@Xenocity Considering inflation is hugely important when considering prices from the past compared with now. If we don't then everything in the past is inevitably cheaper than everything in the future and we can only conclude that everything now is too expensive.
Take the average US wage, which is also worth considering when trying to figure out what people can afford: in 1993 it was just $23k, and now it's double that at over $46k, but it wouldn't be very accurate for me to cite just these two figures and say that Americans are twice as rich now as they were nearly 25 years ago. It might be true, but living expenses have gone up accordingly too - and not always at the same rate!
I agree that the 3DS was a more expensive entry at launch compared to other handhelds, however that fact alone doesn't allow for an accurate comparison when discussing different handhelds at different points in history. The way the price has changed for the 3DS really doesn't seem all that different to how prices have changed for previous handhelds, yet it is on track to become Nintendo's worst performing handheld. Getting the launch price right is definitely important for the NX, but I think it's unwise to suggest that this is all that causes the 3DS to struggle.
Might as well toss in a disclaimer: I actually really like the 3DS! That said, I did wait for quite a while before buying one (which is not how I'd usually approach a new Nintendo handheld). In my case, I felt it was hard to justify with a limited library of games, I hated the idea that it wasn't region-free when the DS was, and I was pretty confident that, just as with every handheld Nintendo releases, there'd be a newer model to look into later. I eventually bought a 3DS XL about two and a half years ago.
@Xenocity: Thanks for the in-depth reply! You are right that sales figures don't tell the whole story, and some of your observations about the games selling alongside those handhelds are good, although if we want to be really precise then we need to adjust all of those dollar figures for inflation.
The Game Boy at its original price of US$100 converts to about US$164 nowadays, with the reduced price being a bit over US$80. The Game Boy Advance's original price of US$100 converts to about $134 (cheaper than the GB's original price!) To buy a new DS for US$150 in 2004 is equivalent to spending just under US$190 now, making it a very similar price to the reduced 3DS.
Even if the dollar amounts appear similar over the years, once inflation is taken into account it is clear that upgrading from a GB/GBC to a GBA, or a GBA to a DS, actually represented quite a significant increase in price!
However, with inflation adjusted figures, it is also obvious that there is actually very little (less than US$5) difference between the price of a DS and the reduced price of a 3DS, yet the DS has sold more than three times as many units. Granted the 3DS hasn't been around for ten years, but at the rate it's currently selling it would not get even close to the sales record of the DS. Can we really blame the relatively poor sales on the 3DS' launch and initial price alone?
I'll keep in mind what you've said about using vgchartz for the future, although going by Wikipedia and other sources it does seem that my general point about Nintendo handhelds doing better than consoles still stands.
It's a rumour that's already been mentioned in a few places, but I hope that 2016 is the year we get confirmation that the NX is a combination of a handheld and console unit to replace both the 3DS and the Wii U. @Grumblevolcano is right to point out the sliding sales for the home console, but it's also worth noting that every Nintendo handheld has outsold the Nintendo console counterpart of its generation, often by a very wide margin.
Here's a quick summary of Nintendo's global sales figures: 1. Nintendo DS: 154.88 million 2. Game Boy: 118.69 million 3. Wii: 101.18 million 4. Game Boy Advance: 81.51 million 5. Nintendo Entertainment System: 61.91 million 6. Nintendo 3DS: 56.59 million 7. Super Nintendo Entertainment System: 49.10 million 8. Nintendo 64: 32.93 million 9. Gamecube: 21.74 million 10. Wii U: 11.69 million (Source: http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/Hardware/Global/)
For the sake of comparison (and for those who don't feel like clicking the link), the Nintendo DS is the second highest selling video game machine of all time, narrowly beaten by the PS2, which sold 157.68 million in its lifetime (less than 3 million more). The Game Boy places third, followed by the original Playstation in fourth and then the Wii in fifth.
That said, if the NX is to succeed as a handheld/console hybrid Nintendo need to figure out why only a third of the people who bought a DS decided to buy a 3DS. The conversion rate from GB to GBA wasn't nearly so bad, and going from GBA to DS saw a massive increase in units sold.
