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Penny Arcade - Comic - Mobster Energy

DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
edited September 2020 in The Penny Arcade Hub
imagePenny Arcade - Comic - Mobster Energy

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

Read the full story here

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    islingtonislington Registered User regular
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catoblepas

    For those men such as myself who can only aspire to the lofty heights of reason that our dear hosts occupy

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    OctoberRavenOctoberRaven Plays fighting games for the story Skyeline Hotel Apartment 4ARegistered User regular
    Now we just need to make an energy drink called Fenyx ("The only energy drink infused with Ghost Pepper extract") and let the money *roll in*

    Currently Most Hype For: VTMB2, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Alan Wake 2 (Wake Harder)Currently Playin: Guilty Gear XX AC+R, Gat Out Of Hell
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    LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    I'm surprised Ubisoft gave that one up so easily. Gods and Monsters is a great name for a franchise. Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a great name for a shovelware mobile game.

    I'm no trademark lawyer, but I'd think Ubisoft could have won that particular dispute pretty easily in court. "Your honor, one is a video game and one is an energy drink." Case closed.

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    ironheadironhead Registered User regular
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I'm surprised Ubisoft gave that one up so easily. Gods and Monsters is a great name for a franchise. Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a great name for a shovelware mobile game.

    For real. I've never heard of this game before but "Gods and Monsters" makes me what to see what it's about. "Immortals: Fenyx Rising"...not so much.

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    LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    It actually looks really good. After their digital showcase last week, Immortals: Fenyx Rising is near the top of my "most anticipated" list despite the dumb name.

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    ZomagicZomagic Registered User regular
    What the actual fuck? See, after being incensed about this, I looked up who owns Monster. I knew someone bought them out at some point, and find out it's Coca Cola.

    Everything makes a sick kind of sense now. Can we please stop being in a world where companies think they can own the rights to everyday words? Seriously, when does this horse shit end? Are they going to sue Wizards when they publish the next Monster Manual? And how would that even go down? "Sorry, you can't publish this book that you've been making different editions of for decades before our product even existed"?

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    ironheadironhead Registered User regular
    Zomagic wrote: »
    What the actual fuck? See, after being incensed about this, I looked up who owns Monster. I knew someone bought them out at some point, and find out it's Coca Cola.

    Everything makes a sick kind of sense now. Can we please stop being in a world where companies think they can own the rights to everyday words? Seriously, when does this horse shit end? Are they going to sue Wizards when they publish the next Monster Manual? And how would that even go down? "Sorry, you can't publish this book that you've been making different editions of for decades before our product even existed"?

    Didn't Bethesda once sue somebody for use of the word "Scrolls" in the title?

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    LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    ironhead wrote: »
    Zomagic wrote: »
    What the actual fuck? See, after being incensed about this, I looked up who owns Monster. I knew someone bought them out at some point, and find out it's Coca Cola.

    Everything makes a sick kind of sense now. Can we please stop being in a world where companies think they can own the rights to everyday words? Seriously, when does this horse shit end? Are they going to sue Wizards when they publish the next Monster Manual? And how would that even go down? "Sorry, you can't publish this book that you've been making different editions of for decades before our product even existed"?

    Didn't Bethesda once sue somebody for use of the word "Scrolls" in the title?

    Yes. Notch, the guy who originally created Minecraft, was working on a new game that was simply titled "Scrolls" and he got sued by Bethesda.

    But yeah, Monster Energy Drink doesn't have any legal hold on the word "monster" and since literally every logo they have says "Monster Energy Drink" and has their claw-mark logo attached to it, I don't think there's any risk of confusing the beverage "Monster Energy Drink" with "Gods and Monsters" the video game.

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    BropocalypseBropocalypse Registered User regular
    No, it was the other way around- Mojang tried to copyright the use of "scrolls" in video games entirely. Bethesda, as owners of "The Elder Scrolls," sued to stop it.

