Well, Nintendo... you've done it. Congratulations, you have somehow made Konami look like goddamn Valve.
Yeah... okay... so what? Copyright law is ironclad, and Nintendo has the right to follow it to the letter. The people whining about Nintendo barring the use of their own IP just kinda sound like entitled brats, to be honest. Yeah, Nintendo's kind of a dick about it, but people have the option of taking their business elsewhere if they don't like how a company acts.
The issue is, is that this isn't the case. Fair Use is also law, but is completely disregarded, much in part to Youtube and other media doing very little to enforce it.
The problem is that Nintendo only follows the parts of copyright law that benefit them, and ignore the rest. Fair use may as well not exist in Nintendo's eyes, and their blatant disregard for it makes Hasbro's legal team look rather lax by comparison. Yes, I just compared Hasbro's legal team FAVORABLY to someone else. That's how draconian Nintendo is in regards to copyright.
Not sure how much Fair Use really covers, but I know it doesn't extend to software piracy (emulators) and unauthorized games intended for mass distribution (Pokemon Uranium). Now don't get me wrong, I don't agree with how Nintendo does things. Alienating your most loyal fans is just bad business. That said, they are legally in the right, as far as I've seen.
I can't help but wonder how much of it is cultural, as well. At the risk of stereotyping, Japanese companies are probably far less relaxed about pretty much everything than American or European companies.
Again, they're not legally in the right in making Copyright claims over content that's covered by Fair Use. ie. Use a short snippet of a trailer or gameplay video in a much longer video for purposes of critique, reference, citation, etc.
Yeah, gonna stop you right there, buddy. Need I remind you that Pokemon Uranium and other "unauthorized games" aren't sold at all, simply distributed on the Internet for free, as in with no intention of seeking profit? Tell me, how does something that makes no money possibly effect Nintendo's income? And besides, these aren't bootlegged games made by some hack looking for a cheap profit, these are labors of love intended as a display of appreciation for their favorite games. Oh, but if their hard work gets C&D'd by Nintendo even though it was being distributed for free, suddenly they're "entitled brats." Tell me, where were you when the whole JanAnimations thing happened? Or Fighting is Magic, for that mattter? It's easy to dismiss people calling out a problem as "whiny" when the problem doesn't affect you. TL;DR Non-profit fan-made content is PERFECTLY OKAY. And as for emulation, that is a whole different can of worms. Though I will agree that it is technically not covered by Fair Use, there are other arguments for legitimate use of emulators, none of which are acknowledged by Nintendo. Legally in the right ≠ Morally in the right
Unauthorized games (theoretically) effect Nintendo's income by providing a free alternative to expensive official games. Why give Nintendo money for the real thing when you can download a good imitation for free? Not saying it's what actually happens, because there's no real way to test it, but that's the theory. And it not entirely off base, either. I know that I personally have forgone buying games on Steam when similar Free-to-Plays are available. I've been saying that for years.
You clearly don't understand the issue here. That's like saying "Why buy a movie/TV show/book/game/comic when I can read fanfiction for free online?" This is the kind of ass-backwards logical fallacy that money-hungry corporations who are nowhere near hurting for cash buy into, and the kind of thinking that got Button Mash and Fighting is Magic C&D'd. It's more than just bad business practices; it's a middle finger to their paying customers and fanbase, and a self-important air of pettyness that stems from the idiotic belief that the law exists to benefit corporations.
I do understand the issue. I'm not defending Nintendo, but I think it's important that both sides of an issue are presented, to allow people to make informed judgements on their own. The Nintendo corporation, like any other corporation, exists for the exclusive purpose of making money for the shareholders. To that end, the leaders of the company have a responsibility to the shareholders to maximize profits. This is done in many ways. Creating new and innovative products, lowering overhead, and of course, eliminating competition. And for the record, Fighting is Magic was C&D'd because Hasbro felt a game where the ponies fought one another wasn't appropriate for the wholesome image they tried to convey with the brand (An excuse that sounds pretty flimsy after the last few season finales), and Button Mash was C&D'd because one of the VAs for the project voiced a NSFW video of Button having relations with his mother. The whole project and crew was a victim of the DWM feminazis.
Sure as hell sounds to me like you are defending them, but hey, you've formed your opinion and I've formed mine. Nobody's minds are really going to change here, so I won't try to change that.
You're assuming that because I understand Nintendo's point of view, I agree with it. That simply isn't true. As I already said, I don't agree with Nintendo. The NES is over thirty years old, and the systems won't last forever. Before the Virtual Console came along, there was absolutely no other way for many die-hard Nintendo fans to access the full NES library.
The whole elimination of competition is not entirely black and white. I do see that beating down competition is business sound, though attacking a fan game on the grounds of fearing it would affect Nintendo stocks, is a bit shallow. Nintendo still has many fans of other series in the rather huge Nintendo Library. So Nintendo's foreseen 'threats' in emulation and fan-games, is quite unfounded. Though I suppose it's not impossible to happen, but I dought anyone makes fan games in the intention for stealing anything from Nintendo. As for the C&D's on the Hasbro related stuff is actually a bit more understandable, due to content related reasons. Though what I am not exactly fond of the DWM feminazi moment. They are one of a few reasons behind the Princess Molestia tumblr being taken down. The page wasn't even physically sexual ask comic series. It's was a sexual joke related, and innuendos were everywhere, but no show of sexual stuff was drawn, though a few times it was implied. Eh.