Aside from that, I'd like to see a better VC library and a system that doesn't involve buying the same VC games every generation. Nintendo has an amazing backlog of great games but they don't seem to make much use of it.
@shaneoh Thanks for the reply, sorry for misinterpreting your original post. That's an interesting comparison of the words, definitely not something that I'd thought of
@shaneoh It's awfully hard to express pronunciation through a text-only post, but I'm guessing that your problem is that he is using a hard 'g' sound instead of a soft 'g' sound? If that's the case, then I hate to break it to you, but his pronunciation of 'Magus' is more linguistically correct than yours. 'Magus' and 'Mage' do not have the same vowel combinations, hence the different 'g' sounds.
@nintendude1229 Couldn't agree with you more, FOMT is undoubtedly my favourite HM title ever. Sadly I've yet to find another HM title that I enjoyed as much.
As others have pointed out, SEGA often says this. If nobody's already done so it's probably worth adding this mea culpa to stage one of the infamous "Sonic Cycle".
As for me, I'm happy enough just to play Sonic 1 and 2 on the 3DS (and maybe Sonic 3 or Sonic & Knuckles someday?)
That picture strikes me as a bit odd - how many Wii U games are there which allow you to have eight players playing off what I can only assume to be the one console (given that there's only one gamepad)?
Still rather frustrated with Nintendolife (and other sources) by the blatantly biased and now uninformed reporting on the guy getting sued by TPC. I don't believe that this guy deserves the massive amount of support that he has garnered, but ironically enough, everybody who has badmouthed TPC in support of him has only helped him to get himself into even more hot water. Want to support a fan being sued by a big company? Either report all of the facts or don't bother. This is the real world, it's not as simple as "goodies" and "baddies".
Alex, I don't mean to sound rude but you clearly don't understand the ins and outs of legal matters like this. This case is not at all over. To quote the guy involved himself:
["We had agreed to a settlement once the story broke on motherboard we got a email saying they were pulling the offer because I was bad mouthing them tho I was not," Jones says via email. "The lawyer I was working with is trying to get them to put the settlement back on the table so that we can be done with this entire thing."] (http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/10/05/the-pokemon-company-sued-a-party-planner-for-infringement-but-not-all-is-as-it-seems.aspx)
Note how Jones seems distinctly unhappy that he now is unable to pay TPC $4000? That should be the first hint that TPC isn't letting him off scot-free. A settlement is an "easy" opportunity to end a legal matter, often before it goes to court - Jones pays $4000, TPC doesn't take him to court. Furthermore, paying a settlement is generally far cheaper than actually allowing a case to go to court. Withdrawing a settlement means that Jones can no longer end the matter without it going before court, which would cost him much more than $4000. That's why he wants his lawyer to try and get the settlement option back.
TPC is not giving up because they are "worried that they would come across as a bunch of malingering gits", they are withdrawing the settlement because Jones and his story have actively encouraged a lot of bad press about TPC (for example, journalists referring to them as "malingering gits"). They probably saw their settlement offer of $4000 as pretty reasonable, perhaps even generous - in response, Jones complained to every outlet that he could and started a very public campaign to raise the money, claiming all the while that he was just a hapless die-hard fan who had done nothing wrong. From TPC's point of view, Jones was acting in bad faith and so they decided to deny him the chance to settle without going to court.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor do I have any experience in legal matters - I'm just a random on the internet who was interested in finding out more about a story that has been very poorly reported by several websites.
@PlywoodStick "You don't know his economic situation."
It would be very easy for Mr Jones to prove to TPC - or anybody for that matter - that he couldn't pay the fine if that were indeed the case. Just produce bank statements, pay slips or a summary of his taxable income from the last financial year. TPC has nothing to gain by agreeing to settle with Mr Jones and co. for an amount of money that he can't pay - they'd just waste 45 days and then go back to lawsuit. Mr Jones, on the other hand, told the internet that he couldn't afford it without a shred of proof and would have gotten out of paying the full settlement fee entirely if the settlement wasn't withdrawn (actually as @ikki5 pointed out he nearly made $100 profit). I'm far more inclined to believe that he could afford to pay the fine but didn't want to go through the difficulty of actually doing so.