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    dennisdennis aka bingley Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    Zomagic wrote: »
    What the actual fuck? See, after being incensed about this, I looked up who owns Monster. I knew someone bought them out at some point, and find out it's Coca Cola.
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I'm surprised Ubisoft gave that one up so easily. Gods and Monsters is a great name for a franchise. Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a great name for a shovelware mobile game.

    I'm no trademark lawyer, but I'd think Ubisoft could have won that particular dispute pretty easily in court. "Your honor, one is a video game and one is an energy drink." Case closed.

    At a base level, I don't get this simply because of how obscure the connection is. If they were naming the game "Monster", I could get it. But "Gods and Monsters"? Okay, bizarre.

    And yeah, it seems like an easy win in court. But I wonder if Ubisoft's caving isn't explained by the fact that it's owned by Coca Cola. Maybe they didn't want to cut off the present and future product placement money by creating bad blood with Coca Cola. Winning in a trademark battle in court doesn't mean your increasing your profits by the maximum extent, and one of those two things are the top priority for megacorps.

    dennis on
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    HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    Ubisoft would have won. This is weak by the already weak standards of a Monster lawsuit. They've filed well over a thousand and won ZERO. They mysteriously can no longer afford to pursue a claim as soon as a defendant demonstrates they're able and willing to take it to court, dropping the case and making some bullshit press statement about big corporations bullying tiny little independent operations like them (a division of the Coca-fucking-cola Company). The few times they did end up in court they got reamed. Ubisoft can afford to challenge this and probably would have gotten several million dollars out of it.

    The only way Monster ever got money was inserting themselves into a defendant's bankruptcy proceedings and try to hoodwink that judge.


    Edit: I mean, fuck Ubisoft for just so many reasons but this is beyond spineless.

    Hevach on
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    UshioUshio Registered User regular
    Zomagic wrote: »
    What the actual fuck? See, after being incensed about this, I looked up who owns Monster. I knew someone bought them out at some point, and find out it's Coca Cola.

    Everything makes a sick kind of sense now. Can we please stop being in a world where companies think they can own the rights to everyday words? Seriously, when does this horse shit end? Are they going to sue Wizards when they publish the next Monster Manual? And how would that even go down? "Sorry, you can't publish this book that you've been making different editions of for decades before our product even existed"?
    dennis wrote: »
    Zomagic wrote: »
    What the actual fuck? See, after being incensed about this, I looked up who owns Monster. I knew someone bought them out at some point, and find out it's Coca Cola.
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I'm surprised Ubisoft gave that one up so easily. Gods and Monsters is a great name for a franchise. Immortals: Fenyx Rising is a great name for a shovelware mobile game.

    I'm no trademark lawyer, but I'd think Ubisoft could have won that particular dispute pretty easily in court. "Your honor, one is a video game and one is an energy drink." Case closed.

    At a base level, I don't get this simply because of how obscure the connection is. If they were naming the game "Monster", I could get it. But "Gods and Monsters"? Okay, bizarre.

    And yeah, it seems like an easy win in court. But I wonder if Ubisoft's caving isn't explained by the fact that it's owned by Coca Cola. Maybe they didn't want to cut off the present and future product placement money by creating bad blood with Coca Cola. Winning in a trademark battle in court doesn't mean your increasing your profits by the maximum extent, and one of those two things are the top priority for megacorps.


    Coca-cola does not own the Monster Beverage company they own 19% of the publically listed companies shares.

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    WinkyWinky rRegistered User regular
    islington wrote: »
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catoblepas

    For those men such as myself who can only aspire to the lofty heights of reason that our dear hosts occupy

    How dare Tycho besmirch the name of these noble creatures

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    dennisdennis aka bingley Registered User regular
    Ushio wrote: »
    Coca-cola does not own the Monster Beverage company they own 19% of the publically listed companies shares.

