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Digger Dan DX is a recent arrival on the 3DS eShop, which revamped and expanded upon DSiWare title Digger Dan & Kaboom. We rather liked it in our review, appreciating its blend of puzzles and mining, comparing it to the likes of Boulder Dash and Digger T. Rock.

That comparison may have been rather prescient, however, as the games developer, Four Horses, has been in touch to advice that Nintendo has notified them the game will be taken off the eShop. The issue appears to be a claim by the owners of the Boulder Dash rights; you can see the developer's explanation below.

I've received notice from Nintendo this morning that Digger Dan DX is being pulled from both NOA and NOE eShops as they have received a takedown notice from First Star Software, owners of the rights to Boulder Dash.

I've not found details of the copyrights they have registered yet so am unable to determine what rights they think it has broken, but as far as I can tell, it is likely to be gameplay elements which I am pretty sure cannot be protected by copyright.

Regardless, Nintendo are pulling it (it is currently still on the NOE eShop, not sure about NOA), and I don't have the money to fight them, so Digger Dan is no more.

At the time of writing Digger Dan DX is still available on the 3DS eShop on our UK system, though it's unclear how long this will be the case.

It seems a pity that a game may be lost over a claim like this, even though there are certainly gameplay similarities with Boulder Dash. It's an interesting topic, though, as it's questionable what constitutes a copyright issue and what represents two games within the same genre.

In any case, let us know what you think in the comments.