Just before our extensive coverage of GDC08 began, we heard that Capcom had filed an injunction against a possible lawsuit from MKR Group, the folks that own the rights to George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead in response to a threat of action for the similarities in story to Capcom's Dead Rising. Low and behold, early yesterday Reuters reported that MKR Group had filed suit against Capcom for the use of "zombies attacking a mall" storyline in Dead Rising which was the central theme in George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead.
While the Capcom injunction claimed, "humans battling zombies in a shopping mall" is a "wholly unprotectible [sic] idea," the filing from MKR Group disputed the claim and called the scenario and execution too similar saying, "In both, the recreational activities of the zombies and absurdly grotesque 'kill scenes' provide unexpected comedic relief." You might think that MKR Group is a little late to the party on filing this suit nearly two years after the release of
Dead Rising but we still remember when the Red Cross grew wise to the game industry's health pack system. This whole situation, while not unexpected, seems a little silly to us.
[via Joystiq]