Thanks to @Kalmaro @ikki5 @PlywoodStick @Fee for sharing your insights and interpretations on David & Goliath by the way, I'm actually not too big on bible studies (though I did attend a Christian school) but it was still interesting to read
@Caryslan Good to see a post from somebody passionate about IP protection, it's really disappointing to see how the official outlets pretty much ignored this side of it. Best of luck with your writing
@crimsontadpoles @90sRetroGaming @Rhydas You seem to have misunderstood the article: TPC originally were willing to settle for $4000. If he had just paid the $4000 the whole affair would have been over and done with. Now that Jones has generated so much bad publicity for them, TPC has decided that they will not allow Jones to settle and that they will take him to court. Just like how a C&D seems like a great option when you're hit with a $4000 legal fee, a $4000 legal fee seems pretty appealing once you realize that your online campaigning has gotten you into a lawsuit with an international company.
It is not at all surprising given how Jones has helped to whip up a gaming media frenzy portraying himself as a hapless victim.
Let's not forget that Jones is basically an IP thief who used another artist's works to promote an event on behalf of his private business as well as his business in general. Unless he's a really crappy businessman he no doubt intended to profit from this event (the fifth such event that he'd been involved with) - and if you can't see how somebody could profit by owning the advertised venue and selling alcoholic drinks at an event with a $2 entry fee then you aren't really well equipped to discuss the money involved in this.
No matter how you slice it, we all know that plagiarism is a crime. Would you still feel that Jones was the victim if he and his company had stolen the artwork from a struggling artist who couldn't afford the lawyers to stop them? Of course not. There are plenty of times when we've seen big companies abuse the law to the detriment of undeserving individuals - this isn't one of them.
If TCP allowed the party to go ahead while knowing about it, anybody would be allowed to use official Pokemon artwork to advertise any business without seeking any permission whatsoever. You might think that sounds ridiculous, but that's what "legal precedent" is all about.
As a side note, it is probably also worth noting that the "David vs Goliath" is a poor comparison to make. Jones, his associate and his company are listed in this lawsuit, and as I stated in the previous article, it seems highly unlikely that they would have genuinely been unable to pay the legal fees.
(For bonus marks, I'll also point out that the tale of David and Goliath takes place during a war, Goliath sought to decide the outcome of a war via one-on-one combat between two champions, David only fought Goliath when promised a reward, deliberately refused to wear armour when offered it before the fight and easily slew Goliath using a ranged weapon in melee combat. If anything this tale would be better used as an analogy for how a clever, confident and ruthless individual can obtain great rewards effortlessly by taking advantage of a given situation.)
@thehoppypoppy Generally you need to be able to prove that you require a payment plan if you want to be successful in getting one. Either this guy wasn't able to prove it (meaning that he actually is capable of stumping up $4000 but doesn't want to) or he didn't make any/enough effort to prove it.
It is also worth keeping in mind that he's not the only one listed as a defendant in this lawsuit. "Ruckus Productions" is the company listed, with Ramar Larkin Jones (the man this article is all about) and Zach Shore as the two people associated with this. They would need to prove that two working adults and the company that they own make less than $90 per day in order to demonstrate that they could not come up with $4000 in 45 days.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I think that a lawyer would have been able to secure a better outcome. Failing that, as @Kalmaro suggests, a bank could help him with a loan for part or all of the money.
@Sakura_Moonlight2421 I noticed a more recent comment on his gofundme campaign page saying much the same as I did, so I'd assume that at least one person has already done so.
Kind of disappointing to see how many people quickly choose sides on this without bothering to read or consider the details:
1. As is pointed out in the headline to the article, the body of the article, and by many commenters, this is not Nintendo, this is The Pokemon Company. Feel free to boycott Pokemon games if you hate this company protecting their IP in this manner, but don't go throwing out your Wii U or 3DS in protest because that's unnecessary overkill. There are plenty of great games on both consoles produced by companies completely unrelated to TPC.
