Trivia Browser

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Palworld
Palworld (2024)
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Following the Steam Early Access release of Palworld on January 18, 2024, the developers faced accusations of copying Pokémon models for the designs of the game's Pals. The allegations were made by a Twitter user named byofrog, who claimed that some of Palworld's creature models were directly copied and edited from 3D models ripped from Pokémon games. These allegations were criticized for scaling the Pokémon and Palworld models to be comparable in size, leading to claims that edited models were not reliable or accurate evidence. byofrog claimed in response that because the models from each game loaded into modeling software at different sizes, scaling them appropriately were the only necessary edits made to compare them, and that the models' meshes, proportions, and other fundamental features were not edited. Takuro Mizobe, the CEO of Palworld developer PocketPair, denied the allegations, calling them "slanderous", and also stated that PocketPair has "no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies".

On January 25, The Pokémon Company released an official statement confirming they were aware of a flood of inquiries about "another company’s game released in January 2024". On September 18, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed a lawsuit against PocketPair, but instead of accusing them of copyright infringement as critics were, they accused them of infringing multiple patent rights and sought compensation for damages. PocketPair responded claiming they were unaware of any patents they violated and that they were not notified of which patents they were accused of infringing.
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Complaint, Copyright, Development, General, Legal Affairs, Model, Real Life, Social Media
person ProtoSnake calendar_month January 25, 2024
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The Getaway
The Getaway (2002)
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Censorship, Complaint, Demo, Development, General, Legal Affairs, Real Life, Regional Difference, Regulatory Content Rating, Release Difference, Update Difference, Version Difference
person ProtoSnake calendar_month January 24, 2024
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The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (2021)
subdirectory_arrow_right The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (Game), The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures (Game)
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Due to long-standing copyright issues regarding the character Sherlock Holmes brought about by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate (which had previously delayed the games' release), the international release of The Great Ace Attorney games changed his name to "Herlock Sholmes". According to series creator Shu Takumi, this was done as an allusion to "Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes", a story collection by Maurice Leblanc.

Following the announcement of the name "Herlock Sholmes", various memes came about surrounding the character and the circumstances for the renaming in regards to copyright law. This got to the point where major news outlets began covering it, with some noting that the goofy-sounding name "fit with the comedic and sometimes irreverent tone of the Ace Attorney series, even if it does leave a few things lost in translation."
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Copyright, Development, General, Inspiration, Legal Affairs, Name Change, Real Life, Reference, Regional Difference
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month January 24, 2024
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Collection: Mario Kart
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Attachment In 2016, Nintendo entered a legal dispute with MariCar, an Osaka-based company offering tourists Mario Kart-themed tours of the city using modified go-karts. The service included costumes based on the Mario Kart roster and alluded to the games' items in its advertising, jokingly asking customers not to attack each other with "banana peels" or "red turtle shells." Nintendo filed a complaint with the Japan Patent Office in September, arguing that the company's trademark was deliberately over-evocative of that for Mario Kart. Four months later, however, the office denied Nintendo's request, noting that "MariCar" was not a common abbreviation for Mario Kart, and thus the two trademarks did not conflict.

As the Japanese legal system does not include fair use protections for parodies, Nintendo subsequently sued MariCar the following month for copyright infringement due to the unauthorized inclusion of Mario character costumes. The case was ultimately decided in Nintendo's favor in September 2018, with MariCar being forced to drop the Mario Kart iconography and pay Nintendo ¥10 million (roughly equivalent to $89,000 USD) in damages. The company attempted to appeal the case to the Japanese Supreme Court, who rejected the motion in December 2020 and increased the fine to ¥50 million (approximately $483,000 USD). MariCar has since rebranded as Street Kart in the wake of the lawsuit.
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Advertisement/Commercial, Character Design, Legal Affairs, Plagiarism, Real Life
person VinchVolt calendar_month January 24, 2024
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Diddy Kong Racing
Diddy Kong Racing (1997)
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Attachment The racer Krunch wasn't originally designed as a Kremling. According to former Rare artist Kevin Bayliss (in a now defunct Facebook page for Rare alumni), the character predated the conversion from Pro-Am 64 to Diddy Kong Racing and was originally a generic crocodile character, brought in to introduce a "bad guy" into the game's roster.