    Thanks. That's what I get for believing something on the internet. :D

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    OctoberRavenOctoberRaven Plays fighting games for the story Skyeline Hotel Apartment 4ARegistered User regular
    dennis wrote: »
    But I wonder if Ubisoft's caving isn't explained by the fact that it's owned by Coca Cola. Maybe they didn't want to cut off the present and future product placement money by creating bad blood with Coca Cola.

    They could always work with Pepsi, future creators of Fenyx ("It'll turn your insides into ashes!")

    Currently Most Hype For: VTMB2, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Alan Wake 2 (Wake Harder)Currently Playin: Guilty Gear XX AC+R, Gat Out Of Hell
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    KredKred Registered User regular
    Monster cables have sued Monster.com (the job site) over the name. They even tried to sue Blue Jeans Cable because he sold standard RCA style audio cables, that Monster claimed they had a patent on. Problem with that was the owner of Blue Jeans Cable used to be a lawyer, that specialized in copyright law. He published his response to Monster and it was hilarious.

    Anyway, must be something about that name that makes companies go crazy.

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    OctoberRavenOctoberRaven Plays fighting games for the story Skyeline Hotel Apartment 4ARegistered User regular
    Kred wrote: »
    Monster cables have sued Monster.com (the job site) over the name. They even tried to sue Blue Jeans Cable because he sold standard RCA style audio cables, that Monster claimed they had a patent on. Problem with that was the owner of Blue Jeans Cable used to be a lawyer, that specialized in copyright law. He published his response to Monster and it was hilarious.

    Anyway, must be something about that name that makes companies go crazy.

    That brand name turns people into real.... something. It's on the tip of my tongue....

    Currently Most Hype For: VTMB2, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Alan Wake 2 (Wake Harder)Currently Playin: Guilty Gear XX AC+R, Gat Out Of Hell
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    dennisdennis aka bingley Registered User regular
    dennis wrote: »
    But I wonder if Ubisoft's caving isn't explained by the fact that it's owned by Coca Cola. Maybe they didn't want to cut off the present and future product placement money by creating bad blood with Coca Cola.

    They could always work with Pepsi, future creators of Fenyx ("It'll turn your insides into ashes!")

    I feel like Fenyx would be a better name for an erectile dysfunction drug.

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    OctoberRavenOctoberRaven Plays fighting games for the story Skyeline Hotel Apartment 4ARegistered User regular
    dennis wrote: »
    dennis wrote: »
    But I wonder if Ubisoft's caving isn't explained by the fact that it's owned by Coca Cola. Maybe they didn't want to cut off the present and future product placement money by creating bad blood with Coca Cola.

    They could always work with Pepsi, future creators of Fenyx ("It'll turn your insides into ashes!")

    I feel like Fenyx would be a better name for an erectile dysfunction drug.

    Maybe if spelled Phoenix. Or stylized FeNyx. I think it works great for an energy drink. Fenyx: "No, seriously, it'll mess your insides up. Don't drink this. Maybe a ghost pepper-based energy drink was a bad idea, actually."

    Currently Most Hype For: VTMB2, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Alan Wake 2 (Wake Harder)Currently Playin: Guilty Gear XX AC+R, Gat Out Of Hell
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    RatherDashing89RatherDashing89 Registered User regular
    Knowing Ubisoft, the Monsters in the game were, in fact, Monster energy drinks that turned people into gods. When the product placement deal went wrong this was the fallout.

    Assassin's Creed: Nacho Cheesier is still working out the finer points of its preorder skins.

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    dennisdennis aka bingley Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    Knowing Ubisoft, the Monsters in the game were, in fact, Monster energy drinks that turned people into gods. When the product placement deal went wrong this was the fallout.

    Assassin's Creed: Nacho Cheesier is still working out the finer points of its preorder skins.

