Dead Rising v. Dawn of the Dead
by Xav de Matos 
{ Feb 15th 2008 at 1:30PM }
According to a PDF file acquired by The Hollywood Reporter Esq., Capcom is looking to protect itself against the similarities found between the 2006 best seller Dead Rising and the film classic, George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead. In the claim Capcom states that based on current copyright law "humans battling zombies in a shopping mall" is a "wholly unprotectible idea."
The filing, from February 12, comes as a response to a complaint issued to Capcom, Microsoft and Best Buy from The MKR Group, who owns the rights to both versions of the Dawn of the Dead films. In the Capcom filing the publisher lists they made unsuccessful attempts to contact the MKR Group and that the game also features a disclaimer that reads, "This game was not developed, approved or licensed by the owners or creators of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead."
File this one under the "that took longer than we thought" section of the "it was bound to happen" cabinet and as the second zombie related post of the week.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ccc @ Feb 15th 2008 1:56PM
Wow, does Romero have anything to do with this?
This reminds me of the time Metellica sued a band for using the F power chord in a same fashion as one of their songs.
DjDATZ @ Feb 15th 2008 2:00PM
Ughh...useless sue-wage.
pop.nerd @ Feb 15th 2008 2:02PM
Maybe we could tell the difference better if we could READ THE GODDAMN GAME TEXT
/end of rant
Tony @ Feb 15th 2008 2:03PM
I'd be surprised if Capcom lost this. Beyond taking place in a mall and featuring zombies, there's no real connections. For me and I'm sure most other fans of the Romero's work obviously the similarity there is noticeable, but I just can't see a lawsuit standing on that foundation.
The attitude and background of the hero is totally different from the main characters in the films, the addition of cults and psychopaths and literally every story element is completely different, etc.
David Lamarre @ Feb 15th 2008 2:20PM
yeah, the game text size sucked so much it ruined the fun, that and the nasty-no-where-to-be-found save points...
well, nice try! still pretty close to a good game
AoE @ Feb 15th 2008 2:26PM
Am I the only one who didn't have issues with the save system? I mean... doesn't it make sense that you'd have to get somewhere safe to save instead of saving in the middle of a sea of zombies? Sure it wasn't as convenient as autosaves or the ability to save anywhere would be... but in the context of the game/story I thought it made sense...
dylan @ Feb 15th 2008 2:38PM
I thought the save system totally added to the game, made it move stressful when you were running around hurt with no food trying to find a safe location... kinda like as if you were trying to survive in a sea of zombies?
Big Wizz @ Feb 15th 2008 3:48PM
Save system helped make the game. Makes you think about your actions before you go wadding into a sea of zombies.
Where is my DR2?
David Lamarre @ Feb 15th 2008 2:31PM
its just that its not really user friendly, especially when ur far from a save point, and have to clear a million zombies to get back to where u were last time you played, time consuming, there is plenty of areas without any save points,
GamerGuyX @ Feb 15th 2008 2:32PM
I enjoyed Dead Rising *because* I'm such a fan of George Romero's "Dead" films.
dylan @ Feb 15th 2008 2:40PM
If this puts any damper on a sequel I am going to march straight over to the MKR group and put orange cones on everyones heads and teddy bear everyone to death!
chris @ Feb 15th 2008 3:24PM
What's next...Valve getting sued by Stephen King over the premise of "monsters from another dimension escaping through a portal opened by a secret research facility?"
Intentless @ Feb 16th 2008 9:35AM
funny you should mention that... In an interview Valve stated that they got the general gist of their story from your reference...
blank964 @ Feb 15th 2008 3:25PM
Yeah the save system is a bitch especially when you have to go somewhere and you have to run and find a save spot. Back on-topic though this lawsuit is a joke, I guess every videogame that is similar to a movie is grounds for a lawsuit.
ccc @ Feb 15th 2008 3:39PM
@Tony
Michael Buffer can sue you for saying "Lets get ready to rumble"
Anything is feasable here.
quesadia @ Feb 15th 2008 6:09PM
should have had phoenix say "HOLD IT!"
ZeroCorpse @ Feb 16th 2008 2:46PM
They're just mad because the officially licensed Romero-related game SUCKED, and Dead Rising did it right.
Instead of suing them, why not hire them and let them use the official Romero storylines for future games? It seems they know what they're doing when it comes to zombie games.
And BTW-- If you can complain about Dead Rising ripping off Dawn of the Dead, then why can't you go after the original Resident Evil for being a zombie story about people trapped in a house (Night of the Living Dead)..?