In article <1130101433.134221.147530@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
<bpj1138@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> Using trademarks will increase the cost of your game, unless the
>> trademark owner has specifically asked you to madke a licensed
>> title. Do you really need to use them?
> I don't understand that either. I would basicly be providing
>advertising for their products.
It's not just enough to be providing advertising. They want to
know what context you're providing advertising, and also that their
products are represented fairly. At to context, consider these two
games: (1) "Trucks from manufacturer X are used to try and bring
supplies to those hit by a natural disaster" and (2) "Trucks from
manufacturer Y are driven by bedsheet-wearing lynch mobbers." Both
would be free advertising. However, most manufacturers would be really
annoyed if their vehicles appeared, by name, in game #2.
Also, manufacturers want their products represented fairly. If you
made a racing game where all the cars from manufacturer Z had a top
speed of 25 mph, and were prone to constant breakdowns-- no matter how
true that may have been in your personal experience-- the manufacturer
would think their products were misrepresented.
How is a manufacturer going to know if their products have been
misrepresented? Only by sitting down and approving your title before
it's released. And, the things they complain about may be far more
subtle than what I've given here-- things like subtle colorations, of
the general feel of things could be complained about. My examples
above are definitely on the side of exaggeration, only so that you can
see what is *possible*, and why manufacturers wouldn't necessarily
consider free advertising as a good thing.
> Anyhow, since I'm an individual developer, and I don't feel like
>calling every car company on the planet, I will oblige and botch the
>names like everybody else.
This is definitely the best approach for small developers. Unless
you like throwing lots of time and money at lawyers. I can think of a
lot of better uses for said time and money.
Nathan Mates
--
<*> Nathan Mates - personal webpage http://www.visi.com/~nathan/
# Programmer at Pandemic Studios -- http://www.pandemicstudios.com/
# NOT speaking for Pandemic Studios. "Care not what the neighbors
# think. What are the facts, and to how many decimal places?" -R.A.
Heinlein
|