When it was decided to incorporate Diddy Kong into the game and change the title to Diddy Kong Racing, it was also decided to turn the crocodile character into a Kremling named Krunch, perhaps to better tie it into the new Donkey Kong-infused lore. The decision to turn Krunch into a Kremling, a Nintendo-owned species, also automatically gave Nintendo the rights to the character as well, even retaining said rights after the Microsoft buyout in 2002, whereas all the other Diddy Kong Racing racers outside of obviously Diddy are now owned by Microsoft.
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Character Design, Copyright, Corporate Affairs, Development, Early Idea, Inspiration, Legal Affairs
person Dinoman96 calendar_month January 19, 2024
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Source Gaming article on Krunch's history:
https://sourcegaming.info/2017/11/15/new-content-approaching-krunch/

DKVine article on Diddy Kong Racing's copyrights:
https://dkvine.com/?p=news_body&;post=6391

Rare scribes confirming that Krunch is still owned by Nintendo:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070628215552/http://rareware.com/extras/scribes/25jun07/index.html
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (2007)
subdirectory_arrow_right Ace Attorney (Franchise)
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According to series creator Shu Takumi in a 2017 interview, Capcom executives issued two mandates affecting the writing of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. The first mandate was that the game had to include Phoenix Wright in the story, which went against Takumi's original idea for a soft reset of the series. The second mandate was to incorporate the Lay Judge system, a real-life judicial system, into the story, resulting in the creation of Spoiler:the MASON System game program and the trial run of a new Jurist System in the game's last case "Turnabout Succession". The Ace Attorney series began as a critique of how Japan's legal system handles criminal offenses, but around this time, that system was changing. While Japan previously suspended an older jurist system in 1943, their legislative body, the National Diet, gradually implemented a new lay judge system (裁判員, or "Saiban-in") from 2004 to 2009. This system, resembling more democratic systems in North American and European countries, calls upon six random common citizens to serve in serious criminal trials as inquisitorial judges sitting alongside three professional judges. Together they make up the judicial panel and actively analyze and investigate evidence presented to them throughout the trial before ruling on guilt and sentencing. Reflecting this, Spoiler:the Jurist System seen at the end of Turnabout Succession is made up of six random jurors guided by Phoenix Wright, where the player from the sixth juror's perspective has to rule the defendant Guilty or Not Guilty.

Takumi revealed that as part of the game’s promotion, Capcom collaborated with the Japanese Ministry of Justice and even gave a presentation of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney at the ministry's head office, implying that the system's mandated inclusion in the game was political propaganda. Despite Capcom cooperating in the Japanese government's push for this new system and despite participation experiences being reported as positive and easy to understand, the reception to other aspects of the system were largely negative. Complaints included gradually more severe sentencing since its implementation, the risk of criminal penalties for lay judges publicly discussing confidential deliberation room details after trials come to an end, and most starkly, calling upon Japanese citizens to put aside time to participate in the system, who have been increasingly unwilling to do so. This decline in interest has been attributed to the length of both lay judge trials and pre-trial proceedings increasing significantly over the next decade, and due to aging populations and people simply not being able to make these commitments, more citizens refused to serve or even show up to be vetted for serving, making it harder to fill out the jury.

As a result of this reception, the Ace Attorney series has not used Spoiler:the MASON System and the Jurist System since, sticking with the series' traditional Initial Trial system in future games.
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Advertisement/Commercial, Backstory/Lore, Complaint, Corporate Affairs, Development, General, Inspiration, Legal Affairs, Politics, Real Life, Retcon, Suggested
person MehDeletingLater calendar_month January 9, 2024
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Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid (1998)
subdirectory_arrow_right Gran Turismo 2 (Game), Tekken 3 (Game), One (Game), Dreamcast (Platform), PC (Microsoft Windows) (Platform), PlayStation (Platform), Xbox (Platform), Sony Interactive Entertainment (Company)
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Attachment Bleem! was a PlayStation emulator released for Microsoft Windows 98 and the Sega Dreamcast. Unlike the vast majority of emulators before and since, it was released as a paid product on store shelves. Bleem!, although very impressive for the time and capable of running on low-end PCs, had many compatability issues, with the only game that ran perfectly on Windows Bleem! being the US version of One, while the only games that could be run at all on Dreamcast were Tekken 3, Metal Gear Solid, and Gran Turismo 2, all with specialised emulators released on their own "Bleemcast" discs.

Sony would sue Bleem! twice over alleged copyright infringement, and despite all odds, Sony lost due to Bleem!'s use of screenshots in promo material and the PS1 BIOS being protected by fair use. However, a mix of legal fees and Sony threatening retailers stocking Bleem! products with subpoenas would force Bleem! off of shelves anyway, and its website would be replaced with an image of Sonic the Hedgehog mourning at a grave with the Bleem! logo carved on it. Bleem! would countersue Sony for anti-competitive activity.

