Nintendo To Begin YouTube Affiliate Program

[KingVamp]

​

Update: Nintendo has provided Game Informer with a statement confirming its intention to create an affiliate program.

"Nintendo has been permitting the use of Nintendo copyrighted material in videos on YouTube under appropriate circumstances," a representative told us via email. "Advertisements may accompany those videos, and in keeping with previous policy that revenue is shared between YouTube and Nintendo. In addition, for those who wish to use the material more proactively, we are preparing an affiliate program in which a portion of the advertising profit is given to the creator. Details about this affiliate program will be announced in the future."

​

​

The size of the profit isn't known, but does this seem like a fair compromise so far?​

​

Source​

 

[Foxi4]

In other words they're saying "you dedicate your time and effort to film and edit the videos and we'll take the money for your work, that's totally fair". Thanks, but no thanks - there are Youtube alternatives out there. A lot of LP'ers are already moving to Blip.tv, Polaris etc. - some are even opening their own websites. Hell, NormalBoots.com is back and that alone can give an LP fix. Here's a thought, Nintendo - Let's Plays are free advertising for you, appreciate them instead of trying to cash in on them because believe it or not, they're already beneficial to you.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I...guess that's better than flagging videos? I think?

 

[WiiCube_2013]

It's not like the LP users can even compete against PewUghDieUFucker anyway.

 

[Foxi4]

It's not like the LP users can even compete against PewUghDieUFucker anyway.

Rooster Teeth has been around longer than anyone in this "business" and they're doing perfectly fine. They're actually so big that at this point they have license agreements with Microsoft so that they can sell their Machinimas on DVD's and use official designs as far as Halo is concerned.

 

[pokefloote]

Sometimes I watch an LP of a game because I play things more for story than grinding through, so it gives me entertainment for the price of free by watching it on Youtube. Of course I'm only one person and it doesn't change anything but meh. Not defending Nintendo in the slightest, it is indeed good advertisement to a wide audience and can get more people to want to play a game rather than just reading the back of a box and risking $40-60 for something they aren't sure of.

 

[migles]

so, we advertsement for free for nintendo, and they want us to pay for it?

i thought usually advertisement costs money... so nintendo wants to get money from advertsement to his own products? come on...

 

[Dork]

Good, Let's Players should stop profiting off of others material.

 

[Foxi4]

Good, Let's Players should stop profiting off of others material.

When somebody drinks Pepsi in a movie it's considered advertising and the movie company gets paid for including the product, when somebody makes a show full of entertaining gags around a video game Nintendo is the first to cry bloody murder. Stop being a caveman and get real.

 

[BrightNeko]

I think we've actually seen the start of this, or the early buddings of it. What with people like the competition/projared/PBG getting a link between worlds early, various groups making animal crossing videos before release, and third example I haven't seen here. Yeah they could have just been flat out paid but it was nintendo reaching out to youtubers in some aspect, which was probably them getting a feel for it.

 

[Dork]

When somebody drinks Pepsi in a movie it's considered advertising and the movie company gets paid for including the product, when somebody makes a show full of entertaining gags around a video game, Nintendo is the first to cry bloody murder. Stop being a caveman and get real.

A full Let's Play is not "show full of entertainment gags around a video game", it might as well be the video game.

These huge Let's Players on YouTube do full-scale video playthroughs on any video game. It's not just simple clip review with a couple gags, they display the entirety of the game; all of its content being shown from point A to point B. Non-profit Let's Plays are one thing, but people with a YouTube partnership recording an entire walkthrough of a video game with minimal video editing (putting overlays and putting fancy text over a video with the majority of it being recorded material is not hard work, I can say this out of my own experience) without permission from the owner of the intellectual property and then profiting off of it is fucking ludicrous. It might as well be akin to uploading an entire movie on YouTube and calling it advertising, because unlike a game trailer you've just experienced the entire game.

You can not tell me that seeing someone drink a Pepsi on a commercial is akin to watching a Let's Play because they are nothing alike. You do not experience what it is like to drink a Pepsi when you see someone else drink one, however with Let's Plays you just got the full experience of what game you just watched and there really is no need to go buy it yourself now. With this though, you can argue that you aren't experiencing a game by just watching it, you have to play for yourself. In some cases this is correct, however the Let's Play games of choice are always story-centered, linear progression type games that for the most part can be experienced just by watching it.

Let's Playing isn't advertising, it might as well be compared to fucking video game piracy. Why not? I'm not seeing any difference between the two other than that someone else is playing for you. You can make any snarky joke you want but that comparison holds pretty well because all of the games content is right there without any pay-wall for your end. Hell, it can be argued that it is even worse than piracy because the ones providing the videos are making a fucking profit.

As far as free advertising is concerned, Nintendo's YouTube advertising is pretty solid as you got a multitude of game trailers and Directs are always streamed and uploaded there. Nintendo's weakness when it comes to advertising is anything outside of the internet. I'm sure Nintendo doesn't need to rely on people uploading the entirety of a game as advertising.

Let's Plays outside of their entertainment value they might bring to some people is just a joke. These uploaders have no legal grounds to stand on in regards to this medium and if publishers want them down they have every right to take them down. Don't get me wrong I'm not just defending Nintendo because I'm some nintendog I'm arguing this because making primary income off of something that isn't yours is completely dumb. If this were EA or Activision making this kind of a move I'd probably be defending them on this too.

