Bizarre finally tackles Grid Wars

By Tom Bramwell Published 16 August, 2006

Geometry Wars clone shot down.

Having shown creditable restraint up to now, Bizarre Creations has finally cracked down on the distributors of Grid Wars 2, a game that's spookily and - Bizarre reckons - actionably similar to Xbox 360 title Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.

Grid Wars' hosts have now removed archives of the software, which allowed PC owners to play virtually the same game for free, and posted the email request they received from Bizarre. The developer's "starting to feel the effect", apparently, and has decided to "more robustly" protect copyright - by asking people nicely not to infringe upon it.

Bizarre later acknowledged that there are subtle gameplay differences, appreciated by hardcore players, between Geometry Wars and Grid Wars. As you'll know if you've followed both closely, Grid Wars' handling of multipliers and the manner in which players are able to manipulate that game's gravitationally intense black holes make for quite a different high-end experience.

However Bizarre felt it had to take action, it said in a forum posting, because of the clone game's "lack of originality - particularly on the visual front". "Only hardcore gamers will be aware of any differences between a clone and the original game beyond the visual level. This potentially takes sales away from our product and weakens our brand - especially if-and-when we decide to launch a version of GW:RE on a platform where a clone is already available. All too often we have seen people confused, calling our game by the name of a clone, and a clone by our name," the statement read.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (62) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Darkedge #1 6 years ago

    I think Bizarre are totally justified as Grid Wars is a total ripoff.

  • DDevil #2 6 years ago

    Absolutely Darkedge. I enjoy playing Grid Wars 2... But it is far too similar. Can't even pass it off as a homagé it's that blatent.

  • IP #3 6 years ago

    "Only hardcore gamers will be aware of any differences between a clone and the original game beyond the visual level," said Bizarre, in one stroke insulting thousands of gamers and hoping to distract from the gameplay elements its own game ripped off from Robotron.

  • Blerk #4 6 years ago

    Boo! Miserable bastards!

  • coojam #5 6 years ago

    Robotron?! It's much more similar to asteroids.

  • smelly #6 6 years ago

    I dont think legally Bizarre had a leg to stand on.

    But if yer a small dev having a big one breathe down your neck is normally enough to scare you into submission.

  • Blerk #7 6 years ago

    Robotron?! It's much more similar to asteroids.

    o_O

    Have you actually played Asteroids?

  • IAmBatman #8 6 years ago

    It's no big surprise since they're making a PC version.

  • spongebob #9 6 years ago

    Darkedge is totally right, but I have to say that since I don't own Xbox 360 (yet) it was nice to sample the game that everyone is raving about so much. Think of it as a demo. I'll be definitely buying the original one for X360 when I get the console.

  • El_MUERkO #10 6 years ago

    meanies

    anyone got a link to the last build?
    Edited by 1 at 16/08/06 @ 12:21

  • lambtron #11 6 years ago

    Well Geometry Wars obviously owes a lot to Robotron in the same way many games owe a lot to those that came before. I mean Gradius V on the PS2 isn't THAT different from all the other Gradius games. The difference here is that Grid Wars does not attempt to look OR act any differently in any respect.

    Imitation is flattery, but blatant plagiarism is just taking the piss.

    I think Bizarre are completely justified.

  • gaijin #12 6 years ago

    lambtron - while we're on the subject of Robotron, have their lawyers ever contacted you regarding an IP breach by your name?

    /flippant

  • MrGrumpy.au #13 6 years ago

    It's probably too late now for Bizzare because there has been such a large number of downloads of this game "AND" the BlitzBasic sourcecode is included with it, so I wouldn't be supprised to find Bizarre fighting spot fires all over the web.

    Great game though and it stopped my from buying a 360, wasn't going to pay $699 for a next gen machine just to play GeoWars:RE (especially after reading that PGR3s version was so crippled you have to buy the marketplace version).

    /Goes back to enjoying Grid Wars on the PC complete with Xbox 1 Controller S hooked up. :)

  • Eighthours #14 6 years ago

    I dont think legally Bizarre had a leg to stand on.

    I'm 100% convinced that they did.

