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NWR Interactive => TalkBack => Topic started by: Daan on January 12, 2012, 01:16:15 PM

Title: Two Videos for the Mario Kart iOS Rip-Off Mole Kart
Post by: Daan on January 12, 2012, 01:16:15 PM

Discover blatant copies of your Mario Kart favourites!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/video/28941

Taomee released their racing game Mole Kart, with various blatantly copied Mario Kart tracks, on the iTunes store for people to purchase. Below you will see two videos we have put together for you to enjoy. One is for the track based on Moo Moo Meadows and the other is for the Mushroom Gorge track. In addition to these, there are tracks based on Peach Beach, Bowser's Castle, Sherbet Land and Peach Garden. For those last two, an additional fee of €0.79 is in order.The game itself will set you back €2.39, although we highly recommend that you not buy this at all.

Title: Re: Two Videos for the Mario Kart iOS Rip-Off Mole Kart
Post by: Chozo Ghost on January 12, 2012, 01:25:04 PM

Can't Nintendo have them shut down for copyright infringement?

Title: Re: Two Videos for the Mario Kart iOS Rip-Off Mole Kart
Post by: ejamer on January 12, 2012, 01:33:02 PM

Nintendo can request that the app be removed. After they receive such a request, Apple will comply -- although the profits that Apple and the "developers" make in the meantime are conveniently forgotten.


Not sure what long-term effect this has on the developer submitting the game. Presumably none?

Title: Re: Two Videos for the Mario Kart iOS Rip-Off Mole Kart
Post by: Vahne on January 12, 2012, 02:39:28 PM

Nintendo NOT getting this pulled from the app store would be too weird. The devs of this game can't think of their own tracks so they stole Moo Moo Meadows, Mushroom Gorge, and possibly others from MKWii?

Title: Re: Two Videos for the Mario Kart iOS Rip-Off Mole Kart
Post by: TJ Spyke on January 12, 2012, 02:44:50 PM

I remember in 2010 there was a company that got Duck Hunt on the iOS Store. Literally the NES game (they even used the NES boxart as the App icon). Seems like Apple is fine with letting copyright violations go right through their "vigorous" screening process, though any App that copies Apple's own software gets stopped right away.

Title: Re: Two Videos for the Mario Kart iOS Rip-Off Mole Kart
Post by: Tanshin on January 12, 2012, 03:41:06 PM

That is really frustrating. Obviously it's not the first Mario clone (I remember something that was a mix between Galaxy and Spyro a few years back), but this is probably the first I've seen that directly copies tracks.

At least the mushroom springs don't work too well. And what on earth was that scary grey thing in Moo Moo Meadow?

Title: Re: Two Videos for the Mario Kart iOS Rip-Off Mole Kart
Post by: SMWiz on January 15, 2012, 12:03:20 AM

This is kind of shocking. I feel as a fans of Mario Kart, we have an obligation to help Nintendo curtail piracy. We should report this to Nintendo so that they can make an official complaint to Apple.

Title: Re: Two Videos for the Mario Kart iOS Rip-Off Mole Kart
Post by: VariantX7 on January 15, 2012, 01:08:15 PM

I don't blame the guys as much who made this knockoff game as much as I blame Apple. China makes knockoffs and bootlegs of everything we can think of, this is nothing new. This is just Apple, yet again, not caring about what shows up for sale on the App store.  Now, if someone uses an image of an apple in their business or has a device shaped like a rectangle with rounded edges, the Apple legal team will rip them to shreds like vultures on a bloated carcass.