The popularity of Bleem! would lead both Sega and Microsoft to attempt to work with Bleem! officially to make PS1 games run on Dreamcast and Xbox, though these plans fell through due to Sega being afraid of Sony's litigation, while the developers of Bleem! simply felt Microsoft wasn't paying high enough for the license for Bleem! (something they had come to regret in the years since).
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Console Difference, Copyright, Emulation, Legal Affairs
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month December 28, 2023
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Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Dying Light 2: Stay Human (2022)
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In June 2020, the game's writer Chris Avellone was publicly accused of sexual assault and harassment by two women in the video game industry on Twitter claiming to have been victims of his behavior. Avellone denied the allegations, stating that he has never sexually assaulted or harassed anyone. Techland, the developer of Dying Light 2: Stay Human, later announced that the two had agreed to let him go from his work on the game, with Avellone also losing work on other games. However, in March 2023, after Avellone brought on a libel lawsuit, the women retracted their statements claiming that they were misinterpreted, confessing that Avellone "never sexually abused either of [them]" and that they had "no knowledge that he has ever sexually abused any women". They paid him a seven figure payment as part of the settlement and publicly supported him making a full return to the industry.
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Complaint, Corporate Affairs, Development, General, Legal Affairs, Male/Female Gender, Misconception, Real Life, Social Media
person ProtoSnake calendar_month December 25, 2023
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Dying Light 2 writer Chris Avellone accused of sexual assault and harassment:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200622211330/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/365244/Dying_Light_2_writer_Chris_Avellone_accused_of_sexual_assault_and_harassment.php

The game and comics industries are grappling with widespread allegations of harassment and abuse:
https://www.polygon.com/2020/6/25/21302341/video-game-tabletop-game-comics-allegations-harassment-abuse-racism-metoo

Fallout Writer Chris Avellone’s Accusers Settle Libel Case For Seven Figures:
https://kotaku.com/fallout-new-vegas-avellone-sexual-misconduct-libel-1850270184

Chris Avellone resolves sexual misconduct allegations, claiming a "seven-figure payment"
"There are still many very real challenges that we face but am confident we can face them together.":
https://www.eurogamer.net/chris-avellone-resolves-sexual-misconduct-allegations-claiming-a-seven-figure-payment
Franchise: Sonic The Hedgehog
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Dan Slott, a comic book writer best known for his work on Marvel Comics such as "The Amazing Spider-Man", "Fantastic Four", and "Silver Surfer", wrote for two issues of Archie's "Sonic Super Special" series as part of its "Zone Wars" storyline. Despite these being his only works for the comic, he did make one notable contribution: Zonic the Zone Cop, an alternate reality version of Sonic who monitored all realities in order to maintain balance across the various Zones, though allowing other people to appear in other Zones when they are needed. In November 2022, in response to various fan questions about Zonic, Slott noted that he was willing to collaborate with Sega to bring him back, and had no protective hang-ups over the character unlike an unspecified Sonic creator who was "super protective of all the characters he's created over the years to the point where SEGA doesn't want to use ANY of them in other media" (likely referring to legal issues surrounding former writer Ken Penders).
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Backstory/Lore, Credits, General, Legal Affairs, Multimedia Adaptation, Real Life
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month December 22, 2023
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Company: Gizmondo Games
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In October 2005, a newspaper report was released in Sweden linking multiple high ranking staff at Tiger Telematics, the company that made the Gizmondo game console, to the Uppsalamaffian, a Swedish mafia. The report singled out Stefan Eriksson, a prominent figure in the console's development, as the leader of the mafia until he became involved with the Gizmondo, and having received at least 2 prison sentences beforehand. On the same month that the Gizmondo was discontinued in Feburary 2006, Eriksson crashed a Ferrari in California so hard that it tore in half, with the investigation into the crash landing Eriksson behind bars again, and eventually deporting him back to Sweden to face repercussions for additional crimes committed there.
