Konami sues over DDR clone

Konami has filed a complaint with a US district court over Roxor Games' new dance game for PS2, claiming that it infringes patent and trademark rights for the Dance Dance Revolution franchise.

The complaint also argues that the game, entitled In the Groove, breaks laws against unfair competition, stating that "Roxor's refitting of DDR arcade games has been done in an infringing and unfair way."

In the Groove, like the DDR games, requires players to use a dance mat rather than a controller, following on-screen arrows and stepping in time to music.

However, Roxor has been keen to highlight what it describes as "exclusive, never before seen features" such as modifiers that make arrows spin, change direction and speed up or slow down.

The game was slated to launch in the US this month, but publisher RedOctane has yet to confirm an exact release date. In an open letter on website itgfreak.com, RedOctane's John Tam last week announced that the game's gold master discs had been approved by Sony QA and that manufacturing was underway despite last-minute modifications.

"Regrettably I have to announce that the edit functionality has been removed from In the Groove," Tam wrote.

"We can not give details as to why the edit mode functionality was removed, other than it was for "business reasons." Roxor, RedOctane and SCEA were all committed to making it happen but it was a decision at the "12th hour" to remove it.

"The fact is that it was fully working in the game and was not removed because of bugs or scheduling."

RedOctane was not available to confirm whether the removal of the edit mode was a bid to appease Konami at the time of writing. Konami was also unavailable for comment, with UK reps pointing us in the direction of their slumbering American counterparts.