  • jamesbee #15 6 years ago

    Smelly:

    Why do you suggest that Bizarre wouldn't have a leg to stand on? The games look nearly identical.

  • lambtron #16 6 years ago

    lol @ Gaijin - I am such a hypocrite ;)

  • smelly #17 6 years ago

    It'd be a VERY grey area in terms of copyright, as both games have in effect been done before.

    You couldnt easily claim IP, as there isnt a easily identifiable main character. If the main spaceship was a bloke called "butch mckill", and the other game had a very similar looking character, much easier to prove.

    Games where you fly around shooting things with a moveable turret is hardly new though. So proving the ip has been copied is a VERY grey area.

  • Darkedge #18 6 years ago

    smelly it's not gameplay mechanics that are similar so is style, graphics and even the sound.
    Pretty much like Super mario Bros and Great Giana Sisters in many respects.
    It's a direct clone/copy/rippoff

  • bad #19 6 years ago

    I'm certain that if it infringes copyright, then it makes no difference whether you give it away for free or not.

    I think Grid Wars is a victim of it's own accuracy and professionalism as a clone though, hopefully the author will apply himself to something slightly more original now. Having played it now, it does mean that if Bizarre release Geometry Wars on the PC i'll almost certainly pick up a copy.
    Edited by 1 at 16/08/06 @ 13:15

  • smelly #20 6 years ago

    @tachikoma : I dont own a 360 yet, can u email me a copy? :-)

  • Fozzie_bear #21 6 years ago

    Not played geometry wars but downloaded grid wars on the basis that everyone was bloody raving about how good the 360 game was.

    Glad i got it before it disappeared. Great fun. Can understand wwhy they've done it though. Having Grid Wars already i wouldn't feel any need to buy geo wars if / when it comes out on pc.

  • MaxiSleep #22 6 years ago

    I am pretty sickened by the fawning attitude of the article's author. Regurgitating the companys press release with approval is not what we expect from Eurogamer

    Geo wars itseld is a re hash of many games of the past.

    I will not be purchasing further games from bizarre. Companies like this are going to kill the industry. (not the other way around as the faceless suits want you to believe)

  • Teeth #23 6 years ago

    geometry wars clones. Either for your own amusement or Bizarre's.

  • Normski #24 6 years ago

    @ManicMinerUK

    Copyright law works such that if you allow a person or people to use your copyright unchecked for a reasonable amount of time, subsequent copyright battles are harder to fight (as there's a kind of precendent).

    Even if the free version wasn't causing them any direct problems competitively (although in this case they seem to suggest it is), then if someone did come along with another clone that they then charged for, these evil newcomes could then use GridWars in their defence as an example of Bizarre effectively allowing the copyright to fall into the public domain.

  • smoison #25 6 years ago

    LOL "Teeth nice one Thanks

  • Rambaldi #26 6 years ago

    BAN THIS SICK FI...sorry, what's that...they already did...DOH!

  • brokenkey #27 6 years ago

    Should be "if -or-when", not "if-and-when"

  • TessaTickle #28 6 years ago

    People seem to not realise how much more superior Grid Wars 2 is to Geometry Wars. When Bizarre plays the additions made in GW2 down as being only subtle changes, they're in fact wishing they could have done something that cool.

    If you don't believe me, read this : [link url=http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/grid/wars.htm
    ]http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.co...[/link]

    Bizarre should STFU and crawl away in shame that some indie bloke was able 1) to emulate the basics of the "original" and 2) evolve on those so well that the original becomes a sub-set of a greatly enhanced game that ends up being so far superior to Geometry Wars.

    As far as I'm concerned Bizarre has just embarrassed themselves and would have done well to just not attract attention to the whole issue.

    I think the chap behind GW2 is probably laughing his ass off at the whole thing and has a brilliant career in game coding ahead of him. In a way Bizarre have done him a great service.

  • Teeth #29 6 years ago

    While it's true that good gameplay will often come from evolving or tweaking ideas or gameplay created by other people (that is to say good gameplay can not always be completely original), there is a bare minimum of effort that I believe should be expected of a developer when engaging in such behaviour, which involves at the very least attempting not to infringe the copyright of the work that inspired their game.

