About Pokémon Uranium situation

[BBD]

First of all,hi!it has been awhile since I last post anything here,I wanted to come back but can't find time(I guess)

Anyway,if you don't know what happened,well:Pokemon Uranium got a full release after 9 years of development a few days ago and got a ton of download(1.5mil)but then Nintendo of America send them an email.The dev put down the official download link but there're still 3rd party download link around the Internet and the dev still updating on the game.

The consequences is it a lot of people got piss off by Nintendo.but Urenium dev said that they respect what Nintendo want so they just do it.

The thing I want to discuss is do what do you think,of course.

My thought why Nintendo did this because they scare,probably.they might think that if people have this free Pokemon game already,then they don't want the real game which is Sun and Moon on 3ds.of course Pokemon franchise will get promote but people might don't want to pay their money for 3ds and the legit game just because they have this free game already.so I think that's their reason.

And there's also the copyright laws and fair use policy which is very confusing!

If Nintendo did this to Urenium there're possibility that Reborn,Rejuvenation,insurance and others fan game will get this treatment too,just might though.

So what do you think of the situation,do you think Nintendo make a right or is this should be allow because it's fair use and the dev put a lot to this game?

[CheddarSouffle]

Honestly, Nintendo shouldn't have any say over these games; they outclass the main series games by so much they should be considering in an entirely different league. Of course, that's what would happen in a perfect world.

[Ice Cream Sand Witch]

Nintendo didn't send them an email or contact them with a notice. Lawyers from Nintendo of America took down a link, so they took down all the links to respect their wishes + they didn't want a legal battle. The game will still be updated through the patcher.

[Red_Chaos]

Speaking of the patcher anybody getting an error when they run it?

[5hift]

There's probably a ton of unofficial download sites out there.

Just gotta be a little more careful when downloading.

[Commander]

I don't really like discussing a situation like this as it merely is a debate about two evils, but neither side is really evil. Nintendo probably doesn't enjoy shutting these things down (though there are situations where they may seem like it) and this is one of those few understandable situations. Let me start with Nintendo's side in this situation before you go all out on saying what they're doing is wrong and it's ridiculous.

Nintendo is a company (more specifically GF) that develops games to make money. Fan-games are non-profit which is generally fine and why that line is generally not crossed. Suddenly a free game using their materials is getting so much population it could reach Sun & Moon levels of fans and discussion. The news was spreading like wildfire and if you treat fan-games like ROMs and emulators, something at that level could cause a mess or deeply impact their profits especially since they're doing what GF does from scratch making new Pokemon and all. I'd likely take action, not because I'd be against someone making a fan game, but more so methods to stop/reduce the surge in popularity and discussion so my game would maintain almost the same level of profits. Nintendo also has some of the most prized franchises in Video Game history with a legacy unlike anyone else so you can't really blame them for being a bit overprotective sometimes. Doesn't always mean it's right though.

Fan-games, especially Pokemon, indeed break the copyright infringement rule but with so many other illegal stuff going around on the internet, you can only stop so much so it's merely best to leave the harmless stuff alone (which nintendo doesn't at certain points). I'm not saying people shouldn't make fan-games since there are plenty of reasons and good ones to do so, but to accept the terms and prices that can come with doing so.

[Jmanultrax1]

im lucky that I got it before it taken down

[Dragon116]

I remember reading up on this awhile back, and I believe they issue C&D on fan games (not just Uranium) to maintain their copyright protection. If they are taken to court on a copyright infringement case and the defense can make a case that GF let other popular fan games continue, then it weakens the prosecution's case that their market share or profitability would be negatively impacted.

Here's what the pokemon website says about Licenses

"In our licensing and product development business, we consider our licensees to be important business partners. We require that licensees perform end-to-end quality control, and support them in creating products that are more unique and fun."

So fan games don't get licenses because The Pokemon Company would have to verify that quality is being upheld and will not reflect negatively on their brand.

[Ice Cream Sand Witch]

I remember reading up on this awhile back, and I believe they issue C&D on fan games (not just Uranium)

Uranium didn't get a C&D

[teddybrer]

It's just good that they didn't specifically say that they were asking people to post third-party links, nor did they condemn it by asking those people to stop. Surely it can't be so hard to find them - just look at how large and dedicated Uranium's community is.

To be honest Nintendo would benefit so much more from hiring fangamers - or at the very least, Nintendo benefits from letting devs continue - that know what the Pokemon community wants and have produced the amount of unique content the biggest fangames have. . In the large scope of things...thick plots...technology...professional-level Fakemon, deltas and fan megas... complex characters... spread the artform instead of discouraging it.

[Dragon God Goomy]

I wanna see what Uranium looks like, but its too late

Too bad.

[DemICE]

there are uploads of the game around. and within the uranium forums itself. though there has been a v1.0.1 update that kinda complicates things since the patcher does not work, but its just some minor bugfixing. so yeah you can download and play it if you search a bit

Edited August 15, 2016 by DemICE

[Ice Cream Sand Witch]

there are uploads of the game around. and within the uranium forums itself. though there has been a v1.0.1 update that kinda complicates things since the patcher does not work, but its just some minor bugfixing. so yeah you can download and play it if you search a bit

It actually fixed a game-breaking bug with a battle in the championship causing the game to freeze. They said the patcher will work once the server is back up.

[Pata733]

I got the game right when it came out that was close

[Omega_Ra1der]

To prove they didn't get a C&D, they took down the links themselves. https://twitter.com/PokemonUranium/status/764507185611169792

[Skullkin]

Good think I was a beta tester and got the download a long time ago.

