Nintendo President: The Free Market Is Not A Game We Like To Play

from the no-cheat-codes-in-the-real-world dept

Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime really has a way about trying to suggest that perfectly reasonable and consumer-friendly market developments portend the end of video gaming. Two years ago, we wrote about his attempt to convince people that used video games were bad for consumers (yes, he said that) and his latest, via Slashdot, is to claim that cheap games are a risk to the entire video game industry.

His main concern, it appears, are games for mobile phones that run a dollar or two. He's complaining that these games:

Create a mentality for the consumer that a piece of gaming content should only be $2

Darn those consumers for actually going where the market goes, when Nintendo apparently would prefer to keep things priced at what the market doesn't like. Welcome to the modern world, Reggie, where prices change, and businesses adapt. I'm sure the last laptop you bought cost a lot less than the one you bought a decade ago, but that didn't herald the end of laptops. It's a digital age: prices get cheaper, and the only companies that are really at risk are those who don't adapt and don't learn to be more efficient. Oh, wait... perhaps he's telling us something about his employer...

Filed Under: business models, competition, pricing, reggie fils-aime
Companies: nintendo

DailyDirt: Gaming Can Hurt For Real

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Usually video games are played to escape from reality. The distraction from real life is supposed to be entertaining and fun. But every so often there are stories of folks who take their games a bit too far and end up getting hurt physically. Video games are getting more and more realistic all the time -- but that doesn't seem to matter that much. Here are a few game-related stories for your amusement:

Nintendo says 3D games could be bad for the development of young kids' eyes. These warnings, though, are probably only going to attract more kids to play "dangerous" 3D games. [url]

A 23-year-old man tries to play Frogger on an actual 4-lane highway -- and gets hit by an SUV. The awesome 2D graphics of Frogger must be at least partially to blame. [url]

L.A. Noire is a realistic-looking video game that has collected a lot of facial expressions. Players are supposed to be able to tell when video game characters are lying, but I wouldn't play poker with this technology just yet. [url]

Understanding Pac-Man's algorithms might help you master the game. Maybe someone will write a program that can play Pac-Man perfectly -- that program might figure out, though, that the best strategy is not to play. [url]

Filed Under: frogger, l.a. noire, pac-man, video games
Companies: nintendo

Publicity Stunt On Like Donkey Kong, After Nintendo Files Trademark For 'It's On Like Donkey Kong'

from the it's-on-like-a-promotional-stunt dept

It appears that Nintendo has filed for a trademark on "It's On Like Donkey Kong," the popular catchphrase that apparently became popular when Ice Cube used it in a song. Nintendo, of course, has a reasonable trademark on "Donkey Kong" itself. But on that phrase? That seems pretty questionable. Of course, a pretty big clue as to why Nintendo is doing this is covered in CNN's article about the trademark application: this trademark application just happened to have been noticed "just days before the latest Donkey Kong [game] is to be released." Ah, trademark abuse for publicity.

Filed Under: donkey kong, trademark
Companies: nintendo

Nintendo Doesn't Want To Criminalize Obsessed Fans... But Sometimes Will Anyway

from the well,-that's-comforting dept

A whole bunch of you have been sending over a blog post from Kotaku quoting Nintendo president Satoru Iwata responding at a shareholder meeting to a question about how the company handles "fan activities" that technically infringe on Nintendo's intellectual property. Iwatu said they don't want to criminalize fans doing something out of appreciation, but that there's a lot that goes into the decision making process:

As the principle, please understand that the question is regarding a rather delicate issue to which no one can perhaps identify a clear-cut criterion. Of course, we cannot say that we can give tacit approval to any and all the activities which threaten our intellectual properties. But on the other hand, it would not be appropriate if we treated people who did something based on affection for Nintendo, as criminals. It is true that some expressions are detrimental enough to diminish the dignity of our intellectual properties, and others destroy our intellectual properties' world-views by connecting them with something not based on fact. We think one of the criteria for deciding how to respond is whether the expression in question socially diminishes the dignity or value of our intellectual properties or not. Of course, it is very hard to have a blanket standard as this problem involves many complex elements that are very difficult to judge.