  • Bezzy #30 6 years ago

    Cakebread said in an interview that he only knew about Robotron well after making the first Geometry Wars. Granted, he did play different LeftStick=Move, RightStick=Fire games, but to be honest (and no disrespect to anyone doing a game like this) it's a pretty obvious game mechanic to leap to when you've got a two stick interface infront of you. More power to Jarvis for coming UP with the interface when he made Robotron (erm... assuming that was part of his design. Might not have been).

    So yeah. The whole robotron control scheme is a pretty obvious mechanism, and there's soooo many other robotron style games, that it baredly warrents commentary.

    How-fucking-ever, I'm behind Bizarre on this. GridWars is far too blatantly inspired by Geometry Wars.

    Either, this indie guy is ape-ing GW, and failing (hence the "differences that only the hardcore notice";), or he's trying to take an existing game, and "fixing" or embellishing a couple of things he doesn't like. If it's the latter, then perhaps he should have thought about excentuating the differences, rather than trying to look like the exact same fucking game.

    I can't stand indies who won't make use their implicit fucking creative freedom (which you miss like the desert misses the rain when you're in professional development) to make something INTERESTING. Instead, this clone just cheapens something that's rather wonderful, in of itself.
    Edited by 1 at 16/08/06 @ 15:07

  • Blerk #31 6 years ago

    Grid Wars was made by a guy who loves the 360 version and wanted to make a computer version. It was free.

    Number of people who played the PC version and then decided not to get the 360 version: probably round about none.

    Number of people who played the PC version and then thought about buying the 360 version: probably more than a few

    Number of companies who have shot themselves in the foot by pissing off fans: 1

  • jamesbee #32 6 years ago

    I don't understand the hostility towards Bizarre here. They created the original game, it's graphical style, spawn types, gravity wells etc etc. Someone has copied that and many of you here have backed up their argument that a freely available copy of their orginal idea is hurting GW's sales. Regardless of the tweaks that were made, it copies the style and many of the original idea's and as mentioned before, perhapse the creator of Grid Wars should have spent his time creating something orginal.

  • bivith #33 6 years ago

    @Normski
    "Copyright law works such that if you allow a person or people to use your copyright unchecked for a reasonable amount of time, subsequent copyright battles are harder to fight (as there's a kind of precendent). "

    No. That applies to trademarks, not copyright. Copyright does not go away if not defended.

  • Stoatboy #34 6 years ago


    "differences that only the hardcore notice"

    Yeah - ever-so-subtle nuances like adding an entirely new type of enemy. No-one but the hardcore are ever going to spot a screen absolutely chock full of orange triangles ;)

  • smelly #35 6 years ago

    The "hurting their sales" bit confuses me.

    It probably took a couple of people a few weeks to write. And has probably made them a small fortune.

    Its just greed I tells ya :-)

  • Eighthours #36 6 years ago

    Grid Wars was made by a guy who loves the 360 version and wanted to make a computer version.

    Which is basically a confession! :)

  • Carrybagma #37 6 years ago

    Never played it before, so downloaded while I still could from the most Reverand Reverand.

    ED: Thank-you!
    Edited by 1 at 16/08/06 @ 16:35

  • Bezzy #38 6 years ago

    If "Grid Wars" didn't sound a bit like "Geometry Wars", and if "Grid Wars" didn't look a lot like "Geometry Wars", and if "Grid Wars" didn't play a lot like "Geometry Wars"...





    ...would anyone be playing Grid Wars?

  • mingster #39 6 years ago

    They've probably made things worse by drawing attention to the Game by getting it withdrawn.

    They're now guaranteed to have a created a multitude of mirror sites all hosting this 'ilegal' game and created an awareness of it.

    Wheras before it was a known but obscure free bit of software, that people enjoyed as no official PC version existed.

    There are already a multitude of robotron/geometry war clones on the PC this one has now been highlighted on every PC gamers radar by their actions.

    Also how much were they gonna charge for Geometry Wars? Ł5 maybe tops. The same people that downloaded the free version would probably still pay a fiver for the real version as well. And people that wanted it for free wont buy the real version either. They haven't lost anything and anyway where is their 'official' PC version. They should hurry up and get it released rather than dragging their heels then complaining about potential lost sales for their own slackness.

