Nintendo ID Claims Youtube LPs

[Mutsukki]

Ah, the "every LP is different" argument shows itself again~

Here's the deal. Each run may be done uniquely, but the game itself isn't dynamic. It will always be "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" or whatever else. No matter how you run through it, everything is already coded and set in place, so therefore if you've seen the game once, you've seen it a million times. Sure, a person might glitch their way through while someone else hacks their way through, but in the end, they're going through the same hardcoded world. Watching a game isn't the same experience as playing it for yourself, I agree, however, that doesn't change the fact that you're still showing pretty much all of the content of a product people would otherwise have to PAY FOR themselves to see. Doing it for free is one thing, but trying to make money off of that is where things really get in hot water, hence problems like this. This is why you need to get a license and/or contract agreement with whatever company before trying to make money off of them in any way, whether via ads or whatever else, otherwise you put yourself in plenty of legal risk, as shown on Youtube's monetization agreement page, which I quoted previously.

When talking about legal terms, I'm not discussing if Nintendo is in their right or not. Sega was also in their right to take Shining Force videos down.

Can they do it? Yes, it's their right. Does that make it less of a dick move? Absolutely not.

My point about every run being different, is about how an LP isn't a mere showcase of a game, because games by themselves can't be properly showcased like music, movies, comics or something like that. The interactivity factor is a big differential. I'll make my argument simple of why LPers are not wrong for wanting to make money:

Commentary = Entertainment

Entertainment = Work

Work = Right For Money

They're providing things that Nintendo probably wouldn't ever provide. Nintendo might be in their right as the trademark holder (I'm still no so sure though), but they're ultimately shooting their own foot by doing this. It's a simple step of: Users provide free word of mouth - > more games sell EVEN if it shows the entire game. Unless the game is shitty, then, well...that's their fault. When you see a game, even if it's a full playthrough, chances are you won't feel like you've beaten the game yourself. Truly, it might expose a lot the game's content and that might be bad, but I'm sure if the person is interested, they'll stop watching the LP, buy the game and then resume watching it later.

Another point, as much as I hate PewDiePie, how much of Amnesia's popularity do you think came from him? I pretty sure it's a lot. There's no bad scenario for this. It's the same as the fight against piracy, where developers are sure they're losing money by each copy pirated, when in reality, that might just not be the real picture. And because of that, we get DMR and shit, which is in their right, since they're the trademark holder and the content creator, but that doesn't mean it's rightful and less of a dickish move.