It's just morally wrong, and if you don't care about whatever morality is associated with it then fine. Won't stop the publisher from taking you down.

 

[Foxi4]

Yeah, no. You can't "play" a video, the selling point of games is their interactivity. You could write an essay about how let's plays could be compared to piracy and you would still be wrong in my eyes because an LP does not contain the core element of a video game - gameplay. It's just footage that very well may get you interested in buying the full product. Mind you, I watch LP's for the banter, the game is irrelevant to me.

 

[Dork]

Mind you, I watch LP's for the banter, the game is irrelevant to me.

Don't get me wrong I'm not criticizing anyone who finds LP entertaining, because I'll be honest I found some to be enjoyable. However if someone is profiting off of it and the publisher wants it down they have every right to. They shouldn't be demonized for making that move when there was nothing inherently wrong with. In this case with Nintendo it seems there was a compromise so they're not going anywhere.

 

[Foxi4]

They should absolutely be demonized for profiting from someone's effort that went into editing video and making an interesting show out of mere gameplay footage. It's fair use and only a fraction of the total product, it's made by passionate gamers who go out of their way to advertise products they enjoy. Splitting profits from monetizing video is a step forwards but Nintendo still has a lot to learn from companies like Microsoft in this regard. The Halo phenomenon wouldn't be nearly as big as it is if not for shows like Red vs. Blue - Microsoft acknowledged and cherished that as an intrinsic part of the fanbase, Nintendo just wants additional income.

 

[FAST6191]

I suppose it is good to see Nintendo not shooting themselves in the foot as much as they were. Though I would likely never see it I would be curious to see the partnership agreement.

Yeah, no. You can't "play" a video, the selling point of games is their interactivity. You could write an essay about how let's plays could be compared to piracy and you would still be wrong in my eyes because an LP does not contain the core element of a video game - gameplay. It's just footage that very well may get you interested in buying the full product. Mind you, I watch LP's for the banter, the game is irrelevant to me.

Though there are plenty of games (most multiplayer, a lot of sandbox, most puzzle games designed for repeated play*, simulator games and that is just a start) for which a mere video of gameplay would be anything but representative I would argue there are plenty of others which can effectively be "pirated" by having a video. A lot of adventure games, horror games and quite a few single player with a story focus** can definitely have an element of "I got mine" from a video.

*thinking something like 11th hour/7th guest (puzzles not necessarily unique in the same way that sudoku is unique) I have to wonder if I could pause the video at the start of a puzzle, run it on paper and unpause to watch a solution/skip to the next story/puzzle (or go choose your own adventure style if I am really getting into it),... actually that would make a great thought exercise of sorts, doubly so if you mixed it with youtube's pause, skip and section functionality.

**with the rise of easy mode and self playing games this may take on a new aspect as well.

 

[Foxi4]

You're talking about video walkthroughs with no planning or voiceovers involved, I'm talking about Let's Plays and proper ones focus on recording the fun of interacting with the game, not sharing the game's full story (if there is one to begin with).

 

[CathyRina]

*snip*

What you said is technically right. However practically it look a lot different.
You see, even if a Let's Play uncovers the whole shape and form of a game, watching somebody having fun with a video game makes you want experiencing a similar experience.
Look at flappy bird, that thing became popular on the same day pewdiepie made a video about it. Coincidence? I. Think. Not.
Not to mention you won't get the same experience out of a Lets Play that you would get out of playing the game by yourself and it's the unique experience that makes games great in the first place.
Not every player experiences the game in the same way and what's interesting in watching let's plays is to see what experiences other players had during their playthough. Which is great because having a conversation about different experiences is fun.
You can take two independent let's players and compare their playthroughs. While the one plays lets say dead space 2 in a run&gun fashion constantly laughing and making funny jokes the other one plays it very carefully and is easily scared making it fun to see him shit himself.
And some People are actually putting very much effort into their Let's plays. Besides cutting all the footage into a video, which is with no doubt the easiest part of a lets play, some tend to include self drawn end credits and thumbnails. Some even use audacity to change their voice during some parts of the let's play to support the narrative. Their Videos really have quality and they put a lot time into them. Saying that they wont get paid for a free advertisement is like showing the middle finger to the hand that is feeding you. To see it from an other perspective I gonna sell you a self made game for 50$. If you wanna make a youtube video talking about how great that game is I gonna charge you extra. Does it seem fair to you? I did not made the video, it was you and no matter how low the effort was it is still your video that I would get money from. It's plain money grabbing and Nintendo is the least company that really needs it.

 

[osirisjem]

By the YouTube affiliate program gets up and running ... Nintendo won't have to worry about "YouTube LP pirates" because no one will care about Nintendo.
So few games to review ... who will care ?

Nintendo is an embarrassing company.
They can't make any reasonable decisions.
Instead of admitting they shouldn't have fussed about YouTube Videos ... they make a partial backtrack to save face ?
Losers.
Gutless losers.

Nintendo should beg people to review their videos at this stage.

Nintendo: Penny Wise, Pound foolish (TM)

 

[Taleweaver]

So...a portion is given to the creator. For nintendo, it's progress, but meanwhile the rest of the world is scratching their head why they want to hinder free publicity in the first place.

 

[Walker D]

Well ..doesn't seems like that bad of a approach for a big player like Nintendo ...is this that bad? ...never saw others like Sony and Microsoft pavement their way so others could use their contents like this (don't know if others care, or just remove content that they don't like without asking questions..)