Has Nintendo shut down a game because it cloned the gameplay of one of their games?
I'm developing a game that very closely mimics the gameplay of the ghost minigame from Nintendo Land. I'm not including Nintendo characters, names, etc.
Is there any precedent of Nintendo going after people for something like this?
As far as I'm aware you cannot copyright game mechanics. The only instance of a copyright of a mechanic I'm aware of is from a lord of the rings leveling system (can't remember the name off the top of my head)
I think it was their “nemesis system” or something like that.
There has been several game "mechanics" that have been patented in the past. Two examples I know off the top of my head are "overhead arrows that point in the direction of the destination" and "minigames during loading screens".
That said, these were applied for specifically as patents in the US, and every other game made does not go through this process (especially since I doubt that this would worm in this day and age... I hope, wtf is going on across the pond) especially for entire game concepts, and OP is definitely in the clear.
They at least tried to patent the Tears of the Kingdom Zonai manipulation mechanic if I remember right
If it doesn't clone assets of their game then Nintendo legally can't do anything. Gameplay elements are not protected like that.
Almost everything they've taken down has been for name/character/assets reasons: Pokémon Uranium, AM2R, etc. Something like Ship of Harkinian, a source port of Ocarina of Time, doesn't provide any Nintendo assets and hasn't been taken down yet. To my extremely limited knowledge, gameplay generally isn't copyrightable unless it's specifically been patented for some reason, so I think you're in the clear.
Nah, you can't patent gameplay mechanics unless they are super specific and interconnected.
Taking what's good from other games and turning it into something new (or similar) is known as remixing and it happens all the time. Like mentioned in another comment, Palworld did this by taking the fun elements of different genres / vibes (Pokémon, Survival games, Shooters) and making that into a game.
Even the Pokémon Company had to put a statement out basically telling the Xitter drama seekers to shut up and stop reporting the game for infringement, because there wasn't any.
Just make sure (like you already mention) not to use assets, sounds, names and other IP related subjects.
It still grinds my gears that Warner Bros. patented the Nemesis System they used in their shadow of war/Mordor games. I'd love a whole genre of those kinds of games with different settings and themes.
Even in their case, the phrasing within their patent form is fairly specific to their games. Unless one completely clones the system, I would be surprised if they got legal trouble for it. Better to check with a qualified lawyer of course.
Care to elaborate what makes it so special? I'm intrigued and I never really play licensed games because they are usually trash
Nintendo is pretty rabid about their IPs, they would personally deliver a cease and desist to a toddler drawing a Switch with crayons on cardboard, but if you mean this minigame, then you’ll probably be fine.
It seems so generic, if you really use nothing that belongs to Nintendo and maybe tweak the physics a little bit, it should pass at least as legally distinct.
And frankly, the game devs probably also took the idea from somewhere else, as I said, the mechanic seems pretty generic.
Palworld is still up. Make your own assets, and don't use any nintendo names, you'll be fine
Nexomon is a better example
Palworld literally recreated nintendo assets. Nexomon just copied the concept of pokemon.