Besides, Topway is one of them, and manufactures products for RO.

now if TAC was a chinese-based company...

Baka of the Orochi · Trick Member Joined: 26 Jan 2002 Location: Chicago area

Y'know, what ever happened to a simple cease and desist letter?

Oh wait, that's right, we're in America. And American gaming companies don't know how to be civil.
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AceJay · Trick Member Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Location: Princeton, NJ

DDR1guy · Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 2:23 pm Post subject:

Cutriss · Staff Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002

gL.Karl · Trick Member Joined: 27 Jan 2004

JJK · Trick Member Joined: 27 Feb 2005 Location: Fullerton, CA

Remy · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Astoria, NY