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General, Legal Affairs, Real Life
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month December 21, 2023
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Company: Activision Blizzard
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In 2023, Activision Blizzard was ordered to pay $35 million by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its failures to maintain proper workplace disclosure controls and violations of whistleblower protections. The fine was imposed due to the company’s failure to ensure proper employee protections against workplace harassment and gender discrimination, which led to many women leaving the company. The SEC used a 2021 lawsuit by the state of California’s Civil Rights Department against Activision Blizzard to launch its own investigation meant to determine whether the firm’s handling of the situation constituted a breach of its fiduciary duty to investors. The proceedings were started after the company’s home state charged it with violations of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act in summer 2021.
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Complaint, Corporate Affairs, Financial Affairs, Legal Affairs, LGBTQ+, Male/Female Gender, Real Life
person ProtoSnake calendar_month December 17, 2023
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Sea of Stars
Sea of Stars (2023)
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Originally, YouTuber Jirard Khalil (best known for his webseries "The Completionist") made a cameo in Sea of Stars as an NPC named "Jirard the Constructionist", who you could donate building plans to to help construct new buildings in the town of Mirth as part of the "Home Neat Home" achievement. This cameo came after Khalil had previously featured unique builds of Sea of Stars, including one featuring Jirard the Constructionist, during his annual indie game spotlight charity event "IndieLand", which was run by his official charity organization, the Open Hand Foundation. In November 2023, a few months after the game's release, Khalil was accused of committing charity fraud through the organization, spawning a controversy that prompted the game's developers to release a patch for the game that removed his cameo, and replacing him with a generic NPC named Bob. Considering Bob is a builder, this new character may be a reference to the children's animated series "Bob the Builder".
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Artwork/Illustration, Bonus Content, Cameo, Character Design, Charity, Complaint, General, Legal Affairs, Real Life, Reference, Update Difference
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month December 16, 2023
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War Thunder
War Thunder (2013)
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Starting in 2021, War Thunder's official forums became notorious for being the center point of multiple leaks of export-restricted or regionally classified military documents from around the world detailing how various weapons and transportation equipment like tanks and fighter jets are built. The leaks are attributed to the fact that the game strives to depict the minutiae of warfare as realistically as possible, leading to players with military connections, or access to resources that are publicly available in other regions, sharing the documents on the forums in order to prove points regarding what would or would not be accurate in-game. Despite the forum moderators quickly removing these posts and issuing multiple warnings about them breaching international law, the issue became so prominent and recurring that laypeople began spreading rumors that the United States military had to start filtering out War Thunder players during the recruitment process, which American weapons contractor RTX Corporation denied.
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General, Leak, Legal Affairs, Misconception, Real Life, Rumor, Social Media, Technology
person VinchVolt calendar_month December 13, 2023
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Company: Atari
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Founders Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney originally wanted to name Atari "Syzygy," only to learn that the name was already taken by a roofing company. Consequently, the pair decided to brainstorm new ideas while playing a round of Go, which Bushnell was experienced in; an issue of Atari's home computer magazine I/O stated that "Their best brainstorming always occurred over a good game and a bottle of beer."

