In development from Voidpoint and 3D Realms, the retro FPS Ion Maiden has now become Ion Fury. They've also announced the final release for August 15th with a new trailer.
Why the name change? Well, they were in a bit of a legal problem with the band Iron Maiden.
"After careful consideration, we’ve decided to rename our first-person-shooter 'Ion Maiden' to 'Ion Fury'," said Mike Nielsen, CEO of 3D Realms. "A lot of thought went into this, but most importantly it would be a disservice to our loyal fanbase and the fantastic developers, to drag out a long lawsuit. The amazing gameplay, interactivity and pure fun, is what makes Ion Fury a great game. Not the title."
Direct Link
From the information I was sent in the press releases, you might want to pick it up and check out the (rather excellent) preview campaign early as the price will be rising on July 18th from $19.99 to $24.99. They said this is due to the game's scope being basically double what they originally planned.
Head over to GOG and Steam for your copy/wishlisting. Alternatively, you can also go to the official site to grab a copy of the "Big Box" which includes a Bowling Bomb-shaped USB Drive that holds a DRM-free copy of the game and soundtrack, a poster, a keycard based on the one you find in-game, a making-of booklet and a sticker set for $59.99.
I'm extremely hyped for this release, I absolute love first-person shooters and while Ion Fury looks retro it does have quite a few modern touches to it that make it worthy of playing. It's the simple things like auto-saves, improved physics and map interactivity, headshots, widescreen functionality and so on.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
ElectricPrism Jul 11, 2019
Absolutely ludicrous. Still I think they made the easier choice so they can focus on game development and not pointless legal circles designed to extract as much cash from IP owners and so on. The legal system is a racket. The lawyers always win and the defendants even if they technically win always loose. It's political deadlock.
Maybe they should have renamed it some snarky alternative like Metal Maiden or some other cheesy but effective name.
Quoting: ElectricPrismRidiculous. Iron Maiden is not a fucking brand, it's a fucking torture instrument from mid-evil times.
Absolutely ludicrous. Still I think they made the easier choice so they can focus on game development and not pointless legal circles designed to extract as much cash from IP owners and so on. The legal system is a racket. The lawyers always win and the defendants even if they technically win always loose. It's political deadlock.
Maybe they should have renamed it some snarky alternative like Metal Maiden or some other cheesy but effective name.
Iron Mayhem
Quoting: ElectricPrismsome snarky alternativeIon Of Maiden :D
Quoting: ElectricPrismRidiculous. Iron Maiden is not a fucking brand, it's a fucking torture instrument from mid-evil times.A small correction: there is actually no evidence that iron maidens existed in the medieval times and they appeared in writing only in the 1800s. It's more likely some people just put together some iron maidens and presented them as medieval torture devices.
on_en_a_gros Jul 11, 2019
Mountain Man Jul 11, 2019
Quoting: ShmerlThe first name was better, but whatever.Of course it was, but they were sued by the managers of the band Iron Maiden because of the similarity (and to be fair, the developers did openly admit at one point that they chose the name as a pun based on the band, so they really didn't have a leg to stand on). I don't know why they didn't go with something like "Metal Maiden" instead.
Lars Ulrich said that the lawyer told him he was losing big money because of MP3 sharing, next thing he did was to start a war against illegal music downloads, even if the band became famous in the 80s thanks to bootlegs and the tape trading mailing lists.
Quoting: sub"Mayhem" would've been a better substitute than "Fury." I like the "Ion" part, though. Sounds cool, and suits the sci-fi setting. I don't really care about sticking it to the band, I just want a cool title. :bQuoting: ElectricPrismRidiculous. Iron Maiden is not a fucking brand, it's a fucking torture instrument from mid-evil times.Iron Mayhem
Absolutely ludicrous. Still I think they made the easier choice so they can focus on game development and not pointless legal circles designed to extract as much cash from IP owners and so on. The legal system is a racket. The lawyers always win and the defendants even if they technically win always loose. It's political deadlock.
Maybe they should have renamed it some snarky alternative like Metal Maiden or some other cheesy but effective name.
Quoting: svartalfThe band is the lawyers' boss. They're complicit in anything those lawyers do on their behalf. If they thought they were being dicks, they should have intervened.Quoting: GoboI'm glad they are able to settle it just like that and get on with the game.Indeed.
Quoting: GoboOn the other hand, that is a dent in the shiny aura that surrounds Iron Maiden in my eyes. Not cool. I mean, come on, how could a brand new video game be mistaken for THE metal band that has been around for decades?Let's for a moment, set aside the notion that it's the band that did this. I'm betting good money that their lawyers or their label's lawyers were in full play. Entirely too many lawyers are pure unadulterated, unmitigated d*cks, full stop.
Quoting: GoboWould have been way better if they had worked out some tongue in cheek appearance, probably even with a commercial tie in that promotes their latest album or something. Think of at least posters in the game or some of their songs playing in bars or crowds lining up before a stadium for a concert. And the band playing their song "Iron Maiden" while showing a speed-run of the game or something. Both sides could have gotten a good laugh out of this.Which is why I'm inclined to believe that a humorless prick (A? One?? Yeah, who am I kidding here?) in the legal staff on that side of things was solely in charge. A good attorney would've been trying for something that preserved trademark and copyright and yet made epic PR for at least their clients. The law REQUIRES work on ensuring purity, etc. of the same instead of dilution- but there's ways of doing this...and more than one of them.
Quoting: GoboAnyone remember Notch challenging Bethesda for a Quake match to settle their dispute over the Scrolls name? That is what fans love, not that legal nonsense.Yet another reason why I say what I do on this. It wasn't the band...it was their label's prick lawyers.
on_en_a_gros Jul 11, 2019
Quoting: Smoke39complicit in anything those lawyers do on their behalf. If they thought they were being dicks, they should have intervened.Not quite sure that the band has so much power over this, it's more likely the producer or the label who make such moves. And keep in mind that there is a Mobil game iron maiden it's not just a music band name. From my point of view, even if ion maiden was a great name, these whole story will change nothing regarding the game or the band. It may even help the game gain some visibility.
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