Who Didn’t Avatar Rip Off?
Ever since Avatar came out and became the biggest movie in the world ever, people have been trying to claim that they had a hand in the Avatar success tale. The latest to get on this gravy train is … Square-Enix? Well, they do have a bit of a point. Square-Enix has been doing the whole totally digital sci-fi fantasy thing for ages now. Aeris was getting killed before Neytiri ever took her first digital footsteps. Still, a rip-off? This must just be the crazed rantings of some overzealous internet fan right?
Wrong. The statement comes straight from Squeenix. In fact, it comes from Motomu Toriyama, director of the upcoming game Final Fantasy XIII. In a recent interview with Tech Digest, Toriyama said:
The in-game universe this time around is quite fantasy based, but also futuristic at the same time … We never really had any particular reference points for Final Fantasy XIII, in terms of places where we drew inspiration from. That said, we’re a little suspicious that the world famous Avatar movie might have take inspiration from us!
Now, OK, all things considered, he was probably joking, but there are some interesting coincidences. Avatar started production in 2006, the same year that Final Fantasy XIII was shown at E3. Both games are supposedly old projects that couldn’t be completed due to technology being unable to keep up. Both paint a picture of warring races, as well as a battle between technology and nature. Both have powerful female protagonists. Coincidence???
Yes. Granted, both of these projects have a shared time-line but it is pretty crazy to think that an entire CG film was based off of a few trailers and blueprints. I may not be the biggest Avatar fan in the world, but I can admit that it was a technical masterpiece. I have yet to play the American version of Final Fantasy XIII but I’m sure it too will be a technical masterpeice. However, simply because both franchises rely heavily on cinematics does not mean that one rips off the other.
Stranger still, is that this is not the first time Avatar has been accused of ripping off a videogame. A while back, Avatar was accused of ripping off Halo, which once again serves as a testament to the unfathomably stupid things that come out of the mouths of Halo fanboys. James Cameron saw this claim and laughed, stating that Halo ripped off his previous movie, Aliens. So its difficult to rip-off a rip-off, when you are just referencing your own material.
Will Cameron respond to the accusations of ripping off Final Fantasy XIII? Probably not. Final Fantasy XIII probably isn’t big enough to catch the Hollywood director’s eye. Well enough though, because eventually we will be seeing claims that Avatar ripped off Star Fox if this shit continues. Big blue sexy furry people? Come on!
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