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Topic: Please Avoid Discussing Fangames

Posts 1 to 5 of 5

John_Johnson

Fangames are an important part of all gaming communities and they need a healthy environment to thrive and develop. I believe that this environment is compromised when fangames are given prominent media exposure on news sites such as nintendolife. It's a well-known fact that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are trigger-happy when it comes to taking down fangames, but they tend to be docile towards games that avoid the spotlight. The recent debacle with the Pokémon FPS takedown and the less recent takedown of the 2D Metroid Prime game is proof positive that media exposure can put promising fangames at risk before they get a chance to spread their wings and fly. Therefore, it is my request that nintendolife refrain from writing and promoting stories about Nintendo fangames. Theoretically, this will allow for more fangames to prosper and avoid the dreaded DMCA. I hope you consider my request. Thank you.

John_Johnson

NinChocolate

Pretty sure that Pokémon FPS creator was well served by the coverage. Did they express regret over all the exposure they got? Wasn’t that the point?

NinChocolate

WoomyNNYes

@John_Johnson This is more of a collection of schmo-game-likers, in here. If you want to communicate with nintendolife, the Contact button is below, in the red banner.

Edited on by WoomyNNYes

Extreme bicycle rider (<--Link to a favorite bike video)
'Tendo liker

Matt_Barber

This is all ignoring the fact that there are dozens of Nintendo fan games that have received a considerable amount of coverage and haven't yet been taken down. An obvious example would be Secret Maryo Chronicles, from 2003, that's somehow managed to sit unmolested for the past 18 years. It's surely not because it has flown under the radar for all that time either, as hundreds of hits on news sites show up for it.

Rather, it's because the people who made the game made sure that they stayed on the right side of the law regarding copyright and trademarks. Indeed, pretty much all the games that get taken down are ones where they've blatantly appropriated a Nintendo trademark in the title. Just find a name for your fan game that doesn't include Mario, Zelda, Pokemon or whatever, and you'll probably be OK.

Matt_Barber

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