7th February 2015, 10:53 AM
By now I'm sure a lot of you have heard of this. News sites by and large all reported on it as something for those "Let's Players" on youtube. However, there's a whole angle missed, and that's that this applies just as well to reviewers who may need to actually show viewers what they are talking about when they criticize a game.
Frankly, I don't agree with this. Nintendo has come in and said "anyone who uses footage from our games is now an employee, and they can only say certain things about our games". It's true that we're talking about content Nintendo made, in part, but not in entirety. The way the user is playing the game, the specific exact video and sound being shown, is NOT created by Nintendo but by the player using Nintendo's product (aside from cut scenes, of course). To say a reviewer or "let's player" owes Nintendo money for their own recorded playing is no different than Lego demanding money from videos on someone's own Lego projects. Heck, the gameplay is the main thing, and none of these videos are letting viewers actually experience the gameplay for themselves, so how can it be said they come even close to illegally sharing the games?
I think this is a big mistake. Nintendo has built up a lot of good will, but they could lose a big amount of it if they proceed this way.
Frankly, I don't agree with this. Nintendo has come in and said "anyone who uses footage from our games is now an employee, and they can only say certain things about our games". It's true that we're talking about content Nintendo made, in part, but not in entirety. The way the user is playing the game, the specific exact video and sound being shown, is NOT created by Nintendo but by the player using Nintendo's product (aside from cut scenes, of course). To say a reviewer or "let's player" owes Nintendo money for their own recorded playing is no different than Lego demanding money from videos on someone's own Lego projects. Heck, the gameplay is the main thing, and none of these videos are letting viewers actually experience the gameplay for themselves, so how can it be said they come even close to illegally sharing the games?
I think this is a big mistake. Nintendo has built up a lot of good will, but they could lose a big amount of it if they proceed this way.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)