2. I know that everybody likes to believe that we're only in it for the love of the games but no business-owner does anything for a loss (unless it is for charity in which case it's a tax write-off, however I think that we can all agree that a Pokemon tournament is not charity). If this guy can't afford a $4000 lawsuit, then he most definitely can't afford to hold a loss-making tournament out of the goodness of his heart. There is no doubt that something about this would have generated some form of profit for him, and TPC's lawsuit says as much.
3. Everything about this event was Pokemon themed: Pokemon games, Pokemon music, Pokemon-themed alcoholic beverages... Most of us know enough about IPs and precedents to understand that, at some point, somebody will get stung doing stuff like this. Charging entry fees and using Pokemon to advertise is probably pushing it just that bit too far. A cease and desist stops one party, suing for $4000 stops anybody from thinking about holding a similar party now or in the future. Harsh, but effective.
4. Contrary to what his gofundme campaign alludes to, this is not his first unofficial Pokemon party, and he is not being sued for organising a single party. TPC is attributing all five parties to this guy's company, which is is made pretty clear in the lawsuit documents along with TPC's strong belief that their IP has been used without consent at each of the previous parties (and given that every party has been called "the X annual unofficial Pokemon PAX kickoff party" that's a pretty safe bet to make). Consequently, this is a lawsuit for five parties across five years, four of which have already happened, and that'll include any profits made from all five parties. $4000 seems like a lot, but not when it's spread across five years.
5. Last but not least, he refused to hire a lawyer to help himself out, and he agreed to the final outcome. He might not like it, but if he wanted a better outcome he should have sought legal advice.
I don't like to see big companies sue "the little guy", however in this case "the little guy" is an IP thief. Just because you're a fan of something doesn't mean you can use that IP however you like. I don't like to see anybody, big corporation or individual, stealing the intellectual property of somebody else for fame or profit without even attempting to contact the IP owner.
If you still feel bad for the guy don't worry, he's already got over $3000 for his gofundme campaign... although asking for donations to pay a fine from violating the law completely violates gofundme's TOS, so obviously he hasn't learnt a lot about understanding how to follow rules.
I loved SEGA as a kid but post-Dreamcast they really haven't impressed - even this 'mea culpa' feels somewhat lacking. I wouldn't go so far to describe myself as feeling 'betrayed' (more disappointed than anything), but regardless of my own feelings on the matter I do not believe that you can "partially" betray someone. I'd love to be proven wrong, but the use of qualifiers like that suggest that it's nothing more than lip service.
As for a wishlist of SEGA '90's quality revisits', I definitely agree that it's time to tap into something that isn't Sonic. Don't get me wrong, I loved a lot of the older Sonic games, but bringing out another new Sonic that will inevitably make all the same mistakes really isn't the way for SEGA to show people that they've changed. Lots of people have made great suggestions here, I'd like to see another Alex Kidd game myself
Comments 18
Re: Feature: Our Staff's Hopes and Dreams for Nintendo's 2016
@Xenocity Considering inflation is hugely important when considering prices from the past compared with now. If we don't then everything in the past is inevitably cheaper than everything in the future and we can only conclude that everything now is too expensive.
Take the average US wage, which is also worth considering when trying to figure out what people can afford: in 1993 it was just $23k, and now it's double that at over $46k, but it wouldn't be very accurate for me to cite just these two figures and say that Americans are twice as rich now as they were nearly 25 years ago. It might be true, but living expenses have gone up accordingly too - and not always at the same rate!
I agree that the 3DS was a more expensive entry at launch compared to other handhelds, however that fact alone doesn't allow for an accurate comparison when discussing different handhelds at different points in history. The way the price has changed for the 3DS really doesn't seem all that different to how prices have changed for previous handhelds, yet it is on track to become Nintendo's worst performing handheld. Getting the launch price right is definitely important for the NX, but I think it's unwise to suggest that this is all that causes the 3DS to struggle.
Might as well toss in a disclaimer: I actually really like the 3DS! That said, I did wait for quite a while before buying one (which is not how I'd usually approach a new Nintendo handheld). In my case, I felt it was hard to justify with a limited library of games, I hated the idea that it wasn't region-free when the DS was, and I was pretty confident that, just as with every handheld Nintendo releases, there'd be a newer model to look into later. I eventually bought a 3DS XL about two and a half years ago.
Re: Feature: Our Staff's Hopes and Dreams for Nintendo's 2016
@Xenocity: Thanks for the in-depth reply! You are right that sales figures don't tell the whole story, and some of your observations about the games selling alongside those handhelds are good, although if we want to be really precise then we need to adjust all of those dollar figures for inflation.
The Game Boy at its original price of US$100 converts to about US$164 nowadays, with the reduced price being a bit over US$80. The Game Boy Advance's original price of US$100 converts to about $134 (cheaper than the GB's original price!) To buy a new DS for US$150 in 2004 is equivalent to spending just under US$190 now, making it a very similar price to the reduced 3DS.
Even if the dollar amounts appear similar over the years, once inflation is taken into account it is clear that upgrading from a GB/GBC to a GBA, or a GBA to a DS, actually represented quite a significant increase in price!
However, with inflation adjusted figures, it is also obvious that there is actually very little (less than US$5) difference between the price of a DS and the reduced price of a 3DS, yet the DS has sold more than three times as many units. Granted the 3DS hasn't been around for ten years, but at the rate it's currently selling it would not get even close to the sales record of the DS. Can we really blame the relatively poor sales on the 3DS' launch and initial price alone?
I'll keep in mind what you've said about using vgchartz for the future, although going by Wikipedia and other sources it does seem that my general point about Nintendo handhelds doing better than consoles still stands.
Re: Feature: Our Staff's Hopes and Dreams for Nintendo's 2016
It's a rumour that's already been mentioned in a few places, but I hope that 2016 is the year we get confirmation that the NX is a combination of a handheld and console unit to replace both the 3DS and the Wii U. @Grumblevolcano is right to point out the sliding sales for the home console, but it's also worth noting that every Nintendo handheld has outsold the Nintendo console counterpart of its generation, often by a very wide margin.
Here's a quick summary of Nintendo's global sales figures:
1. Nintendo DS: 154.88 million
2. Game Boy: 118.69 million
3. Wii: 101.18 million
4. Game Boy Advance: 81.51 million
5. Nintendo Entertainment System: 61.91 million
6. Nintendo 3DS: 56.59 million
7. Super Nintendo Entertainment System: 49.10 million
8. Nintendo 64: 32.93 million
9. Gamecube: 21.74 million
10. Wii U: 11.69 million
(Source: http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/Hardware/Global/)
For the sake of comparison (and for those who don't feel like clicking the link), the Nintendo DS is the second highest selling video game machine of all time, narrowly beaten by the PS2, which sold 157.68 million in its lifetime (less than 3 million more). The Game Boy places third, followed by the original Playstation in fourth and then the Wii in fifth.
That said, if the NX is to succeed as a handheld/console hybrid Nintendo need to figure out why only a third of the people who bought a DS decided to buy a 3DS. The conversion rate from GB to GBA wasn't nearly so bad, and going from GBA to DS saw a massive increase in units sold.
Aside from that, I'd like to see a better VC library and a system that doesn't involve buying the same VC games every generation. Nintendo has an amazing backlog of great games but they don't seem to make much use of it.
Re: Video: Learn a Little More About Chrono Trigger
@shaneoh Thanks for the reply, sorry for misinterpreting your original post. That's an interesting comparison of the words, definitely not something that I'd thought of
Re: Video: Learn a Little More About Chrono Trigger
@shaneoh It's awfully hard to express pronunciation through a text-only post, but I'm guessing that your problem is that he is using a hard 'g' sound instead of a soft 'g' sound? If that's the case, then I hate to break it to you, but his pronunciation of 'Magus' is more linguistically correct than yours. 'Magus' and 'Mage' do not have the same vowel combinations, hence the different 'g' sounds.
Fortunately for us 'Magus' is actually a real word, and so rather than me attempt to explain all of this in a lengthy post it's far easier for me to just point you towards the correct pronunciation. Take your pick:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/magus
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/magus
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/magus
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/magus
Re: Review: Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town (Wii U eShop / GBA)
@nintendude1229 Couldn't agree with you more, FOMT is undoubtedly my favourite HM title ever. Sadly I've yet to find another HM title that I enjoyed as much.
Re: Sega: Recent Sonic Games Haven't Been "Acceptable", Looking To Replicate The Past In Future Outings
As others have pointed out, SEGA often says this. If nobody's already done so it's probably worth adding this mea culpa to stage one of the infamous "Sonic Cycle".
As for me, I'm happy enough just to play Sonic 1 and 2 on the 3DS (and maybe Sonic 3 or Sonic & Knuckles someday?)
Re: Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 Will Contain Over 500 Beasts For You To Befriend
A bit surprised by all the pessimism given that DQM Joker and DQM Joker 2 both made it to the west just fine... Or am I missing something here?
Re: Editorial: A Wii U Price Cut is Still Worthwhile Despite Its Ongoing Woes
That picture strikes me as a bit odd - how many Wii U games are there which allow you to have eight players playing off what I can only assume to be the one console (given that there's only one gamepad)?
Re: Nintendo Life Weekly: Skull Kid Confirmed as Playable on Wii U Hyrule Warriors, Pokémon Lawsuit Flip-Flop and More
@edgedino Thanks for the kind words
Re: Nintendo Life Weekly: Skull Kid Confirmed as Playable on Wii U Hyrule Warriors, Pokémon Lawsuit Flip-Flop and More
Still rather frustrated with Nintendolife (and other sources) by the blatantly biased and now uninformed reporting on the guy getting sued by TPC. I don't believe that this guy deserves the massive amount of support that he has garnered, but ironically enough, everybody who has badmouthed TPC in support of him has only helped him to get himself into even more hot water. Want to support a fan being sued by a big company? Either report all of the facts or don't bother. This is the real world, it's not as simple as "goodies" and "baddies".
Alex, I don't mean to sound rude but you clearly don't understand the ins and outs of legal matters like this. This case is not at all over. To quote the guy involved himself:
["We had agreed to a settlement once the story broke on motherboard we got a email saying they were pulling the offer because I was bad mouthing them tho I was not," Jones says via email. "The lawyer I was working with is trying to get them to put the settlement back on the table so that we can be done with this entire thing."] (http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/10/05/the-pokemon-company-sued-a-party-planner-for-infringement-but-not-all-is-as-it-seems.aspx)
Note how Jones seems distinctly unhappy that he now is unable to pay TPC $4000? That should be the first hint that TPC isn't letting him off scot-free. A settlement is an "easy" opportunity to end a legal matter, often before it goes to court - Jones pays $4000, TPC doesn't take him to court. Furthermore, paying a settlement is generally far cheaper than actually allowing a case to go to court. Withdrawing a settlement means that Jones can no longer end the matter without it going before court, which would cost him much more than $4000. That's why he wants his lawyer to try and get the settlement option back.
TPC is not giving up because they are "worried that they would come across as a bunch of malingering gits", they are withdrawing the settlement because Jones and his story have actively encouraged a lot of bad press about TPC (for example, journalists referring to them as "malingering gits"). They probably saw their settlement offer of $4000 as pretty reasonable, perhaps even generous - in response, Jones complained to every outlet that he could and started a very public campaign to raise the money, claiming all the while that he was just a hapless die-hard fan who had done nothing wrong. From TPC's point of view, Jones was acting in bad faith and so they decided to deny him the chance to settle without going to court.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor do I have any experience in legal matters - I'm just a random on the internet who was interested in finding out more about a story that has been very poorly reported by several websites.
Re: The Pokémon Company Withdraws Settlement in Lawsuit Over Copyright Infringement
@PlywoodStick "You don't know his economic situation."