    Edited by 1 at 16/08/06 @ 17:20

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #40 6 years ago

    Wow. It's depressing seeing how many people are shallow idiots who can't see past graphics. GWRE and GW2 look almost identical, but play radically differently. Bizarre don't have a legal leg to stand on, it's just standard futile counter-productive corporate bullying. GW2 will continue to be available everywhere except Mark's own site, and they're achieving nothing other than to make themselves look like greedy hypocrites.

  • allen #41 6 years ago

    quick search on google for 'grid wars 2' came up with a suitable link.

  • MaxiSleep #42 6 years ago

    "Bizarre finally tackles Grid Wars"

    Any comments from Eurogamer on their ridiculously pro industry slant?.

    Note site title is

    EuroGamer

    Not EuroCopyright

    or EuroRIAA

    or Euroindustry?


  • Teeth #43 6 years ago

    Predictable response there Stu. Bizarre definitely do have a legal leg to stand on, as the game definitely is ripping Geometry Wars's copyright. The fact that you think Grid Wars 2 is derived from It's The Wooluf rather than Geometry Wars just goes to show us who the real idiot here is.

    The creator of Grid Wars 2 could have avoided all of this nonsense if he'd respected the copyright and made the game with different graphics. But then, where would his game be now? I think you see my point?

    The whole point of copyright is to further science and technology. It exists so that software such as Grid Wars 2 is forced to innovate, even if that amounts to adding new enemies and changing the graphics while keeping similar gameplay. However you look at it, Grid Wars 2 keeps too many elements from Geometry Wars to be considered different from the prior art. It's copyright infringement. The fact that the game plays slightly differently isn't enough to escape that fact. Nor is the fact that it's free. The copyright of the prior art should be respected, and the work itself used as inspiration rather than forming part of the new work.

    Grid Wars 2 was riding off its similarities to Geometry Wars, and got what it deserved.

  • Bezzy #44 6 years ago

    "Wow. It's depressing seeing how many people are shallow idiots who can't see past graphics."

    When I was first told about the game, it was described to me, with enthusiasm as "A free Geometry Wars rip-off". I happen to keep a pretty good finger on the pulse when it comes to indie games. When I replied to this guy mentioning a handful of other robotron-inspired indie shooters, I got blank stares. Apparantly, the association with XBLA's flagship title was the only reason this guy had stepped outside any kind of mainstream gaming. He didn't own an XBox, and now he had one less reason to care.

    Regardless of the quality of the game and regardless of its mechanical similarities, GW2 is unfortunately piggy backing another game's success by lifting its aesthetic.

    For all I know, the maker is just a big fan of Geometry Wars, wanted a coding project, wasn't one for doing his own personal design, and so tried to re-create it. And in doing so found that he could tweak the magic numbers to his own liking, hence the subtle but certainly fundamental changes made to the game... favouring black hole farming slightly more than Geometry Wars. Yep. Worlds apart. Oh! And don't let me forget a whole new enemy! Shit!

    That's fine, but changing even minute values within complex systems can give rise to radically different outcomes. That's the difference you're experiencing in gameplay: Same recipe as GWE with the ingredients slightly tweaked. Through emergence, it naturally creates new viable strategies, while making old ones less effective. But it's still only through changing minor ingredients. I'm not saying that's wrong. Burnout and GranTurismo are the same game on opposite ends of the racing spectrum. More than enough room for both.

    Considering that a lot of the robotron-alike games are equally as gripping (it's not a hard formula to fuck up very badly, quite frankly) it's a shame that this one sticks out the most simply due to its inhereted aesthetics, especially since, you're right, it manages to stand on its own two feet as far as mechanics go.

    I'd love to see if it gained as much popularity and as much credence if it had its own style from the start. I somehow doubt it.

    And that's the thing really. I'd have zero problem with Grid Wars as a whole if it wasn't so blatantly Pepsi to GWE's Coca-Cola. I mean the name alone! "Grid Wars"?? Shit!

