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Transcript:

Reverse Engineering

(0:00 - 0:04): Reverse engineering is the process of deconstructing an existing game to understand how it works.

(0:05 - 0:08): When a new piece of technology comes to market, the competitors will purchase the item, take it apart, and see how it works. This is done to understand the unique selling point (USP) of the competition.

(0:09 - 0:14): If they feel the item is competitive enough to cut into their sales, they will reverse engineer the technology to make their own version of the same thing.

(0:15 - 0:19): Reverse engineering often results in a substitute product, a game that would satisfy the same need as the original. One form of a substitute product is a copycat game, which has similar gameplay to another already on the market.

(0:20 - 0:23): If a game is copied too closely, it may be guilty of copyright infringement, the unauthorized copying of intellectual property. For instance, no company but Nintendo can use the Mario or a Mario-like character.

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