    Doritos objected so they renamed it Assassin's Cheese.

    dennis on
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    MarcinMNMarcinMN Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    ironhead wrote: »
    Zomagic wrote: »
    What the actual fuck? See, after being incensed about this, I looked up who owns Monster. I knew someone bought them out at some point, and find out it's Coca Cola.

    Everything makes a sick kind of sense now. Can we please stop being in a world where companies think they can own the rights to everyday words? Seriously, when does this horse shit end? Are they going to sue Wizards when they publish the next Monster Manual? And how would that even go down? "Sorry, you can't publish this book that you've been making different editions of for decades before our product even existed"?

    Didn't Bethesda once sue somebody for use of the word "Scrolls" in the title?

    enoiw5w8w37r.jpg

    Also, I'm disappointed that no one has brought up the fuss over the word "saga" that was created by the makers of Candy Crush Saga a few years back.

    MarcinMN on
    "It's just as I've always said. We are being digested by an amoral universe."

    -Tycho Brahe
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    LttlefootLttlefoot Registered User regular
    5t78w2ebzb4z.jpeg
    Here you go

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    OctoberRavenOctoberRaven Plays fighting games for the story Skyeline Hotel Apartment 4ARegistered User regular
    As always, the best Tycho moments are the ones where he gets Kira Plotting eyes.

    Currently Most Hype For: VTMB2, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Alan Wake 2 (Wake Harder)Currently Playin: Guilty Gear XX AC+R, Gat Out Of Hell
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    shadowysea07shadowysea07 Registered User regular
    Took me a moment to figure out you ment deathnote kira and not kira from this strip.

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    SolventSolvent Econ-artist กรุงเทพมหานครRegistered User regular
    "I guess we can all see why that was the second choice."

    Yep... That can be limed.

    I don't know where he got the scorpions, or how he got them into my mattress.

    http://newnations.bandcamp.com
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    jothkijothki Registered User regular
    I wonder what Capcom would have to say about this.

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    LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    I would think that since this game is based on actual Greek mythology, that they'd at least bother to spell Phoenix right. I mean, the Phoenix is a mythical bird from mythology. Why go with "Fenyx"?

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    DjiemDjiem Registered User regular
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I would think that since this game is based on actual Greek mythology, that they'd at least bother to spell Phoenix right. I mean, the Phoenix is a mythical bird from mythology. Why go with "Fenyx"?

    The suits are just trying to appeal to the millenial zoomer tiktok lit woke crowds with a dope af name.

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    MarcinMNMarcinMN Registered User regular
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I would think that since this game is based on actual Greek mythology, that they'd at least bother to spell Phoenix right. I mean, the Phoenix is a mythical bird from mythology. Why go with "Fenyx"?

    Maybe J.K. Rowling owns the rights to the word Phoenix now. :)

    "It's just as I've always said. We are being digested by an amoral universe."

    -Tycho Brahe
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    H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I would think that since this game is based on actual Greek mythology, that they'd at least bother to spell Phoenix right. I mean, the Phoenix is a mythical bird from mythology. Why go with "Fenyx"?
    MarcinMN wrote: »
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I would think that since this game is based on actual Greek mythology, that they'd at least bother to spell Phoenix right. I mean, the Phoenix is a mythical bird from mythology. Why go with "Fenyx"?

    Maybe J.K. Rowling owns the rights to the word Phoenix now. :)

    It's not that someone owns the word phoenix, it's that Ubisoft can't own that word, so they'll change it to something they can own. It's like how Games Workshop has been changing the names of all the stuff in either version of Warhammer:
    • Imperial Guard became the Astra Militarum
    • The Tau are now the T'au
    • Eldar (a word they stole from Tolkien) are now Aeldari, and Dark Eldar became Drukhari
    • Orks in their fantasy setting are now Orruks, Dwarves are now Duardin, & Elves became Aelves
    • The Empire became the Cities of Sigmar
    It's a wonder GW still uses 'Space Marines' for their official product names, rather than calling them Adeptus Astartes, since this whole shift was initiated after they tried and failed to assert a copyright claim on the space marine term (which was absurd on the face of it, seeing as it's a super-generic sci-fi term dating back to at least 1932).