  • Bezzy #45 6 years ago

    Let's all try RayHound instead.

    http://ww w18.big.or.jp/~hikoza/Prod/dlco...

  • Bezzy #46 6 years ago

    Okay, I'm starting to see a trend here:

    http://xiao u2.homestead.com/mscreens.html

  • Teeth #47 6 years ago

    Ah yes he's working on a new game isn't he. That's a completely different game to Marble Madness, Bezzy. Look at the font for example. Completely different.

    Marble Insanity | Marble Madness

    Marble Madness | Marble Insanity

    Marble Insanity | Marble Madness

    edit: Aha. Homage it is: "Our mission is to remake and expand the Arcade Classic
    "Marble Madness". We want to bring it to a whole new level with enhanced graphics and extended gameplay."     In which case, it seems like a good job.

    I don't have too much of a problem with faithfully remaking games provided they have permission to do so (which I doubt). I do wonder who owns the copyright now though. Probably not Mark Cerny.

    I'm pretty sure Mark Incitti didn't have permission to infringe on Geometry Wars's copyright, at any rate ;)
    Edited by 1 at 17/08/06 @ 00:57

  • Teeth #48 6 years ago

    And just to round things off:

    Grid Wars 2 | Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

  • OldB0y #49 6 years ago

    Maybe Jeff Minter is the one with the right to be annoyed - he designed the trippy graphical style back in the Amiga/ST days, with Llamatron. While Llamatron is a blatent rip off of Atari's Robotron, it is the game that Geometry Wars et al are even more blatent rips of.

    Also, as Gridwars was totally free, and on a different platform altogether I think Bizzarre are being overly petty, I could maybe understand their stance if the guy was actually trying to charge people for his effort, or had released it on Xbox live for free etc.

  • Jdoki #50 6 years ago

    This seems ridiculous to me.

    Grid Wars 2 looks similar enough to Geometry Wars for Bizzare to exert it's copyright. Fine.

    However it plays differently enough that I wonder that if Grid Wars changed its graphics style would Bizzare still have a leg to stand on?

    If yes, then surely it could be claimed that Geometry Wars is similar enough to Robotron that it infringes on that game.

    What about all the other 'clones', rip-offs and 'influences', we've seen over the years.

    How many variants of Space Invaders have their been?

    Could Nintendo claim that almost every 3D platformer plays similarly enough to Super Mario 64 that they infringe on their copyright?

    Seems to me that Bizzare are gearing up to release a PC version of Geometry Wars, and is making sure nothing gets in the way.

  • Carrybagma #51 6 years ago

    Noticed this line from the Grid Wars 2 readme file:

    mentil - thanks for your analysis of Geometry Wars and code bits

    Oops.

    All the same, I don't see a problem with GW2. If I had a 360, I think I'd pay for the convenience of having it there amongst whatever other games I'd have, rather than having to load up the PC for the one game. If they'd really wanted, they could have pointed out the all-too-obvious similarities to the programmer, offered him a bit of cash for the code to keep him happy, and then offer it for commercial download for a few $.

  • El_MUERkO #52 6 years ago

    they're probably being petty cause grid wars is better, shite if they wanted a PC version of the game they could have thrown him a few quid for the rights to his, all they'd need do was polish up the menus

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #53 6 years ago

    "Bizarre definitely do have a legal leg to stand on, as the game definitely is ripping Geometry Wars's copyright."

    Sigh. People who don't know what they're talking about should try to keep their teeth shut. THERE IS NO LAW AGAINST PLAGIARISM. Unless GW2 has actually lifted lines of code from GWRE, then it has in absolutely no way whatsoever breached GWRE's copyright. The only way BC could even *attempt* to bring this to court would be to assert trademark rights over squares and circles...

  • Teeth #54 6 years ago

    Even basic internet research (wikipedia) proves you 100% wrong Stu.

    "For example, the copyright which subsists in relation to a Mickey Mouse cartoon prohibits unauthorized parties from distributing copies of the cartoon or creating derivative works which copy or mimic Disney's particular anthropomorphic mouse, but does not prohibit the creation of artistic works about anthropomorphic mice in general, so long as they are sufficiently different to not be imitative of the original."

