Limbo of the Lost: Lost in Lawsuits

Not too often does a low profile point and click adventure make headlines across the proverbial gaming press... unless of course your point and click adventure game is a compilation of some of the hottest titles to be released in the last ten years. Add to that blatant plagiarism and you got one naughty problem on your hands.

When I first started hearing about Limbo of the Losts plagiarism debacle last week, the immediate thought that occurred to me was "what do they mean by blatant plagiarism? I mean, how many unique ways are there to render a dungeon?" But then I looked into it further. Replace "cut and paste" for the word "blatant" and youll get a pretty good idea about what youll see in the screenshots I am about to show you. Needless to say, Majestic Studios and Tri Synergy are up for a whirlwind of lawsuits for this one. The Story for Limbo of the Lost is basically this: You play a guy named Captain Ben who is trapped in limbo and you must explore the Keep of Lost Souls to steal a book from the four horsemen of the apocalypse. It's an old school 2D point and click adventure puzzle game, which may have proved to be promising if it hadn't dove off the deep end and landed balls-deep in lawsuits.

Tri Synergy recently released this official statement regarding the issue:

Tri Synergy, Inc. would like to publish an official comment regarding recent comparisons of level design and artwork between Majestic Studios Limbo of the Lost and Bethesdas The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion/Eidos Interactives Thief: Deadly Shadows.

Tri Synergy is just as shocked as everyone else is by the recent screenshot comparisons. At no point during our dealings with Majestic Studios up until the point that the comparison was first publicly made by a third party did we have any knowledge of these similarities. Additionally, Tri Synergy will discontinue distribution of Limbo of the Lost in both retail and online outlets.

We have contacted the developer, Majestic, and are anxiously awaiting their response. As soon as we know more on this matter we will issue another statement.

But it really begs the question: how can a GAMING company thats been around since 1996 NOT notice scenes taken from some of the most popular titles ever released? And by popular, here is the current list of ripped-off titles:

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
• Unreal Tournament 2004
• Unreal Tournament 2003
• Unreal Tournament
• Diablo II
• Thief: The Dark Project
• Thief: Deadly Shadows
• a CryENGINE2 Tech Demo
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
• Sea Dogs
• Painkiller
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
• The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth
• Hexen
• Black & White 2
• Silent Hill 4
• World of Warcraft
• Crysis

In addition to the games, the game also reportedly stole scenes from the following movies:

Spawn

Beetlejuice

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End

This list started forming in the community after the June 11, 2008 article featured on GamePlasma showed similarities between Oblivion and Limbo of the Lost.

Here are just a few of the laughable screenshots (click pictures for bigger image):

Limbo of the Lost

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Limbo of the Lost

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblvion

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Limbo of the Lost

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

And of course the list goes on and on. Special thanks to www.neogaf.com forums for the image finds, as well as the hilarious box art mock up used in this article. You can click for more screenshot comparisions.

Related Links

• Source: Neogaf.com forums
• Source: LOTL wiki page
• Source: Tri Synergy official statement

To All Our Pokemon Fans

Go to your local Gamestop on the weekends of June 20-22, and June 27-29, and you can get the Pokemon Deoxys for your Pokemon Diamond or Pearl game.

All of you Pokemon masters out there know that Deoxys are rare DNA Pokemon that are mysterious and powerful. So bring in your DS with your Pokemon Pearl or Diamond game and download it today. All you do is turn the system on while at your local Gamestop. After you get into the start screen of your game, hit start. Then it will tell you that you have a free gift. Accept the gift, using the via wireless option. Then viola, you have your new Pokemon Deoxy. You can also get your flyer with more information on the download.

Gamer Rant Vol. 2 - Thou Shall Think

I am around other gamers constantly, and many questions are always brought up to me. But the two I hear the most are "When will the price drop?" and "How soon do you think the next generation consoles will come out?" Although those are hard to answer it does make you stop and think.

As for the "When will the price drop?" You have to realize that even though it is a high price tag, it is a good price. Let"s look at the PS3 for example, it has a blu-ray player and it costs $399 for a 40GB version. The cheapest brand blu-ray player I could find at Best Buy was $200, and that was for an off brand name. Plus you have to add in the cost of the controller, as well as the ability to play the games. Think about it, for a Gaming PC (not your regular run of the mill desktop) you are looking at well over the $399 mark, and it doesn"t have a blu-ray player. The PS3 is a good deal. Honestly though, I wouldn"t expect a price drop anytime soon. The best I can come up with is look for bundle deals at Christmas.

Another question brought to mind for me from the "How soon do you think the next generation consoles will come out" is "How much more realistic can they get with video games?" Some of the video games out there have the best graphics I have ever seen in a video game. Graphics have come along way since the 8-bit Nintendo design. Many characters look almost alive when you are watching the cut scenes. So why mess with a good thing?

I think the consoles that are out now are great, and am happy with what is already out. I myself feel it will be at least a few more years before anything is even brought to the attention of gamers. But I know that Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are always on the lookout for the next big thing in gaming. My personal opinion is "Let"s concentrate on what we have now, and not worry about the next generation of consoles. How about we just make more kick a** games for it."