Nintendo of America not allowing SSBM to be streamed at EVO [Up: Decision Reversed]

Wow, that's worse than anyone was saying. Trying to shut down the entire smash tourney that was there due to the community raising nearly 100K for charity.

I have no words to describe that. What a bunch of dickheads.
 
Papercuts said:
Wow, that's worse than anyone was saying. Trying to shut down the entire smash tourney that was there due to the community raising nearly 100K for charity.

I have no words to describe that. What a bunch of dickheads.
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Doesn't surprise me at all. Also glad we have some clarity so that there's no more room for infinite what if semantics fanfictions.
 
jbug617 said:
It wasn't just Smash part. Nintendo wanted to shut down the entire event, Nintendo settled on just not allowing Smash to be streamed.
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But I swear MrWizard said specifically in that archived video that it was just Smash to be taken off the stream and out of the tourney.
 
VariantX said:
Do nintendo even have community people in their employ like capcom and other companies do like s.kill? It would go a LONG way to avoiding boneheaded mistakes like this that antagonize their biggest supporters.
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That only matters for what the US or local branches have power to do, though. Having Seth Killian didn't stop Capcom from making boneheaded decisions and awful PR moves during his tenure.
 
Has anyone posted this?
http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2013/...uation-had-be-bad-pr-changed-nintendos-minds/

During today's Live on 3, Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar, one of the guys behind EVO, was on hand to discuss the upcoming event.

He talked about the situation that went down with Nintendo and how their legal department stated that they couldn't stream Super Smash Bros. Melee, and how things turned around.

Cuellar stated that he initially talked to a few people inside of Nintendo's camp and they didn't see a problem at first, but he didn't get in touch with their legal department, as you don't always want to go that route, cause they can shut things down early.

As the event was nearing, he received an email from Nintendo's legal department, letting him know that they not only wanted to shut down the stream — but the Smash tournament as well.

Wizard said at the time they didn't present EVO staff with any options, they simply wanted to shut them down, as there was no offer of licensing fees or anything like that, so they could run things as planned.

After some discussion with EVO staff, they got Nintendo to agree to just shut down the streaming part of the event, and they decided not to press any further and comply with their legal department completely. Shortly after that, an announcement was made about them being unable to stream Super Smash Bros. Melee this year.

The story went viral quickly, with a number of sites and Twitter feeds talking about what went down, and generating a considerable amount of bad press for Nintendo. In short order, Nintendo ended up calling Tom Cannon, another EVO staff member, later on and informed them that they had reversed their decision.

Cuellar noted that EVO staff did nothing on their end to try and change things, and he felt it had to be the bad PR (public relations) they were getting that caused Nintendo to change their minds.

He felt that through this process, Nintendo was just trying to protect their IP (Intellectual Property).

This isn't the first time something like this has happened with Nintendo, as back in 2010, MLG was unable to attain streaming rights for their Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament.

Cuellar did note that he was grateful to Nintendo for letting them stream and host the Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament.
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Should be added to the OP, IMO.
 
Can I just say.

Does Nintendo "get" anything? They don't get online, they don't get region free, they don't get tournaments or supporting the community.
They don't get naming their consoles ,...... man
 
wizzbang said:
Can I just say.

Does Nintendo "get" anything? They don't get online, they don't get region free, they don't get tournaments or supporting the community.
They don't get naming their consoles ,...... man
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Well, their games usually turn out pretty good... But everything else, not so much.
 
can't blame Nintendo's legal dept, it's common knowledge if your game gets streamed on the internet a certain number of times the IP rights legally go to every individual who watched said stream
 
wizzbang said:
Can I just say.

Does Nintendo "get" anything? They don't get online, they don't get region free, they don't get tournaments or supporting the community.
They don't get naming their consoles ,...... man
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No, their lawyers don't get it. There's clearly people who do since the decision got reversed, and it looks like EVO did talk to people who initially gave the okay. (Months ago.) Still, its disappointing, and NOA needs to talk to their legal department about this shit because with the Let's Play situation and now this, its clear that they need to define and create new regulations instead of just trying to shut everything down.
 
Astrosanity said:
can't blame Nintendo's legal dept, it's common knowledge if your game gets streamed on the internet a certain number of times the IP rights legally go to every individual who watched said stream
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they probably actually believe that or something similarly superstitious considering Japanese Game Development Culture
 
Kikujiro said:
That's what I'm wondering, I can't believe Nintendo doesn't have community managers to deal with these non-issues. You can't let the legal department decides what's ok and what's not.
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The amount of autonomy the legal branches of these companies have is actually kind of scary.
 
I fucking knew it was their shit head legal department. My god, I don't care if there is any sort of justification by using excuses like "asserting our IP rights". They need a new legal team that has some common sense.
 
Sounds like Nintendo needs to rein in their legal department and set up better community management. Legal shouldn't be directly handling these issues.
 
I feel some random member of the legal dept was just browsing the web during his or her lunch break. They saw the news about the stream, and tightened their tie.

"Aw hell nah. I'm shuttin this shit down".

Hours later, the a PR dude kicks down the door.

"What the fuck, man?! Run this shit by us next time!"

"I was just trying to protect the I-"

"Reverse the decision now!"
 
orznge said:
they probably actually believe that or something similarly superstitious considering Japanese Game Development Culture
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If what Ravidarth said (Skullgirls dev) earlier in this thread about what he's heard about NoJ's attitude towards youtube and other online trends is anything to go off, the reality really isn't far off.
 