In these meanings, we cannot say OK to any and all such activities and, at the same time, it is not feasible for us to immediately respond to each small issue of this nature every time. However, these days an individual can easily transmit information through the Internet. Hearing your question today, as we cannot find these problems only by ourselves, we feel that a kind of contact window should be set up so that people can somehow report to us any inappropriate uses of Nintendo's intellectual properties which diminish their dignities or values, so that we can respond appropriately.

While a lot of people are suggesting this is a revelation, I'm not so sure. Lots of companies give this kind of wishy-washy answer on such things. I remember hearing something quite similar from Warner Bros. general counsel concerning how it views fan fiction as well. But, again, the proof is in the pudding, and when we hear stories about Nintendo shutting down a fan-made film based on The Legend of Zelda, it suggests that perhaps they're not necessarily living up to the claims made by Iwatu.

Filed Under: criminalize, fan fiction, fans
Companies: nintendo

Bunch Of Companies Sued Over Encryption Patents

from the but-of-course dept

Another day, another story of a company no one's heard of who seems to produce nothing but patents, filing a lawsuit against a ton of companies in East Texas (of course). This one, sent in by the Bored SysAdmin, involves a company called The Pacid Group, suing Asus, Samsung, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Fujitsu, LG, Gigabyte, GBT, MSI, Motorola, Research in Motion, Nikon, Microsoft, Nintendo, HTC and Palm, claiming that they all violate two of its patents (5,963,646 and 6,049,612) on encryption. While it's often difficult to find any information on the no name companies who sue big companies for patent infringement, at least The Pacid Group has a website, where it clearly shows the company's only products: patents.

As we've seen in other similar lawsuits, the company appears to think that pretty much every bit of modern technology violates its patents. According to the lawsuit, all of the following types of products may violate these patents: laptops, mobile phones, printers, routers, digital cameras, Blu-ray disk players, gaming devices, wireless adapters and portable media players. Now, sure, you could make the claim that all of these companies found these patents from a company no one had heard of, and decided to "copy" the idea into their product. Or, the fact that this basic idea appears in so many places might lead you to conclude that the idea was the natural progression of the technology and obvious to those skilled in the art, and thus not deserving of a patent. But that would make sense.

Filed Under: encryption, patents
Companies: asus, fujitsu, gbt, gigabyte, htc, lg, microsoft, motorola, msi, nikon, nintendo, palm, rim, samsung, sony, sony ericsson

Australia Disagrees With Spain & France; Says Nintendo Mod Chips Are Illegal

from the problems-down-under dept

Copyright rulings in Australia have been a real mixed bag lately, haven't they? There was the wonderful iiNet ruling that said ISPs weren't liable for actions of their users, and the ruling on telephone books saying you can't copyright facts. But then there was the Kookaburra ruling that found infringement in an 80s song of a popular children's folks song. And, to balance things out, now there's another bad ruling, that seems to go against the very principles explained in the iiNet rulings.

Slashdot points us to the news that an Australian court has ruled in favor of Nintendo, against the distributor of mod chips that can be used in Nintendo DS devices. Nintendo has been busy suing such distributors around the globe, though so far without much success. In places like Spain and France, courts were smart enough to realize that just distributing these chips -- which can be used for legal purposes as well as infringing purposes -- should not be considered infringement itself. It's the basic question of secondary liability, and figuring out if a third party should take the blame for actions of end users. In the iiNet case, the court realized that doing so would result in misplaced blame. In this case, the court didn't seem to care.

It's really too bad, because the court is basically saying that users don't have the right to modify a product they legally purchased and own. And, on top of that, a company selling a product that has perfectly legal uses can be held liable for the fact that some users also do unauthorized things with it. That's a troubling precedent by any measure.

Filed Under: australia, copyright, modchips
Companies: nintendo

Nintendo Shuts Down Fan-Made Zelda Movie

from the that's-not-connecting-with-fans dept

techflaws.org was the first of a few to point out that Nintendo, for some bizarre reason, decided to completely shut down a fan made film based on the immensely popular classic video game The Legend of Zelda. Apparently the fan-made film took a few years to produce, but once it was done, it was released and even shown in a few theaters before Nintendo flipped out and broke out the lawyers. The moviemakers caved and as a "concession" the movie was allowed to be shown online but only through the end of last year.

