To the surprise of few, Nintendo has caused the death of another fan game based on one of its properties. Prime 2D, a reimagining of Metroid Prime, but in a classic 2D style, which first appeared on the internet back in April 2021, and has received multiple updates since, has been shut down. The developers behind the fan project, Team SCU, posted an update to their website, saying that "for legal reasons" they have removed the link to the demo of the game that they had been working on, along with the soundtrack, which consisted of original music composed specifically for it. Team SCU had been working on and off Prime 2D since 2004, meaning it took a handful of months for lawyers to kill a fan game that had been in the making for well over a decade.

This bit of news follows the shutdown of the Project+ bracket at this year's Riptide tournament, while also ironically occurring during the same week as Sonic Amateur Games Expo, in which SEGA actively encourages fans to create fan-made romhacks and even full games based on their properties.

Source

 

[MetoMeto]

That is not how copyright law works.

thats not whats important here.

 

[MochaMilk]

I couldn't live with myself knowing that I've demolished someone's passion project that was a love letter to my company, showing their support and endearment towards one of my franchises.
Knowing that I've stomped someone's will to keep expressing their creativity using a media that adore.
Knowing that someone learned how to program a game and spent countless hours on a project just to show their dedication.
How do the Nintendo higherups fucking sleep at night?

 

[smf]

If nothing, they have free promotion of Metroid.

Without their consent.

Its like me promoting Coca-Cola on my t-shirt and coca-cola comes at me and sue me
for giving them free publicity.

I'm assuming that metroid prime 2d was going to be distributed.

So it would be like you making millions of t coca cola t-shirts and giving them away but also putting your company name on the t-shirt as well. Which would be trading on the consumers good will of coca cola in a massive trademark violation.

I dont see how in any way shape or form they need to and have right to shut down someones fun time project.

It's all fun and games until it's someone who violates your rights.

If Nintendo allow people to use the metroid trademark, then it could cause Nintendo significant harm

https://www.inta.org/fact-sheets/trademark-dilution-intended-for-a-non-legal-audience/

Laws are made by people so they arent perfect, and frankly some are stupid. Thats it.

Some are, this isn't.

I couldn't live with myself knowing that I've demolished someone's passion project that was a love letter to my company, showing their support and endearment towards one of my franchises.
Knowing that I've stomped someone's will to keep expressing their creativity using a media that adore.
Knowing that someone learned how to program a game and spent countless hours on a project just to show their dedication.
How do the Nintendo higherups fucking sleep at night?

They probably sleep well at night because they don't listen to this kind of gas lighting. You can turn off the drama as they aren't reading

 

[subcon959]

It's interesting to read some of the responses to this situation considering it's on a mod-centric gaming forum.

I think Nintendo will do alright regardless, but there's more corporate support here than I would've expected.

 

[MrHuu]

It's interesting to read some of the responses to this situation considering it's on a mod-centric gaming forum.

I think Nintendo will do alright regardless, but there's more corporate support here than I would've expected.

There are a lot of reasons on why to modify hard or software.
A lot of reasons don't involve trademark / copyright violation.

Some think it's fine, others don't. Nintendo apparently doesn't, and i can't blame them.

But hey, we all appreciate a good gaming experience, I believe that's why we're here. i think.

 

[subcon959]

There are a lot of reasons on why to modify hard or software.
A lot of reasons don't involve trademark / copyright violation.

No but I think they pretty much all violate the TOS, which sort of goes against the 'Nintendo is right' mantra.

 

[smf]

Some think it's fine, others don't. Nintendo apparently doesn't, and i can't blame them.

It's not a black/white thing either, some people think downloading every nintendo game is fine but think it's bad if someone is making money ouf of piracy. Some people don't even care about that.

It's like breaking any law, some people will steal things and then accept punishment when they are caught by the police and some will argue that it's not fair.

You have to be pretty naive to think you can make something with someone elses copyright property and not get some kind of takedown.

"We're really special because we're the first to think of making a metroid 2d fan game. "

"No, you're the first to think you could get away with it."

No but I think they pretty much all violate the TOS, which sort of goes against the 'Nintendo is right' mantra.

