7 Legal Decisions That Changed Gaming History

4. Setting A Precedent: Genres Cannot Be Copyrighted

Assumedly you've heard of Asteroids, Atari's phenomenal shooter from 1979 where you play a tiny ship rotating through space, blasting debris to pieces every five seconds.

What you likely haven't heard of, is 1981's Meteors, a game that came only a few years after and was at the centre of a lawsuit from Atari, alleging copyright, being both games were nigh-on identical. Combing the case itself you can see everything from HUD placement to base gameplay, even the colour of the buttons on the arcade cabinets were the exact same, yet the judge ultimately ruled that limitations in technology and interface usability were to blame for the similarities instead.

Meteors creator Steve Holniker actually won the case, cementing for the first time that genres, represented as sets of game mechanics, can't be copyrighted.

Sadly, due to the amount of money required for Amusement World to even uphold their side of things in court, Meteors never saw the light of day - save for one wayward cabinet finally being turned on in 2012: