Nintendo's Copyright Ethical Dilemma
What is an ethical dilemma?
According to the APA Dictionary of Pshycology, an ethical dilemma can be described as, "a situation in which two moral principles conflict with one another". Now, ethical dilemmas in the corporate world often come from conflicts between a company's maximization of profit vs. moral values of the public. These dilemmas can arise from almost anything in the corporate world, such as, business practices, employee or consumer treatment, environmental impact, and product safety. Going through dilemmas like these demands' transparency, accountability, and upholding ethical principles even amid financial pressures. For the past decade, there has been one company in particular that has constantly gotten themselves into ethical dilemmas with their fans and outsiders alike, and that company is Nintendo.
Nintendo's Dilemma
A prominent ethical situation that has gained attention in the media revolves around Nintendo's use of copyright laws. Nintendo, for those who are not aware, is a giant in the gaming industry, and they have frequently employed copyright laws to protect their intellectual property rights. While protecting intellectual properties are crucial for sustaining innovation and creativity, the ethical dilemma comes from the perceived forcefulness of Nintendo's approaches. They are constantly using copyright laws to shut down several fan related projects, may it be fan events, fan games, or in some cases even fan YouTube channels. It seems to the naked eye, that Nintendo is hell-bent on not allowing anyone to use their properties, even if they are for non-profiting reasons. This has resulted in Nintendo getting a reputation for hating its own fans, in particular the hardcore variety. As put by a fan named Juan from the site 8 Bit Pickle, " The prevalent belief among the game community that Nintendo hates their fans".
It is a very intriguing rabbit hole to go down since legally, Nintendo has full legal right to strike down anything project that is seem as a threat or misuse of its intellectual property, but morally it can come off as out of touch to fans, especially now since stuff like competitive gaming events and YouTube/Twitch content have been slowly increasing in mainstream media. In fact, fans who run these events, or stream these games tend to argue that it is essentially free advertising for the games they play, and that it helps reach different markets, but alas Nintendo shuts them down regardless. This does nothing but further the company from its community which has recently been skyrocketing with the release of the Nintendo Switch back in 2017. It seems that Nintendo's past and current approaches tend to undermine the spirit of collaboration and community that has long been a hallmark of gaming culture. A corporate mindset of monetary gain at the expense of their own creative, and loyal consumer base.
Sources Used:
Why Does Nintendo Hate Their Fans So Much? | 8-Bit Pickle (8bitpickle.com)
Nintendo Shuts Down Smash Tournament Over Some Absurd Bullshit (kotaku.com)
Nintendo HATES their fans. Here's why (youtube.com)
This topic is prevalent in my circle of friends, especially with my roommate. He always talks about how one of his favorite games, I believe it was Pokemon Uranium, was shut down. He get pumped up about it to this day. Has something similar happened to you? I see a lot of fans on social media talking about it. Additionally, I believe Sony is also facing a similar situation with their new game, Helldivers 2, being released on PlayStation. Although it is not a fan-made, many gaming fans want the game to be released on Xbox, but with Helldivers 2 being a PlayStation exclusive, Sony would be allowing their competitor to gain profits unnecessarily, leaving many fans disappointed. It raises the question of what gaming companies should do regarding copyright issues. Do they focus purely on monetary gain or allow the gaming community to express their creativity?
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DeleteAh yes, I remember the whole Pokémon Uranium situation, it sucked at the time and still sucks now, but it is still possible to actually play thanks to online conservation efforts through platforms such as reddit, and twitter. I personally have never been affected by any of Nintendo's many takedowns, even though I have played competitive smash, it was never serious enough for me to get all up and arms when events got shut down. I really just always felt bad for the competitors themselves. As for console exclusives, that usually depends on the developers of said game, since game studios can be owned by or have exclusive contracts with the major console developers. Exclusives happen because of potential traction that a game can bring to a console, so yes it would be considered monetary. However not every exclusive remains a exclusive, this can be due to exclusivity contracts running out, or if the publisher just decides one day that the game should go multi-platform. Kind of like how right now Microsoft are allowing some of their previous major exclusives to be available on multiple platforms.
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