Konami sues Viacom over Rock Band

[alsharid]

Credit goes to gamespot.com:

"Japanese publisher claims MTV Games' multi-instrument hit violated its "musical rhythm-matching game" patents, reports Bloomberg.

Nearly a decade ago, Konami released the first installments in the DrumMania and Guitar Freaks series, which used drum and guitar peripherals. Though neither franchise was a huge hit, the Japanese publisher did sell millions of its dozen-plus Karaoke Revolution games worldwide.

Given Konami's primogeniture in the instrument and karaoke genres, the publisher was likely none too happy when developer Harmonix combined drums, guitars, and singing into one game--Rock Band. Since its release last November, the MTV Games-published, Electronic Arts-distributed title has sold more than 3 million $179 bundles and more than 10 million song downloads. MTV's parent, Viacom, went as far as to name-check the game in its annual earnings report in May, crediting it with increased profits.

Now, it appears Konami is expressing its displeasure in legal form. According to a report on the Bloomberg news service, this week the Japanese publisher filed suit in a Marshall, Texas, court against Harmonix, MTV Networks, and Viacom. Its suit claims that Rock Band violates a series of US Patents registered in 2002 and 2003 relating to "simulated musical instruments" and "musical rhythm-matching game."

Bloomberg's report did not outline what Konami wanted in terms of compensation from the suit. However, the legal action's timing comes shortly after the announcement of Rock Band 2 and Rock Band: Japan as well as the release of Rock Band: Special Edition for the Wii. It also comes less than two months after Konami announced its own peripheral-based, guitar-drum-vocal title, Rock Revolution, due out later this year. "


What are your thoughts on this?

[Rincewind]

Well thats just a Classic isnt it ? (rethorical) I bet its moneys and not prinsipical reasons they do it , lol and they wait until they hear how good its going for the game , hehe WTG konami

[partyprobe]

That is just ****ed up. They finally care when they find out that the game is making a lot of money. So what if some body wanted to make a game with all those instruments in one and beat you to it. I think the are just mad that their game is going to be called a rip off.

[tripletres]

well, i never knew. i guess you could say that suks... or you could say you win some you lose some. Then again, if thier product was a success, then this wouldnt have happened.

[monsoon 10]

I don't really care, but it does seem like Konami has every right to sue.

[leerock89]

I could also care less. Rock Band is a hit, Konamis stuff was weak. Now they want to cash in, blah blah blah.