    Basically, going forward, expect any company in the entertainment industry to use creative spellings for old words, because they want to be able to copyright &/or trademark their brands.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
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    MarcinMNMarcinMN Registered User regular
    H3Knuckles wrote: »
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I would think that since this game is based on actual Greek mythology, that they'd at least bother to spell Phoenix right. I mean, the Phoenix is a mythical bird from mythology. Why go with "Fenyx"?
    MarcinMN wrote: »
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    I would think that since this game is based on actual Greek mythology, that they'd at least bother to spell Phoenix right. I mean, the Phoenix is a mythical bird from mythology. Why go with "Fenyx"?

    Maybe J.K. Rowling owns the rights to the word Phoenix now. :)

    It's not that someone owns the word phoenix, it's that Ubisoft can't own that word, so they'll change it to something they can own. It's like how Games Workshop has been changing the names of all the stuff in either version of Warhammer:
    • Imperial Guard became the Astra Militarum
    • The Tau are now the T'au
    • Eldar (a word they stole from Tolkien) are now Aeldari, and Dark Eldar became Drukhari
    • Orks in their fantasy setting are now Orruks, Dwarves are now Duardin, & Elves became Aelves
    • The Empire became the Cities of Sigmar
    It's a wonder GW still uses 'Space Marines' for their official product names, rather than calling them Adeptus Astartes, since this whole shift was initiated after they tried and failed to assert a copyright claim on the space marine term (which was absurd on the face of it, seeing as it's a super-generic sci-fi term dating back to at least 1932).

    Basically, going forward, expect any company in the entertainment industry to use creative spellings for old words, because they want to be able to copyright &/or trademark their brands.

    The comment about the word phoenix was just a tongue-in-cheek joke. But thanks for the info. lol

    "It's just as I've always said. We are being digested by an amoral universe."

    -Tycho Brahe
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    H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    Oh, I understood you were kidding, I just included that as part of the larger conversation I was replying to. Admittedly, in hindsight it wasn't necessary to quote it, though.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
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    RatherDashing89RatherDashing89 Registered User regular
    Between this and the Epic/Apple slap fight, horrible companies are really trying to out-horrible each other this year. I mean, Monster is clearly nuts here, but I just can't bring myself to conjure up a shred of sympathy for Ubisoft losing anything.

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    hibryd7hibryd7 Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    In FFXI, catoblepas were big, dumb, camel-lookin' things. I used to spend hours chaining them solo on BST.

    hibryd7 on
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    TheSchaefTheSchaef Registered User regular
    Chupa-thingy, how 'bout that?

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    ShowsniShowsni Registered User regular
    Catoblepas always makes me think of Lost Kingdoms on the Gamecube.

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    DjiemDjiem Registered User regular
    When I hear "catoblepas", I think of some siege weapon, like a mobile trebuchet or onager. Dunno why, the sound of the word just fits.

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    RatherDashing89RatherDashing89 Registered User regular
    Djiem wrote: »
    When I hear "catoblepas", I think of some siege weapon, like a mobile trebuchet or onager. Dunno why, the sound of the word just fits.

    When you hear it? ...is hearing "catoblepas" a common occurrence for you? Or an ever occurrence?

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    H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited September 2020
    Djiem wrote: »
    When I hear "catoblepas", I think of some siege weapon, like a mobile trebuchet or onager. Dunno why, the sound of the word just fits.

    Well, it's a mythical bovine creature with a gaze that can either petrify or instantly kill (depending on version) whoever it makes eye contact with (sometimes it's the breath that does it), so it'd be fairly fitting to name a siege-weapon after one.

    Edit: case in point (naming siege weapons after sturdy animals), the onager is named after a type of wild donkey.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
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