Following this, Bushnell and Dabney decided to name the company after a piece of Go jargon, settling on "Atari," a term used to describe a playing piece that is surrounded on all but one side. "Sente" and "Hane" were also considered as possible names.
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Corporate Affairs, Early Idea, Inspiration, Legal Affairs, Magazine, Name Change
person VinchVolt calendar_month December 13, 2023
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Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong (1981)
subdirectory_arrow_right Crazy Kong (Game)
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Crazy Kong was an officially licensed clone of Donkey Kong released by Falcon Inc. to compensate for Nintendo's inability to make enough Donkey Kong machines as there was demand for. However, Crazy Kong was only allowed to be distributed in Japan, but Falcon released the game abroad anyway with Elcron Industries, leading to a lawsuit where Nintendo won.
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Corporate Affairs, General, Legal Affairs, Reskin
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month December 13, 2023
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Franchise: Sonic The Hedgehog
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In a post titled "SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: One Year Later...", Karl Bollers (a former writer for Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics) revealed numerous plans that he had intended to include in the comics following Issue #134 that were never used, such as:

• Sonic and Amy becoming a couple after being stranded at sea together, keeping it a secret from Sally.
• Tails reuniting with his parents by traveling into space on a modified Tornado.
• Amy's origins being explored in a fuller adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
• Knuckles departing Angel Island after learning that his presence exposes the location of the Master Emerald, going on a global pilgrimage to learn martial arts and battling a Dr. Eggman controlled-Monkey Khan while himself under the control of the Iron Queen before discovering the Master Geode.
• Sally being a pawn in a villainous plot by the corrupted Source of All and Ixis Naugus to prevent the future first previewed in "Sonic In Your Face!".
• Bunnie and Antoine breaking up due to a change in Antoine's personality, with Bunnie's origins later being explored and her true name being revealed as "Scarlette O'Hare" (which may have served as the inspiration for Scarlette Rabbot from Sonic Universe's "Fractured Mirror" story arc, and Bunnie's codename when she was in the Metropolis Egg Army in Issue #255).
• Antoine gaining his scar due to an accident with a knife and becoming a villain after allowing himself to be possessed by a corrupted Source of All in hopes of winning Bunnie back.
• Rotor retiring from field duty in order to pursue a role analogous to that played by "Q" from the James Bond franchise.
• The Source of All surviving Robotropolis' destruction and reconstituting itself in a remote mountain range, where it began to exert control over King Max, brainwashing the Arachne Clan and another group of Spiders known as the Strand, and possessing Antoine while under the control of Ixis Naugus.
• Locke and Lara-Le putting aside their previous disputes to help raise Kneecaps after his father Wynmacher ends up in the Egg Grape Chamber.
• Dr. Robotnik kidnapping Hope Kintobor under the pretense that he is the only correct choice to be her legal guardian, while using her as bait to lure in Shadow.
• Ixis Naugus attempting to return by transforming Max's body into a duplicate of his own, only to be thwarted by the destruction of the Crown of Acorns.
• Mammoth Mogul beginning to age rapidly due to his original Chaos Emerald running out of energy, forcing him to seek out alternative sources through illicit archaeological expeditions and hiring mercenaries like Nack the Weasel. The Master Geode, a powerful gemstone that would fulfill Mogul's needs, would be contested by him, the Iron Queen, Robotnik, and Rouge the Bat.
• Nate Morgan surviving the destruction of Robotropolis and being de-Roboticized by the Bem, returning as Coconuts' amnesia-addled ally, who creates a new Metal Sonic, Metal Amy, Metal Knuckles, and Tails Doll that are mistaken for Robian versions of the heroes.
• Snively taking up a fifteen foot-tall mechanical battle suit and the alias "Skarkus" in pursuit of revenge against Robotnik for leaving him alone against the Xorda, leading to an alliance between him and Shadow.
• A.D.A.M. and Nicole becoming romantically involved, leading to A.D.A.M. seizing control of the Shadowbot army and leading them from New Megaopolis to Knothole.
• A new Dingo Regime leader named Colonel Mange being introduced, with Croctobot, Jack Rabbit, and Gala-Na being reintroduced as Robotnik Sub-Bosses over Downunda, the Great Desert, and Albion. This would have led to the disappearance of the Downunda Freedom Fighters and a confrontation involving the Mercian Freedom Fighters.
• Evil Sonic coming to enjoy impersonating Sonic and enjoying the love of his parents and adulation of his people, leading him to plan to eliminate Sonic and permanently take his place.

Additionally, in the aftermath of Ken Penders' lawsuit against Archie Comics, Bollers has confirmed that he now owns the rights to all the characters he created for the comics, such as Mina Mongoose, Ash Mongoose, and Hope Kintobor.
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Early Idea, General, Legal Affairs, Multimedia Adaptation, Real Life, Reference
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month December 9, 2023
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Blasphemous
Blasphemous (2019)
subdirectory_arrow_right Blasphemous II (Game)
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According to a December 7, 2023 tweet from Team17's official support account on Twitter "Team17 Help", they stated that currently both Blasphemous and Blasphemous II would not be releasing on Xbox consoles in Japan due to unspecified "local legislation".
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Console Difference, General, Legal Affairs, Real Life, Regional Difference
person ProtoSnake calendar_month December 8, 2023
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Company: Nintendo
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Despite Nintendo's current image as a family-friendly company, their initial success came from ties to organized crime. When the company was founded in 1889, hanafuda, which Nintendo manufactured cards for, was becoming increasingly controversial due to it being one of few betting games not covered by the Japanese Empire's anti-gambling laws, resulting in it becoming popular among the yakuza. While other companies were slowly exiting the hanafuda business as a result, founder Fusajiro Yamauchi pressed on, resulting in Nintendo becoming the country's most successful playing card manufacturer thanks mostly to strong sales among gang members.
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Corporate Affairs, General, Legal Affairs, Real Life, Sales
person VinchVolt calendar_month December 5, 2023
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Pengo
Pengo (1982)
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Attachment The first two versions of Pengo use "Popcorn" by Gershon Kingsley as the background music. In the third and fourth versions, they were swapped for an original tune.
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Copyright, Legal Affairs, Music, Plagiarism, Update Difference
person Rocko & Heffer calendar_month November 27, 2023
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Super Brawl 3: Good vs. Evil
Super Brawl 3: Good vs. Evil (2013)
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Gold Ranger and Xandred from "Power Rangers Samurai" were originally included in the US version of the game, but were later removed. While never actually confirmed, it's believed to be due to rights issues regarding the Power Rangers franchise.
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General, Legal Affairs, Real Life, Regional Difference, Removed Feature, Update Difference
person chocolatejr9 calendar_month November 27, 2023
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