You can steal stuff but think poorly of the people who get caught & think it's right they are punished.

It's not black and white, you're not part of a gang where everyone has sworn a blood oath to whatever your opinion is.

 

[asiekierka]

Since everyone will be doing it, it could be problematic for Nintendo to stop people from creating unauthorized games without Nintendo's permission. Its all about legallity.

No. It's about Nintendo's business model: their profit relies on them being the only company you can go to if you want some Mario, or some Zelda, or some Pokemon.

Why dont people try to make a fan made Final Fantasy games? Or a Castlevania one? You will get the same result: You will be NOT authorized to create a dedicated fan game using those IP's.

Why not try to create a fan made Sonic the Hedgehog, or Touhou game instead? Oh, right. Those don't fit your argument. These publishers celebrate their fandoms' creative output. Sure, they set boundaries and rules - but they give their fans ways to express their creativity within that framework. (SEGA even has an official platform for uploading ROM hacks! That's very cool, and not talked about anywhere near often enough.) While you can make the counter-argument that this is because said fandoms rely on fanwork for increased profit (Sonic's official games have a very mixed track record, and Touhou's fandom growth pretty much lives off of secondary creations) - it is easy to show that there are "more lenient" and "less lenient" rightsholders in the current gaming industry.

Nintendo is well within their right to take down unauthorized fan games. That is absolutely undeniable, within the current status quo. However, that doesn't mean people cannot criticize Nintendo for their actions - especially if numerous publishers and franchises exist which take a much more lenient stance.

I do personally think that people who want to donate their free labor and time to a franchise are better off just giving up on Nintendo, period. However, I can't make that decision for them.

 

[subcon959]

It's not black and white, you're not part of a gang where everyone has sworn a blood oath to whatever your opinion is.

Wait, are you saying I cut my palm for no reason?

 

[Boydy86]

I couldn't live with myself knowing that I've demolished someone's passion project that was a love letter to my company, showing their support and endearment towards one of my franchises.
Knowing that I've stomped someone's will to keep expressing their creativity using a media that adore.
Knowing that someone learned how to program a game and spent countless hours on a project just to show their dedication.
How do the Nintendo higherups fucking sleep at night?

They don't sleep at night, they sleep at daytime, hanging upside down in a dark room.

 

[smf]

SEGA even has an official platform for uploading ROM hacks!

Where is this?

Nintendo is well within their right to take down unauthorized fan games. That is absolutely undeniable, within the current status quo. However, that doesn't mean people cannot criticize Nintendo for their actions - especially if numerous publishers and franchises exist which take a much more lenient stance.

You can ask nicely & they can say yes or no, but criticizing someone for exercising their legal rights is not helpful to the outcome you want and it comes across as entitlement.

 

[asiekierka]

Where is this?

On Steam. Their Genesis/Mega Drive emulator has Steam Workshop integration for every game available within it on Steam.

Their social media manager also clarified on Twitter recently that non-profit Sonic fan games are, in the general case, absolutely acceptable - see https://twitter.com/KatieChrz/status/1391900579966844930.

You can ask nicely & they can say no, but criticizing someone for exercising their legal rights is not helpful.

Companies are often criticized for doing things which the people don't like - be it aggresive tax optimization, negatively affecting the environment, or underpaying and mistreating their employees. While nowhere near as severe, it's fair to criticize Nintendo for their practices regarding IP management - especially since you can point to other large publishers who take a different approach.

As said above, I do think it's more productive to just not partake in Nintendo fangames than to partake in Nintendo fangames and then criticize Nintendo for taking them down - I think their stance is pretty well-known by now. There's plenty of publishers and franchises who will gladly welcome your free labor instead. Alternatively, you can do what Freedom Planet, Them's Fighting Herds and many other game developers did, and turn a fangame into an original IP.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Companies are often criticized for doing things which the people don't lik

there's doing things what fans don't like and than there's nintendo absolutely shitting all over their fans

 

[smf]

Their social media manager also clarified on Twitter recently that non-profit Sonic fan games are, in the general case, absolutely acceptable - see https://twitter.com/KatieChrz/status/1391900579966844930.