    My emphasis. Grid Wars is a vector shooter that is not sufficiently different from Geometry Wars to be described as "imitative".

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #55 6 years ago

    You clearly understand nothing of the workings of copyright law. Graphics are a small part of the creative whole of a videogame, and GWRE's - being simple geometric shapes - are in no way distinctive enough to be copyrightable. You can't copyright a circle.

    Still, thanks for an early-morning laugh by quoting Wikipedia as an authoritative source. :D

  • MasterThief #56 6 years ago

    Smelly, are you serious, or what? I find your general anti-anything-360-related stance to be misguided. There is no problem with games inspiring each other. But for me, the bottom line of such practices is Saint's Row's rip of GTA. At the very least, Volition sprinkled a dash of their own seasoning over their game. But Grid Wars is such a blatant pixel-for-pixel copy, that I pray the suited corporate 'monsters' at Bizarre find the bedroom of the weasel responsible, and bankrupt him.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #57 6 years ago

    "But Grid Wars is such a blatant pixel-for-pixel copy, that I pray the suited corporate 'monsters' at Bizarre find the bedroom of the weasel responsible, and bankrupt him."

    Yeah, what a bastard. Guy makes a FREE game, very different in play but visually similar to a game on a completely different platform, and removes it immediately from his website when asked to, despite being under no legal obligation. If he's a weasel, you're a weasel's bowel tumour, man.

    Honestly. Some of you people make me embarrassed to be human.

  • MasterThief #58 6 years ago

    Of course he can make it for free! What blood, sweat or tears did he even put into making it? He simply stood on the shoulders of giants, read what they done, and created his own. I'm thinking of Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park here, for the uninitiated. Seriously, whether he took it off his site or not is not the issue. Fact is, the game is now out there on the web, all thanks to a thief. And yes, I would consider him to be a thief.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #59 6 years ago

    Well, I consider you to be a cretin who's probably never played either game, because nobody who had could possibly be such a thick blind moron, never mind such a spiteful, loathsome little toad. I'm done with this thread.

  • MasterThief #60 6 years ago

    You take your 'reverend' title too seriously methinks. And yes, I HAVE played Geometry Wars AND Grid Wars (the latter purely out of human curiosity). And in the case of the latter, the (minor) tweaks smack of "you can't sue my ass, because my game is (a little bit) 'different'".
    Edited by 1 at 18/08/06 @ 10:03

  • chavatar #61 6 years ago

    Ah, the witty badinage, sophisticated repartee and subtle interplay of reasoned discourse...

  • Teeth #62 6 years ago

    There is a pretty nasty grey area in the law that has existed for some time now regarding copying of game designs, partly exacerbated by the fact that it rarely gets pursued by the owner of the IP.

    Basic copyright facts:
    "Computer programs are protected on the same basis as literary works. Conversion of a program into or between computer languages and codes corresponds to "adapting" a work and storing any work in a computer amounts to "copying" the work."

    If Incitti had got permission to use Geometry Wars, he would have been fine.

    In addition, some would see the act of removing the game under threat of court action from Bizarre a clear admission of guilt. If he truly believed that the game was original then he'd be welcome to go to court with Bizarre and defend himself.

    Thanks for trying though Stu.

    How can I prove originality in my work?

    "Ultimately this is a matter for the courts to decide."

  • chavatar #63 6 years ago

    Teeth +1. I was going to say something along these lines but forbore for fear of being labelled some loathsome moronic exclusion from the human race.

    Pretty much every legal resource (I work with lawyers) will note that plagiarism while not illegal per se, can and has been used as a basis for copyright infringement actions.

    (Whether that applies in this case, I don't know I haven't played both)

    Would've been +2, but I don't necessarily agree removal of the program is an admission of guilt - many individuals don't have the resources to enter into legal proceedings with a company. Altho' of course it may well be [an admission]

  • Teeth #64 6 years ago

    Yes, that's true, hence the accusations of corporate bullying, which are fair enough and it does go on and it is deplorable when unjustified.

  • Teeth #65 6 years ago

    Whoops, I bumped this. How could that have happened.