Zhang Shule is a columnist for People's Daily Online and People's Post and Telegraph

Break through copyright barriers,

Why is it so hard?

No company can collect all the superheroes, and even more so mechas.

The superhero problem is also a super IP problem.

Unlike the well-known superhero IPs, most of which are gathered in Marvel and DC, and each of them can also form its own superhero league, the distribution of well-known mecha is more scattered, so that it is more difficult to make a game.

This is especially true in Japanese mecha games.

Gundam, which was born for nearly half a century, has so far derived hundreds of animations, games, radio dramas, merchandise and fan works, but the game has been lacking in hits.

In the eyes of mecha fans, the delicate Gundam mech in the anime cannot be perfectly restored in the game, and the poor texture, severe jaggedness, and stiff movements have long been the slots of such games.

But that's not the biggest problem, after all, you can use cards, development, strategy, and other types to get around the trouble of shooting games.

But even if it is, it is difficult.

What's the difficulty? It's hard to get on the shelves.

For example, the Super Robot Wars (hereinafter referred to as "Machine Wars") series of games, which was first released in 1991, most of the games were based on robots that introduced copyrighted animations, making each game sell quite a lot.

But behind the gorgeous achievements, they are also stuck in the pit of copyright and can't extricate themselves.

For example, most of the robots participating in the series are well-known mechs in various mecha animations, and the story of the pilot must not only fit the game's own script, but also integrate the stalks and settings of the original game into the game's plot.

So, the problem arises.

In order to avoid risks, the copyright owner needs to review that the game's plot will not have a negative impact on their work, so some mechs are absent for some reason.

Even if it is authorized, there are more copyright problems, which are trivial to the authorization of characters, standing paintings, avatars, voice actors, BGMs, 3D models of the body, and 2D battle models, as well as details such as whether the plot participates in the battle, or only the body participates in the battle......

In addition, some classic mechs will simply reject "Machine Battle".

It is said that the author of "Sakura Wars" and "The Legend of the Demon God Heroes" said that it would never be possible because he didn't like this game.

When these licensing issues are resolved, new troubles arise again.

"Macross Fortress" has had copyright disputes for decades, and the copyright ownership in different countries and regions is still different, even if it is a classic, "Machine War" does not dare to introduce it.

This problem even had the added effect that most of the Mecha franchises were difficult to release outside of Japan.

Because, various mechas may have various agents in different regions, and there are potential copyright conflicts.

Copyright has become a natural barrier for Japanese mecha to go to the world through games.

So much so that when "Machine War" wanted to introduce the mecha anime "Tian Yuan Breakthrough Red Lotus Eye" into the game, the screenwriter of the show, Kazuki Nakajima, sighed: "It is more difficult to break through the copyright barrier than to break through the gap between the world view between the original work and the game."

Even some negotiated mecha may accidentally "fail" halfway, such as the mecha in the anime "Iron Man: The Day the Earth Stood Still", which participated in the early "Machine War" works; However, when the author dies, the copyright successor directly chooses to "withdraw from the competition".

His honey, your arsenic!

On the other hand, China's mecha market lacks super IP, but it is not subject to copyright constraints, and there is a lot to be done.

Where is the breaking point?

Instead of taking the road of adapting games from Japanese anime, go the other way, adapt anime from games, let game mechas, derive story lines through anime, develop super IP, and at the same time promote games, just like "Transformers" and "Gundam" were actually toy advertisements.

In fact, "Machine Warfare" is also doing this, namely:

Original a story line, and the launch of an original protagonist, through the continuous reserve of original mechas, finally born the "Super Robot Wars OG" series that brings together most of the original plot protagonists, and opened its own mecha game adaptation anime road.

Another game of the game developer, "Magic Costume Machine God", was also adapted into an anime, and the market response was strong.

Such a number of roads may be more worthy of emulation by Chinese manufacturers.

You don't know, "Glory of Kings" gave birth to many old new heroes that we are familiar with but unfamiliar with, such as Guan Gong who wears a mecha......

Published in the People's Post and Telegraph on August 9, 2024, Issue 409 of the column of "Le Youji".

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