So long as no profit is involved, there is usually* no issue with y'all using our blue boy to hone your art and dev skills. *((for legal reasons I can't promise all content is ok))

Basically they can't be bothered, but will if they change their mind.

I'm not sure their social media manager should be giving any kind of legal advice though.

Companies are often criticized for doing things which the people don't like - be it aggresive tax optimization, negatively affecting the environment, or underpaying and mistreating their employees. While nowhere near as severe, it's fair to criticize Nintendo for their practices regarding IP management - especially since you can point to other large publishers who take a different approach.

I agree that complaining that they won't let you steal their stuff is different to them not paying tax or polluting the environment, your first step in the later is to not support them financially.

I'm not sure that they would be worried about you boycotting them, when you want to play free games that weren't made by them.

If nintendo allowed metroid branded games there would be so many of them that your reaction to prime 2d would be "not another bloody metroid game, I'm sick of metroid games"

 

[asiekierka]

So long as no profit is involved, there is usually* no issue with y'all using our blue boy to hone your art and dev skills. *((for legal reasons I can't promise all content is ok))

Basically they can't be bothered, but will if they change their mind.

It's more a legal cover against something they might actually need to take a stance on - for instance, a game considered pornographic or offensive which extensively utilizes Sonic property. Generally, companies which give some kind of statement on fanwork permission will usually have a cover of this kind - this is, in my opinion, acceptable in the current status quo.

You can still see the difference with the fact Sonic fans have a yearly expo celebrating their fangames, whereas in the Nintendo world this would probably serve as a first-come-first-served list of games to take down.

I agree that complaining that they won't let you steal their stuff is different to them not paying tax or polluting the environment, your first step in the later is to not support them financially.

I'm not sure that they would be worried about you boycotting them, when you want to play free games that weren't made by them.

I'd make the argument that most people who play Nintendo fangames also partake in official Nintendo games (given the forum, however, I can't really say for sure how many actually pay for the official games, unfortunately). I'd also make the argument that Nintendo franchises rely, to some extent, on continued awareness and nostalgia - be it retro YouTubers painting the image of a Nintendo-centric game childhood, parents buying their kids a Mario game as they look back fondly on their own SNES, etc.

If nintendo allowed metroid branded games there would be so many of them that your reaction to prime 2d would be "not another bloody metroid game, I'm sick of metroid games"

I don't think people refused to buy Sonic Mania because of all the dozens of Sonic ROM hacks that existed.

 

[Valkri599]

Always sucks to see these get blasted. I get why they do but creativity going down the drain is never fun to see.

 

[tabzer]

No but I think they pretty much all violate the TOS, which sort of goes against the 'Nintendo is right' mantra.

I mean, there are surprisingly few people who aren't surprised and not getting upset over the expected outcome. There are smart ways to circumvent this situation. Have you heard about shutting the fuck up?

I mean, I do hope that someone can get an amazing IP defiling project that does better than the original. That would be actual art. However, I don't miss something that never existed.

 

[MochaMilk]

Where is this?



You can ask nicely & they can say yes or no, but criticizing someone for exercising their legal rights is not helpful to the outcome you want and it comes across as entitlement.

The thing is though, as far as I can understand, these creators are in their full legal right to create these fan games. They're non profit, thus being under fair use. Nintendo threatens and pushes that this is illegal, though it isn't. They've always been deceitful about piracy, modding and fan creation. So yes, they're in their full legal right to be able to take these games down, but their spoken motivation for doing so is false and unjust. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I heard this was the case.

 

[MadMakuFuuma]

Where is this?
.

steam, mega drive/genesis roms. it exists, and you can check anytime

 

[subcon959]

The thing is though, as far as I can understand, these creators are in their full legal right to create these fan games. They're non profit, thus being under fair use. Nintendo threatens and pushes that this is illegal, though it isn't. They've always been deceitful about piracy, modding and fan creation. So yes, they're in their full legal right to be able to take these games down, but their spoken motivation for doing so is false and unjust. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I heard this was the case.

I think fair use is supposed to apply to things like journalistic work such as including images or video in reviews.