I'm at a loss to see how this makes any sense for Nintendo at all. Here were a bunch of fans who were helping to promote Nintendo games for free, by putting a ton of work and effort into it. And Nintendo's response is to shut them down? In what world does it make sense to stomp out your fans putting in so much time and effort to help promote your work?

Filed Under: fans, movies, zelda
Companies: nintendo

France Agrees With Spain In Saying Modding Nintendo DS Is Not Illegal

from the good-for-them dept

We had just recently written about how a Spanish court had ruled against Nintendo, saying that a company making "flash carts" for the Nintendo DS -- basically alternative cartridges that can be used for non-authorized games -- was not breaking the law. The ruling basically said that since the flash carts extended the utility of the Nintendo DS, it should be allowed. The reasoning is that Nintendo should not be the only one who can extend the functionality of its devices. This was a nice surprise, but not a huge surprise, since Spain has a good track record of reasonable copyright law decisions.

However, what is surprising is this story, sent in by a few folks, with reader "Sauce" getting it in first, noting that there has been a similar ruling in France, the inventors of the infamous "three strikes and you're out" form of copyright law. The court there seemed to have a problem with Nintendo purposely locking developers out of its device, and even suggested that it should be required to be more open to developers, like Windows. Fascinating to see European courts recognizing the rights of individuals to have a "freedom to tinker."

Filed Under: copyright, france, modding, nintendo ds
Companies: nintendo

Spanish Court Dismisses Complaint From Nintendo Against Counterfiet DS Cartridges, Since They Add Functionality

from the getting-it-right dept

It seems that Spain is a country that is pretty consistently figuring out that we shouldn't just throw out all other rights the second "piracy" is shouted by the entertainment industry. We've noted recently that the country hasn't just rejected three strikes and declared broadband a basic right, but has also ruled, repeatedly, that personal file sharing is legal. And now, it even has judges who realize that "anti-circumvention" laws should have limits as well.

As you probably know, one of the key things that the entertainment industry has pushed for throughout the world is "anti-circumvention" clauses in copyright law. In the US we have this in the DMCA and it's a total mess. The law basically says that any attempt to circumvent (or to make or sell a tool to circumvent) DRM on a digital work is a violation of the copyright law -- even if making a copy of the content in question wouldn't violate copyright law.

Spanish copyright law includes an anti-circumvention clause, but as Leo Martins alerts us, a judge in Salamanca, Spain has taken a much more nuanced view of it in a case pitting Nintendo against Grupo Movilquick, who produced alternative cartridges for Nintendo DS devices. The judge's ruling (translated from the original) appears to find that the alternative cartridges do, in fact, circumvent Nintendo's DRM and can be used for "pirating" games, but also extend the utility of the devices for perfectly legal purposes. For that reason, the judge dismissed the lawsuit (translation from the original) noting that it doesn't make sense that the law would be intended to say that only Nintendo can expand the functionality of its devices, and the fact that Nintendo doesn't offer similar functionality shouldn't preclude others from doing so. There are areas where Nintendo can still bring a lawsuit, such as for patent and trademark issues, but the judge notes those should be dealt with in a civil court.

Filed Under: anti-circumvention, competition, copyright, counterfeit cartridges, functionality, nintendo ds, spain
Companies: grupo movilquick, nintendo

Nintendo Pays Innovation Tax To Patent Holder

from the good-for-innovation? dept

A year ago, we noted that Hillcrest Labs was going after Nintendo, claiming that the Wii violated its patents. And, like so many other patent holders, Hillcrest got to take two separate cracks at Nintendo, suing in court and also filing with the ITC to block imports. Recognizing just how ridiculously costly it is to defend both the lawsuit and the ITC process, it looks like Nintendo has just agreed to pay up. The company still insists that the Wii doesn't infringe, but the system is stacked against companies who actually innovate. It's so costly to defend yourself, that it's usually just cheaper to settle. Consider it a tax on innovation... except the tax doesn't even go to anything useful.

Filed Under: innovation, patents, tax, wii
Companies: hillcrest labs, nintendo