Two Ultimate Duck Hunting Titles?

[N 2 Nintendo]

How is this even legal? How can two different game publishers have the EXACT same title? Here's the specifics:


Title: Ultimate Duck Hunting

Publisher: Detn8 Games

Release Date: Dec 03, 2007






Title: Ultimate Duck Hunting

Publisher: Zoo Games

Release Date: Aug 03, 2009

Any ideas?

[stonecutter]

There is small writing below Ultimate Duck Hunting in the first title..... is that considered part of the name and therefore possible. I don't know, just throwing it out there.

[DKTheArcadeRat]

The first one shown looks way more ultimate-er. Just saying.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Zoo games and Detn8 games?

They probably don't have any money left after developing and releasing those titles to afford litigation of any kind.

[Flashback2012]

That is perplexing. I did some research on the two companies and they are completely separate entities. I thought that they might be both owned by the same company and served as brand extensions to get more games on the market similar to how Acclaim did it back in the day with their LJN and Flying Edge brands.

I figured it could also be that Zoo purchased the rights to the game from Detn8 but I went onto Detn8's website and there's zero information available listed for their version of the game. The only games listed on any of the links are Speed Zone and Elf Bowling. Interestingly enough, there's nothing listed on Zoo's website for their version either!

I looked over press releases and found nothing about acquiring the rights to the game from Detn8 (though to honest I just browsed the subject lines and didn't thoroughly read each press release on Zoo's site). As it is, I'm stumped and no further along after wasting 10 minutes of my life trying to sniff up a clue or two.

Edit: There IS info for Zoo's on their website and I missed it (Doh!)

[smork]

Shouldn't that first one be "Penultimate Duck Hunting"?

I originally fat fingered that to say "Penultimate Dick Hunting". Just sayin'

[MachineGex]

How many "Ultimate Duck Hunting" titles need to be released before one of them is worth playing? Someone stop the madness!!!

[UK Collector]

The detn8 one clearly has a trademark. I cant see one on the Zoo one. So it might just be they paid for the name use. Or didnt know/care. Isnt zoo publishing the same company who published Alien Hominid??

[Flashback2012]

Zoo games and Detn8 games?

They probably don't have any money left after developing and releasing those titles to afford litigation of any kind.

Zoo Games is the publisher previously known as Destination Software or DSI. Ironically, they're based here in Cincinnati, though I've no idea where. I wonder if they're operating out of Jack Of All Games place up in Mason.

Anyway, Zoo is more prominent than a lot of people give them credit for. Their entire lineup of shovelware only has one or two games that are actually decent but when I worked for Gamestop, I remember seeing tons of new copies of their games being sold (and later re-bought by us ), especially Chicken Shoot, Deal or No Deal, and the various M&M games.

[Bojay1997]

They are exactly the same game. The first release was actually in demand and was going for above the $40 MSRP on Ebay for a while. Zoo licensed the game and re-released it a few months back at a $20 price point.

[PentiumMMX]

There is only one ultimate duck hunting game, and that's Duck Hunt on the NES (It's ultimate to the point it doesn't need to include "ultimate" in it's title)

[Kitsune Sniper]

They are exactly the same game. The first release was actually in demand and was going for above the $40 MSRP on Ebay for a while. Zoo licensed the game and re-released it a few months back at a $20 price point.

Who the hell would buy a game like - wait. Hunting. Never mind.

[misfits859]

One should simply be retitled "Ultimate Cat Duck Hunting".

[rbudrick]

Even if it wasn't a rerelease, I thought game titles, like book titles or song titles weren't copyrightable. Am I wrong?

-Rob

[Oobgarm]

"Penultimate Dick Hunting"

[jb143]

Even if it wasn't a rerelease, I thought game titles, like book titles or song titles weren't copyrightable. Am I wrong?

-Rob

I don't think they can be copyrighted but they can be trademarked. I'm not sure where the line is drawn though. There has to be thousands of songs with the same name but for the movie Bladerunner, they also bought the rights to the title from another screenplay. Sounds like a complicated legal mess to me.