Criticism of Nintendo
Criticism of Nintendo is a compilation of various criticisms and controversies regarding Nintendo in reverse chronological order.
#FreeMelee, November 19, 2020
#FreeMelee..[1] is a Twitter hashtag that was made November 19th, 2020 that reached #1 trending on Twitter following the announcement that Nintendo has issued a Cease and Desist[2] to The Big House (tournament) organizers which prohibited them from streaming both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate:
"The Big House is heartbroken to share we’ve received a cease and desist from Nintendo of America, Inc. to cancel our upcoming online event. We were informed we do not have permission to host or broadcast the event, primarily due to the usage of Slippi. Sadly, all our competitions are affected. We are forced to comply with the order and cancel The Big House Online for both Melee and Ultimate. Refund information will be sent shortly. We apologize to all those impacted."
This is of great severity since The Big House is the longest running annual Smash Major and due to the fact that most Smash tournaments are run without the help of Nintendo. The perception before the announcement was that Nintendo was neutral on the existence of a competitive scene, and others believed that Nintendo did not want to see a competitive scene at all. Therefore, many see this as a turning point in Nintendo's tolerance of a competitive scene since Nintendo's 2013 reversal to ban Super Smash Bros. Melee at Evo.
Timing during the COVID-19 global pandemic
Nintendo is criticized for the timing of the Cease and Desist. The announcement of the Cease and Desist comes during a time where new cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US[3] and other countries have reached an all time high. The all-time high of new cases combined with the upcoming holiday season where traveling happens the most, makes alternatives to an online tournament even more dangerous. Many criticize Nintendo for the timing of this Cease and Desist since it endangers lives of their fans as well as the health of the public. The previous The Big House tournament had an attendance of 1,787 people, and if a non-online tournament were to be held, it could become a superspreading event.
Other tournaments affected
Other notable tournaments such as Genesis (tournament) and Shine (tournament) have also been contacted[4], although an announcement by the tournament organizers have not officially announced anything at the time of writing.
Nintendo's response
Nintendo has since responded[5]:
Nintendo appreciates the love and dedication the fighting game community has for the Super Smash Bros. series. We have partnered with numerous Super Smash Bros. Tournaments in the past and have hosted our own online and offline Tournaments for the game, and we plan to continue that support in the future. Unfortunately, the upcoming Big House tournament announced plans to host an online tournament for Super Smash Bros. Melee that requires use of illegally copied versions of the game in conjunction with a mod called "Slippi" during their online event. Nintendo therefore contacted the tournament organizer to ask them to stop. They refused, leaving Nintendo no choice but to step in to protect its intellectual property and brands. Nintendo cannot condone or allow piracy of its intellectual property.
Legality
Emulators, most notably Dolphin (emulator), are legal since the source code is entirely original and non-copywrited. Playing an .iso file on the emulator is also considered legal if you have transformed that .iso from your own purchased copy of the game[6]. Nintendo is criticized for this response since the players in the tournament have bought their own copy of the game. In Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc., the ruling court ruled unanimously that code injection which does not create a derivative form of the game is legal. Nintendo in this lawsuit had to pay more than $15 million USD to Lewis Galoob Toys.
Banning of streamers due to time-zone differences of game release
Multiple streamers have been banned since the release of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, despite the game legally being out in their time-zone[7]
Joy-con class action lawsuit, 2020
Following another lawsuit in 2019, Nintendo is facing another class action lawsuit for their Joy-Con controllers' tendency to drift[8]
Joy-con class action lawsuit, 2019
A class action lawsuit was filed against Nintendo in 2019 for faulty joysticks[9]. Nintendo then offered free Joy-Con repair as a resolution.
LoveROMS.com / LoveRETRO.co, 2018
Nintendo successfully sued a hobbyist couple Jacob and Cristian Mathias for $12.2 million USD for distributing ROMs for free on LoveROMS.com and LoveRETRO.co. Ironically, there exists some evidence that alleges Nintendo had downloaded ROMs themselves through a ROM distribution site to sell them back to the public[10].
Project M, 2016
Nintendo automatically issued bans towards anyone who used the phrase "Project M" in its first party forums[11]
Evo Championship Series, 2013
After the Super Smash Bros. Melee community raised over $93k USD towards breast cancer research to be included at Evo 2013, Nintendo tried to stop the streaming of the game and the playing of the game at the tournament a few days before the tournament was to begin[12]. Immense community backlash eventually caused Nintendo to reverse the decision and the streaming of Super Smash Bros. games continued on until November of 2020 after issuing a Cease and Desist to The Big House (tournament) organizers.
MLG, 2010
Nintendo denied Major League Gaming the rights to stream Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2010[13]
MLG, 2006
Nintendo denied rights to Major League Gaming to host Super Smash Bros. Melee after its MLG Las Vegas 2006 tournament.[14] The same game returned to an MLG event later on in 2014, 8 years after however.
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc., 1992
In Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc., the court ruled unanimously in favor of Game Genie in the context of allowing Game Genie to continue modifying game code via code injection.
Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of America Inc., 1992
In Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of America Inc., the court ruled in favor of Nintendo in the context that Atari had infringed Nintendo's copyright by copying the 10NES.
Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. 1984
In Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., the court ruled in favor of Nintendo in the context that Donkey Kong had not infringed on Universal City Studio's copyright of King Kong
ESL and RedBull, unknown year
Player Hugs in conjunction with ESL and RedBull had tried to organize an event for Super Smash Bros. Melee, but Hugs claimed that Nintendo actively worked to stop it[15]
References
- ↑ "https://twitter.com/fizzi36/status/1329528527117422593". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-11-21. External link in
|title=(help) - ↑ "https://twitter.com/thebighousessb/status/1329521081577857036". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-11-21. External link in
|title=(help) - ↑ "US Daily Cases". The COVID Tracking Project. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- ↑ "NINTENDO'S HISTORY OF TRYING TO KILL SMASH - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- ↑ "https://twitter.com/pshanley88/status/1329544558288400384/photo/1". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-11-21. External link in
|title=(help) - ↑ "Dolphin Emulator". Dolphin Emulator. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- ↑ Michael, Cale (2020-11-20). "Multiple streamers banned by Nintendo for playing Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (2020-11-17). "Another Joy-Con drift class action lawsuit filed against Nintendo". Polygon. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- ↑ Diaz, Ana (2019-07-22). "Joy-Con drift leads to class-action lawsuit against Nintendo". Polygon. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- ↑ "Did Nintendo download a Mario ROM and sell it back to us? - Here's A Thing - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- ↑ "Project M", Wikipedia, 2020-08-26, retrieved 2020-11-21
- ↑ "Tournament:EVO 2013". SmashWiki. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- ↑ "A Cinderella Story of How the Smash Community Gained the Spotlight of E3 2014". Nintendo Enthusiast. 2014-06-09. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
- ↑ "NINTENDO'S HISTORY OF TRYING TO KILL SMASH - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- ↑ "r/smashbros - Hugs on Nintendo/Melee: "It's a fact that Red Bull and ESL tried making big time events with Melee-- and Nintendo stopped it. Like Nintendo like actually didn't let it happen...when I say Nintendo's trash, it's not because they don't support us. They actively stop other people from supporting us."". reddit. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
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