[DemICE]

well i got the patcher to work with some help from their forums so now it updates normally.

[Lord Chespin]

This makes me actually kind of nervous to make my own fan-game. I feel like all my hard work and time could be destroyed by one C&D. I mean, I'll still probably make it anyway, but it's kind of disheartening.

[Tartar]

Hopefully this doesn't become common practice for Nintendo, as more and more of these "next generation" fangames are getting released. So far no major game has come out of the Pokémon Fangame scene, as previously the majority of games were romhacks which had limited capabilities and appeal. But with the release of something like Uranium, and other ambitious releases from the "second generation" Pokémon fangames in the future, more games will attract as much attention as Uranium is getting now, and this will perhaps have Nintendo have more of these "crackdowns" in the future. It's tragic. They already ruined the Super Mario romhack scene, and as of now they're probably looking to do the same thing to the Pokémon franchise.

Hopefully this doesn't mean that Pokémon Reborn will get taken down, nor Rejuvenation nor anything else. Simply too much time and dedication have put into them, and if such a thing were to occur it would be a tragedy of enormous proportions for a great many people. And with Ame having already said that if she were to be asked by Nintendo to take the game down, she'd acquiesce, I bitterly home that the future is brighter than what I imagine it to be...

Edited August 15, 2016 by Tartar

[Eviora]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think copyrights to these franchises need to last significantly less time to prevent companies like Nintendo from bullying innovation out of existence. Worried about competition? Make something better, then, and stop ruining fun fan game. I don't find "did it for money" a good justification for these things - and, incidentally, Reborn is the only fangame I've ever played.

[Tartar]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think copyrights to these franchises need to last significantly less time to prevent companies like Nintendo from bullying innovation out of existence. Worried about competition? Make something better, then, and stop ruining fun fan game. I don't find "did it for money" a good justification for these things - and, incidentally, Reborn is the only fangame I've ever played.

From my basic understanding of how copyright law works here's how I understand the situation.

You have to actively protect your intellectual property, and if you don't a future infringement on the IP can be disregarded in court if you haven't been defending it previously. In Nintendo's case they might be afraid that if they don't go out of their way to take a hardline stance towards Fanmade games, it will prevent them from taking legal actions against real copyright infringements from other companies trying to capitalize on Pokémon's success.

I know this is stupid, and as you said, Copyright law has gotten way too conveluted and is stifling creativity in many ways. But really, this is merely an example of how the copyright law forces Nintendo to act instead of actually how people at the company (hopefully) want to act.

[Chase]

I agree with Evi's course of action here - at least in part.

The premise of a games company meeting the bottom line on a project should always be making a better product than competing developers.

---

There are a few qualms to address though.

1. Firstly, Game Freak and The Pokemon Company don't engage in these wars on independent developers so much as Nintendo does such on their behalf - so instead of telling GF or TPC to come up with better content, you have to ask Nintendo to quality check and crowdsource what players want in order to direct the former two companies in a positive direction. That doesn't mean they shouldn't do such things though.

2. Secondly, there's a fine line when it comes to borrowing content you didn't create yourself. The reason lesser lasting copyright durations would be unpopular would be the same reason Deviantartists aren't okay with people freely using their work. It belongs to the creator - and if a fan game is going to "legally" operate with the same content they need permission to do so. If you're not going to get permission, then your game is fair-game for prosecution.

Generally speaking, it's hard to get permission for using content made by others at times and thus this is just the risks we take. It doesn't make them unjustified risks, but it doesn't make them unfair either.

[Zyxeos]

I really hope that Pokemon Uranium and development of all fan games can continue to co-exist along with the originals.

It is a shame that fans can't express their creativity and love for the game due to copyright issues.

Especially when Pokemon uranium has it's own unique Pokemon!!!

Knowing Nintendo, they most likely won't let loose... However, I think the Uranium team deserves support from the fans

because they worked extremely hard, on a beautiful project!

I have yet to download the game and try it myself but I will soon!!

[Tartar]

Nintendo... I love you and your games to death, but this has got to stop. Cracking down on fanmade games like Mario Romhacks and now Pokémon Uranium, and including the their draconian Youtube copyright strikes it feels as if the Nintendo leadership is out of touch with the way modern fans interact with the games they love.

[daigotsurezan]

Nintendo... I love you and your games to death, but this has got to stop. Cracking down on fanmade games like Mario Romhacks and now Pokémon Uranium, and including the their draconian Youtube copyright strikes it feels as if the Nintendo leadership is out of touch with the way modern fans interact with the games they love.

Nintendo has to take legal action to preserve their copyrights and trademarks. Those intellectual properties that we love are what keeps them in business, and the law is set up in such a way that "allowing" people to do this kind of thing will invalidate your ownership of the IP.

Compare it to that private WoW server that Blizzard had shut down not that long ago, Nostalrius. Blizzard had known about this server (and dozens like it) for a long time, but it wasn't worth paying the attorney to do the paperwork to shut it down. However, once a project hits a certain size or popularity you can't claim ignorance anymore, and IP law requires a very vigorous and active defense of your copyrights and trademarks. So they had to send the C&D and knock the server out.

In a way I think Nintendo was trying to be gentle with Uranium, first talking to the file hosts about removing download links (and ultimately they didn't need to go further). They could have gone the C&D route but chose not to. This way, Uranium gets to survive in a small way while Nintendo can point to their actions as defense of their IP in court if they need to.