Super Meat Boy co-creator on iPhone clone Tobor: 'On one side, I feel really flattered. On the other, I dont really care'

Nearly every popular gaming franchise under the sun has had its ideas 'borrowed' by other developers and game creators.

This practice is particularly rife on Apple's App Store, where the likes of Gameloft freely create 'homages' to popular console titles.

If you're like us, you'd expect the developers of these games to be pretty peeved about the situation, but the co-creator of Super Meat Boy Edmund McMillen doesn't seem to mind.

When questioned by gaming site Destructoid about upcoming Super Meat Boy-inspired title Tobor, McMillen responded, "On one side, I feel really flattered. On the other, I dont really care."

"He (Tobor's creator) admits he was inspired by SMB, but doesn't feel he's copying it, so at the very least I take that as someone was inspired to get into game dev because of SMB, and that's awesome. We all start out emulating things we love, so I take it as a big compliment."

McMillen went on to point out that Super Meat Boy is a Mario clone in the eyes of many, and that he may have been more concerned had the upcoming clone emanated from an established developer's lab.

"I mean, if I found out these guys were my age and had done tons of apps before then I might care a bit more, but probably not much."

He also pointed out other iOS clones that are widely accepted, but stopped short of criticising the platform holder entirely for the proliferation of copycats:

"Either way, ripping games off seems to be the App Store's thing these days, anyway. It would be hard to put the blame on the product of Apple's lack of control over its own service.

"If Angry Birds can totally rip off Crush the Castle and make millions, and then be ripped off by countless clones, without Apple blinking an eye, then why should anyone out there feel like it's wrong to rip off any game ideas?" he said.

"I actually believe there is a clone of everything on that service..."

Just because cloning is the 'done thing' these days, does that make it right?

Have your say in the comments below.