It would be very easy for Mr Jones to prove to TPC - or anybody for that matter - that he couldn't pay the fine if that were indeed the case. Just produce bank statements, pay slips or a summary of his taxable income from the last financial year. TPC has nothing to gain by agreeing to settle with Mr Jones and co. for an amount of money that he can't pay - they'd just waste 45 days and then go back to lawsuit. Mr Jones, on the other hand, told the internet that he couldn't afford it without a shred of proof and would have gotten out of paying the full settlement fee entirely if the settlement wasn't withdrawn (actually as @ikki5 pointed out he nearly made $100 profit). I'm far more inclined to believe that he could afford to pay the fine but didn't want to go through the difficulty of actually doing so.
Thanks to @Kalmaro @ikki5 @PlywoodStick @Fee for sharing your insights and interpretations on David & Goliath by the way, I'm actually not too big on bible studies (though I did attend a Christian school) but it was still interesting to read
Re: The Pokémon Company Withdraws Settlement in Lawsuit Over Copyright Infringement
@Caryslan Good to see a post from somebody passionate about IP protection, it's really disappointing to see how the official outlets pretty much ignored this side of it. Best of luck with your writing
Re: The Pokémon Company Withdraws Settlement in Lawsuit Over Copyright Infringement
@crimsontadpoles @90sRetroGaming @Rhydas You seem to have misunderstood the article: TPC originally were willing to settle for $4000. If he had just paid the $4000 the whole affair would have been over and done with. Now that Jones has generated so much bad publicity for them, TPC has decided that they will not allow Jones to settle and that they will take him to court. Just like how a C&D seems like a great option when you're hit with a $4000 legal fee, a $4000 legal fee seems pretty appealing once you realize that your online campaigning has gotten you into a lawsuit with an international company.
It is not at all surprising given how Jones has helped to whip up a gaming media frenzy portraying himself as a hapless victim.
Let's not forget that Jones is basically an IP thief who used another artist's works to promote an event on behalf of his private business as well as his business in general. Unless he's a really crappy businessman he no doubt intended to profit from this event (the fifth such event that he'd been involved with) - and if you can't see how somebody could profit by owning the advertised venue and selling alcoholic drinks at an event with a $2 entry fee then you aren't really well equipped to discuss the money involved in this.
No matter how you slice it, we all know that plagiarism is a crime. Would you still feel that Jones was the victim if he and his company had stolen the artwork from a struggling artist who couldn't afford the lawyers to stop them? Of course not. There are plenty of times when we've seen big companies abuse the law to the detriment of undeserving individuals - this isn't one of them.
If TCP allowed the party to go ahead while knowing about it, anybody would be allowed to use official Pokemon artwork to advertise any business without seeking any permission whatsoever. You might think that sounds ridiculous, but that's what "legal precedent" is all about.
As a side note, it is probably also worth noting that the "David vs Goliath" is a poor comparison to make. Jones, his associate and his company are listed in this lawsuit, and as I stated in the previous article, it seems highly unlikely that they would have genuinely been unable to pay the legal fees.
(For bonus marks, I'll also point out that the tale of David and Goliath takes place during a war, Goliath sought to decide the outcome of a war via one-on-one combat between two champions, David only fought Goliath when promised a reward, deliberately refused to wear armour when offered it before the fight and easily slew Goliath using a ranged weapon in melee combat. If anything this tale would be better used as an analogy for how a clever, confident and ruthless individual can obtain great rewards effortlessly by taking advantage of a given situation.)
@allav866 It bugs me too.
Re: The Pokémon Company Sues Fan for Copyright Infringement, Demands $4,000 in Damages
@thehoppypoppy Generally you need to be able to prove that you require a payment plan if you want to be successful in getting one. Either this guy wasn't able to prove it (meaning that he actually is capable of stumping up $4000 but doesn't want to) or he didn't make any/enough effort to prove it.
It is also worth keeping in mind that he's not the only one listed as a defendant in this lawsuit. "Ruckus Productions" is the company listed, with Ramar Larkin Jones (the man this article is all about) and Zach Shore as the two people associated with this. They would need to prove that two working adults and the company that they own make less than $90 per day in order to demonstrate that they could not come up with $4000 in 45 days.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I think that a lawyer would have been able to secure a better outcome. Failing that, as @Kalmaro suggests, a bank could help him with a loan for part or all of the money.
