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Original Story:

Llamasoft developer Jeff Minter is currently embroiled in a heated legal discussion with Atari over the rights to TxK, a tube shooter released last year on the Vita that bears a striking resemblance to 1994 Atari Jaguar release Tempest 2000.

The apparent similarities betweenandare perhaps unsurprising, given that Minter single-handedly did the coding on both games, the former while working for Atari and the latter as an independent developer (credit for 1980's original, which was the inspiration for, belongs to Atari's Dave Theurer). Minter even called"an updated version [of] on modern hardware" when announcing the Vita game back in 2013.

But Minter now says Atari is trying to unduly claim trademark and copyright rights to TxK and attempting to stop him from distributing the existing Vita version of the game as well as planned ports for the PC, PS4, Android, and VR platforms. "I think the weirdest aspect of the legal letter thing is how they desperately try to imply I had nothing much to do with my own creation," Minter tweeted incredulously.

Minter outlines what he refers to as "threats and bullying" from Atari's "legal letter" in a post on his blog and through his Twitter account (though he has not shared the full text of the letter). Among the "legal accusations" allegedly made by Atari (quotes are Minter's relaying of pieces of Atari's apparent allegations):

Tempest 2000 was "merely an update to Tempest to which [Minter] made no contribution" (source)

was "merely an update to Tempest to which [Minter] made no contribution" (source) "There is nothing remotely original in TxK and in no way can it be described as [Minter's] original creation" (source)

"TxK features an electronic music sound track and sound effects that are indistinguishable from those used in Tempest 2000 " (source)

" (source) TxK and Minter are profiting from association with the Tempest and Atari brand names.

Minter says Atari is "trying to insist that I remove from sale Vita TxK (even though it's plainly at the end of its run now and only brings in a trickle these days) and sign papers basically saying I can never make a Tempest style game ever again. So no chance of releasing the ports." He also says simply contesting the legal claims in Atari's letter would be incredibly costly and that Atari has rebuked attempts to get "official" Tempest branding for TxK or its ports.



In a statement provided to Ars Technica, Atari clarifies that "there is no lawsuit. Atari has been in continuous contact with the developer since the game launched in hopes that the matter would be resolved." At the same time, the company did express concerns about the similarities between TxK and Tempest.

"Atari values and protects its intellectual property and expects others to respect its copyrights and trademarks," the statement reads. "When Llamasoft launched TxK in early 2014, Atari was surprised and dismayed by the very close similarities between TxK and the Tempest franchise. Atari was not alone in noticing the incredible likeness between the titles. Several major gaming outlets also remarked at the similarity of features and overall appearance of TxK to Tempest; one stated of TxK, 'This is essentially Tempest.'"

Atari also provided links to a number of articles noting the similarities between TxK and Tempest 2000. You can judge those similarities for yourself using the images and videos above.

Elsewhere on his Twitter, Minter went further with his personal feelings toward Atari, saying he was being "savaged by [the] undead corpse" of a company he was once proud to work with. "My own seminal work turned against me. I am beyond disgusted."

"If I ever got a fraction of Notch-rich I'd buy Atari and give it to the people," Minter tweeted. "So many of us started from there, it should belong to us all."

Ironically, Minter says the designer of PlayStation title Tempest X told him that game was adapted from Minter's own Tempest 2000 source code (complete with soundtrack and power-up progression), but changed just enough "to reduce the royalty burden" owed to Minter. This despite the fact that a playable version of Minter's original Jaguar Tempest 2000 is actually an unlockable secret hidden in the PlayStation port.

Minter has yet to respond to a request for further comment from Ars, though he tweeted that he was "wait[ing] a day or so before catching up with interview requests and such. I'm still quite shaken now this is out."