Wow, this thread escalated really quickly.

Sucks for that guy, now he's banned and wrong.

Wasn't this whole Nintendo internal factionalism and certain departments being completely oblivious to the market and fanbase thing brought up with M-rated games on Nintendo platforms? (Binding of Isaac if I remember correctly). I wonder if the Nintendo reps Evo spoke to were explicit about "hey don't tell Nintendo legal, it's their job to shut stuff like this down if anyone asks".
 
Brofield said:
There was that one fellow on Twitter, @Sempuukyaku, who says he has some connections way, way up there and acts as Nintendo street representative in Seattle. He was very vocal in getting people to call Nintendo Customer service with regards to the incident before they pulled the U-turn
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that guy works for nintendo, no? you google his twitter name and it says he's a CS advisor at nintendo.
 
I expected it to be some overzealous legal department people.
EDIT:
BlackJace said:
I feel some random member of the legal dept was just browsing the web during his or her lunch break. They saw the news about the stream, and tightened their tie.

"Aw hell nah. I'm shuttin this shit down".

Hours later, the a PR dude kicks down the door.

"What the fuck, man?! Run this shit by us next time!"

"I was just trying to protect the I-"

"Reverse the decision now!"
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Pretty much what I pictured in my head haha.
 
bangai-o said:
they wanted to shut down the entire EVO tournament?
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Just the smash portion of it, yeah.

I almost wished they'd tried, because the backlash would've been so delicious. Smash fans raised almost 100k for charity to have their tournament at Evo, and then nintendo swoops in and shuts it down. Oh man.
 
Shaheed79 said:
No they wanted to shut down the entire tournament scene worldwide, past and present. Iwata himself was going to go back in time and stop the infamous Daigo parry from ever happening.
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And he would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for that meddling social media and triforce.
 
DocTarHeel said:
Well, their games usually turn out pretty good... But everything else, not so much.
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yeah, they make utterly fantastic games, but everything surrounding those games is increasingly smothered by ridiculous, crazy, out-of-touch bullshit
 
PR had to have stepped in with the quickness. There is literally no way to spin this story positively. Even if Nintendo is in their legal rights to shut it down - which, near as I can tell, they were - there is no way to spin shitting on a group of fans who raised 90k in donations for breast cancer to get the chance to be in a big event the week of said event in a way that makes Nintendo not look like massive assholes.

I'd like to think maybe Nintendo learned something from this, but I doubt it.
 
but he didn't get in touch with their legal department, as you don't always want to go that route, cause they can shut things down early.
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Oh, ok. You didn't ask for permission in case they said no. That makes it alright then.
No, it doesn't.
 
I'm willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, and assume it was merely a case of lawyers being lawyers. Even so, they need to put a tighter leash on those people. This is a bad look
 
What I'm interested to see now is what happens the next time one of Nintendo's IPs is being streamed under a high-profile unofficial event.

This was really fucking dumb of Nintendo but I hope they (or at least their legal team) took something out of it.
 
Sigismundo said:
What I'm interested to see now is what happens the next time one of Nintendo's IPs is being streamed under a high-profile unofficial event.

This was really fucking dumb of Nintendo but I hope they (or at least their legal team) took something out of it.
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Yes, send a letter asking why they haven't asked fucking permission to do it like any semi-respectable organisation should.
 
Sigismundo said:
What I'm interested to see now is what happens the next time one of Nintendo's IPs is being streamed under a high-profile unofficial event.

This was really fucking dumb of Nintendo but I hope they (or at least their legal team) took something out of it.
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If they are making money through it, even if it's for charity, they need the outright permission of the copyright holder. This is a standard practice. They essentially said they didn't ask properly because they may say no, so it's all on EVO, not Nintendo.
 
StreetsAhead said:
Oh, ok. You didn't ask for permission in case they said no. That makes it alright then.
No, it doesn't.
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StreetsAhead said:
Yes, send a letter asking why they haven't asked fucking permission to do it like any semi-respectable organisation should.
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MLG didn't stream brawl because Nintendo legal wasn't open to negotiating it, and it's typically the job of the legal team to shut these things down regardless of PR or community implications. Evo did ask for permission and was in contact with Nintendo, but they essentially got a form letter C&D order because Nintendo legal just sends those things out.

That's how the whole Let's Play situation happened. From Nintendo's point of view, the law means they need to shut down any public performance or recording of their game, and to allow people to post that stuff in the first place is generous. The backlash from this and from youtube probably confounded Nintendo greatly.

But yes, if you go to any legal team and ask if it's legal for someone to stream their game at a tournament they're going to tell you it's illegal. They're the legal department, not the marketing or community outreach departments.
 
call_kotaku said:
MLG didn't stream brawl because Nintendo legal wasn't open to negotiating it, and it's typically the job of the legal team to shut these things down regardless of PR or community implications. Evo did ask for permission and was in contact with Nintendo, but they essentially got a form letter C&D order because Nintendo legal just sends those things out.

That's how the whole Let's Play situation happened. From Nintendo's point of view, the law means they need to shut down any public performance or recording of their game, and to allow people to post that stuff in the first place is generous. The backlash from this and from youtube probably confounded Nintendo greatly.
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Getting the OK from a random Nintendo employee is not the same as getting the legal ok.
 
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