Eric and Huckelberrypie Discuss Nintendo's corporate nature

[huckleberrypie]

Yeah, in all fairness, Nintendo was a staple of our formative years with Mario and whatnot. They popularised a new genre, and brought novel ideas to the table. The problem with them however is either they're playing too safe, or they seem to have drank too much sake and assumed people are doing anything salacious with their Italian plumber baby.

And please, call me Huck.

[TkSilver]

Eric to be fair Nintendo was a large part of my childhood too. I grew up with a NES as the first "real" game system my family had. I saved up birthday and christmas money to purchase the original Gameboy (the giant brick one that ate AAs) and used my first teenage job to finance my purchase of a GBC (pikachu yellow version).

I also had the GBA (even the SP and micro versions) Gamecube, and Wii when they were brand new. The SNES and N64 I picked up while working durring college at Gamestop.

I understand loyalty to a company that was a large part of your growing up. I still love Nintendo games and honestly I even like Nintendo's hardware. I think less powerful graphics for more unique experiences is not a bad thing and really a 3rd xbox 360 or ps4 with near the same performance wouldn't have been a good idea (ask sega how that works out).

[Jay Haru]

So wait, You all agree that if Nintendo listens to fans then they would be the greatest thing since the PS2?

I am currently looking at the asshat named Apple that for years was making a living of force-feeding the herd with what it thinks, not what their cries, the herd needs. It took the death of Jobs and the Reality Distortion Field Machine to change it if only a little bit. Still no stylus for their tab tho as it is still a 'blew it' thing I guess.

The fact of the matter is that Nintendo had a different culture than lets say, Valve (as this is the given counter example). Nintendo is both a Software and Hardware maker with one of the best IP gamers (real damn gamers! not the millenial hipster wannabes that tout amazing real life visuals instead of gameplay/storyline). I may just be looking at it differently as I value different things on games and for the most part, have never liked almost anything 'western games' aside from RTS.

Unlike most of you guys, I was not the type who grew up with a beloved console. the first one i really truly owned was a rip off of the nes bought by my dad when i was in my middle teens. most of my peers would have had a ps1 by then. It was actually when We had a pc that I became engrossed with gaming/emulation as it gave more opportunities and variety and sadly, biases.

Ok, I may be going on a tangent here...

Thing is that, maybe what big N is doing wrong, maybe it is right. fact is that console wars is always a hit or miss battle. for one thing, think about how the psp did against the DS or how the PS3 and Xbox360 fell short of the weaker Wii. Maybe Shigeru needs to lighen the reins and make its IP games available like the pokemon go (f*ck itself and die).

I say let them decide their fate and us fans (if we really are) just support them like the good sheep that we are

[TkSilver]

Still no stylus for their tab tho as it is still a 'blew it' thing I guess.

Apple did release a Tab with a pen (well pencil), the iPad Pro.

[huckleberrypie]

Well, the criticism versus Nintendo isn't meant to malign the company per se and assume that Nintendo should be a yes-man to whatever it is the people want. I know the Big N wants to differentiate themselves, but do they have to resort to heavy-handed moves at the expense of their very own fanbase? It's not fair that even for a fair-use footage of Super Mario Whatever, they'd play the copyright card and bully the living daylights out of those who only intend to either promote or critique the company.

[Jay Haru]

dunno, have not seen this inquisition you speak off

(watches all the honest game trailers about nintendo games)

Honestly, can you site a sample of it? yes, fan-made stuff irks Nintendo but maybe they do have a reason to respond like that. It's not like they just do it randomly. Maybe for us it looks like a harmless thing but for them, they might be seeing something different.

[ericbazinga]

dunno, have not seen this inquisition you speak off

I had to

Honestly, can you site a sample of it? yes, fan-made stuff irks Nintendo but maybe they do have a reason to respond like that. It's not like they just do it randomly. Maybe for us it looks like a harmless thing but for them, they might be seeing something different.

I think it's obvious what they see. We see fair use, they see copyright. I think they need to understand the difference between the two. I remember back when I was in school, we watched a video on copyright/fair use that used small fair-use clips from Disney movies as the dialogue, and then stitched it all together. They used Disney movies since we all know they're just as bad, if not worse, than Nintendo when it comes to copyright. Maybe I should Email the video to Nintendo... Nah, they'd never watch it.

(But seriously, on the subject of Disney's legal department, I heard that one time there was this little girl with cancer, and her family was selling t-shirts featuring her drawing of Mickey on them to pay her medical bills. And Disney, out of the goodness of their hearts, sued them. Pure evil. I'd hate Disney, but they bought out pretty much everything I know and love- Marvel, Star Wars, Epic Rap Battles of History...)

[huckleberrypie]

Which is ironic in the sense that at least some of their works are based on public domain stories like fairy tales and whatnot. As much as I do acknowledge Walt's legacy I don't like his company's tight rein either. Too much corporate lobbying and shady BS while good faith use of their works are viewed as scum.

Some may argue that Nintendo simply wanted to protect their works from unscrupulous individuals making lewd parodies or disparaging content, which is understandable as they seek a moral high ground so they can appeal to families (or do they? ). The problem is this is done with so much zeal that one cannot help but play the Hitler/nazi card er Godwin's Law. Sure, comparing Nintendo to Valve may be like an apples to oranges ordeal, but ex-rival (or are they still rivals in a way?) Sega has been quite laid back on mods even for a major Japanese video game company. They too hire fangame developers whom they took a shine to after they saw their Sonic fangames; Nintendo callously dismisses any mention of the Project M mod for SSB as "criminal activity" even if it did not on any way contain enough data to pirate the game wholesale.

I'm not sure if I can vouch for this, but ex-Nintendo employee Chris Sealy did seem to attest the anti-consumer practices the company has been up to lately.

[TkSilver]

So I understand the takedown request to AM2R (annother metroid 2 remake) and Pokemon Uranium, since if a company does not make a good faith attempt to protect it's intellectual property it can damage any future court proceedings.

But to blackball them both at the game awards (especially am2r which was over a decade of unpaid work by people who just love metroid 2) was just a dick move. Recognition is often the one and only reward for these labors of love for these creators. At this point they already took down the games, they fufiled their leagal responsibility. So why blackmail the awards show with removal of all things Nintendo (sponsorship and permissions) unless they removed those games from even mention or consideration when voting...

Then there are the DMCA claims against game reviews on Youtube (putting them in the same group as digital homicide and upstanding steam shovelware companies) Jim Sterling avoided getting his ad revenue going to Nintendo only because both Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Japan claimed the same video (so Youtube didn't know where to send the revenue to).

I don't mind the let's players that much. I understand Nintendo's position a little more there, even though I would argue it is free advertising. The taking of revenue or takedowns of actual reviews and news is where I have my main issue.

[Jay Haru]

I would put it this way, Why would I sponsor an award giving body that will award a group that basically 'stole' an idea that may or may not cost me money.

nop, im not defending them but I had to look at it this way. being a slave to an evil empire (code name S) had me look life in different greyscales.

Apple(sucks), Di(ck)sney,Big N etc. all have their little evil devil saying if they let it be, it can be their downfall.

And given where sega stands now... I would say bad example... they lost.