Nintendo is protective of its IPs, and very protective of its brand. Being protective of ones’ brand and intellectual property isn’t a bad thing. When it comes down to it, it’s smart business. When you have a name and an image that everyone recognizes and identifies with emotions and certain standards of quality, you have to maintain that in a consistent and advantageous way. Nintendo has done that very well, and it’s one of the reasons we associate the name with words and phrases like “world-class,” “polished,” “family-friendly.” and “fun.” Disney is equally protective of its image, if not more so, and they seem to be doing just fine.
But while that vigilance is generally congruent with best practices, it can be seen as anti-consumer from time to time. To some, it may seem like Nintendo has (to put it colloquially) a bug up its butt. If you plan on hosting any kind of public, Nintendo-themed event, then you better make sure you’re not making a penny off of it unless you want to deal with a legal team. If you produce a YouTube video that contains even a moment a footage or music from a Nintendo game, past or present, you better believe you’ll see a copyright claim before that sucker even finishes processing.
In most cases it’s not hard to justify Nintendo’s insistence on enforcing restrictions, even when it comes to the small-fries out there making fan trailers, music videos, and independent reviews. The bottom line is if you’re not careful to shepherd the usage of your IPs, someone will make money off of them without your consent. It makes for messy battles in court, especially without a clear track record of enforcement in violations big and small. Again, consistency is key here, and that’s just good business.
Take AM2R , for example. This was a very recent Metroid 2 remake. It was fan-made project using Game Maker, and a totally non-profit; pure passion project. AM2R was released on the Metroid’s 30th anniversary, and fans loved it. Recently Nintendo shut the game and all of its download mirrors down, citing a DMCA violation, to the chagrin of most. Now even though this sucks for the talented individual who made the game, I agree with Nintendo’s decision. It was a straight up remake of a game that Nintendo can still make money off of from Virtual Console sales. If I’m not mistaken, I believe some of the sprites were taken from Metroid: Zero Mission as well. Unfortunate for creator and for fans, but the right call for Nintendo.
Now consider archive.org’s stash of Nintendo Power magazines. Some saint had scanned and uploaded every issue of Nintendo Power up to the year 2000 or some time thereabouts. This was an enormous, wonderful, powerful punch right in the feels. I felt wave after wave of nostalgia wash over me as I relived my childhood through those magazines, and I had planned to go through every single issue. Sadly it doesn’t look like I’ll ever get that chance, as Nintendo has taken those down as well.
Now that I don’t understand. Nintendo hasn’t mentioned Nintendo Power in who knows how long, and it’s not like there was any money to be made there. This was a public archive. The scanning in of those magazines was seen as a public service; and act of preservation so these wonderful publications could be passed down digitally. Why Nintendo feels like it is duty-bound to keep us from reading decades-old magazines is beyond me, and I rather hope that we have it all wrong. Maybe Nintendo just wants to take the project into its own hands and provide higher quality scans. That’d be wonderful, but I have a feeling it’s just Nintendo’s typical insistence on taking down anything with its name on it that isn’t being officially monetized.
Where do you guys stand on the issue? Obviously Nintendo has to protect its characters, brand, and trademarks, but how far is too far? If you were in some kind of executive position at Nintendo, would you have shut down AM2R ? What about the Nintendo Power archive? Would you have let those remain, or can you see how that could somehow be a threat? Sound off in the comments and let me know what you think.