@Sakura_Moonlight2421 I noticed a more recent comment on his gofundme campaign page saying much the same as I did, so I'd assume that at least one person has already done so.
Re: The Pokémon Company Sues Fan for Copyright Infringement, Demands $4,000 in Damages
@Kalmaro: Thanks, although you definitely did phrase it quite well in several of your posts
Re: The Pokémon Company Sues Fan for Copyright Infringement, Demands $4,000 in Damages
Kind of disappointing to see how many people quickly choose sides on this without bothering to read or consider the details:
1. As is pointed out in the headline to the article, the body of the article, and by many commenters, this is not Nintendo, this is The Pokemon Company. Feel free to boycott Pokemon games if you hate this company protecting their IP in this manner, but don't go throwing out your Wii U or 3DS in protest because that's unnecessary overkill. There are plenty of great games on both consoles produced by companies completely unrelated to TPC.
2. I know that everybody likes to believe that we're only in it for the love of the games but no business-owner does anything for a loss (unless it is for charity in which case it's a tax write-off, however I think that we can all agree that a Pokemon tournament is not charity). If this guy can't afford a $4000 lawsuit, then he most definitely can't afford to hold a loss-making tournament out of the goodness of his heart. There is no doubt that something about this would have generated some form of profit for him, and TPC's lawsuit says as much.
3. Everything about this event was Pokemon themed: Pokemon games, Pokemon music, Pokemon-themed alcoholic beverages... Most of us know enough about IPs and precedents to understand that, at some point, somebody will get stung doing stuff like this. Charging entry fees and using Pokemon to advertise is probably pushing it just that bit too far. A cease and desist stops one party, suing for $4000 stops anybody from thinking about holding a similar party now or in the future. Harsh, but effective.
4. Contrary to what his gofundme campaign alludes to, this is not his first unofficial Pokemon party, and he is not being sued for organising a single party. TPC is attributing all five parties to this guy's company, which is is made pretty clear in the lawsuit documents along with TPC's strong belief that their IP has been used without consent at each of the previous parties (and given that every party has been called "the X annual unofficial Pokemon PAX kickoff party" that's a pretty safe bet to make). Consequently, this is a lawsuit for five parties across five years, four of which have already happened, and that'll include any profits made from all five parties. $4000 seems like a lot, but not when it's spread across five years.
5. Last but not least, he refused to hire a lawyer to help himself out, and he agreed to the final outcome. He might not like it, but if he wanted a better outcome he should have sought legal advice.
I don't like to see big companies sue "the little guy", however in this case "the little guy" is an IP thief. Just because you're a fan of something doesn't mean you can use that IP however you like. I don't like to see anybody, big corporation or individual, stealing the intellectual property of somebody else for fame or profit without even attempting to contact the IP owner.
If you still feel bad for the guy don't worry, he's already got over $3000 for his gofundme campaign... although asking for donations to pay a fine from violating the law completely violates gofundme's TOS, so obviously he hasn't learnt a lot about understanding how to follow rules.
Re: Sega Sorry That It "Betrayed" Fans, Hopes To Win You Back With A New Game Announcement This September
I loved SEGA as a kid but post-Dreamcast they really haven't impressed - even this 'mea culpa' feels somewhat lacking. I wouldn't go so far to describe myself as feeling 'betrayed' (more disappointed than anything), but regardless of my own feelings on the matter I do not believe that you can "partially" betray someone. I'd love to be proven wrong, but the use of qualifiers like that suggest that it's nothing more than lip service.
As for a wishlist of SEGA '90's quality revisits', I definitely agree that it's time to tap into something that isn't Sonic. Don't get me wrong, I loved a lot of the older Sonic games, but bringing out another new Sonic that will inevitably make all the same mistakes really isn't the way for SEGA to show people that they've changed. Lots of people have made great suggestions here, I'd like to see another Alex Kidd game myself