RedOctane countersued for copying the Guitar Hero controller

By Spencer . September 21, 2006 . 10:33am

First RedOctane and Activision file a lawsuit against the Ant Commandos for making a wireless Guitar Hero controller. Now The Ant Commandos are filing a counter claim for violation of Federal Antitrust laws for packaging the controller with the Guitar Hero game. The Ant Commandos also claim that the design for the Guitar Hero controller was copied by Topway Electrical Appliance. “RedOctane purchased several hundred of the Magical Guitars from Topway prior to producing the controllers themselves. Furthermore, the cross complaint alleges that top management at RedOctane visited the Topway factory on numerous occasions and specifically inquired about Topway’s trade dress design.” Is Konami going to get in on this action and sue everyone for making Guitar Freaks first?

Below is a picture of the Magical Guitar from Topway. Do you think RedOctane copied Topway’s design?

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2 Responses to “RedOctane countersued for copying the Guitar Hero controller”

Grego Says:
September 21st, 2006 at 4:45 pm

am i missing something? is there a version of Guitar Freaks that has five frets.
I only have GF/DM V for PS2 but all the screenshots of GF/DM Masterpiece Silver seem to have 3 frets as well.
Can someone explain what the point of a five fret GF controller would be?

Symphony Says:
September 21st, 2006 at 7:00 pm

Yes, they did, but in all honesty… just how many ways are there to make a controller shaped like a gituar without getting overly complicated.