Nintendo Upset Over Nokia Game Emulation Video

An anonymous reader writes "Nintendo is investigating potential copyright infringement by Nokia during some video demos of their N900 phone, which can be seen emulating Nintendo games. Nintendo spokesman Robert Saunders says: 'We take rigorous steps to protect our IP and our legal team will examine this to determine if any infringement has taken place.' In the video, Nokia says, 'Most publishers allow individual title usage, provided that the user is in possession of the original title.'"

Comments

Anyone ever read the instruction manuals?

[FrostDust]

Look in the back of the instructional manual for your old Nintendo games. I remember that SNES games (and probably others up until the Gamecube) allowed you to make "one backup copy for archival purposes", or something to that effect.

Two caveats here:

I don't remember the exact wording, but I'm pretty sure "make" implied ripping the cartridges yourself, not downloading them from a ROM site.

Also, playing the game on your phone doesn't seem like an "archival purpose" to me.

Re:Anyone ever read the instruction manuals?

[PakProtector]

You must be pretty damn young, then. I remember the machiens for copying NES, SNES, and Genesis carts being very, very common in the late '80s and early '90s. Pretty much every video store that rented games had 'em.

Re:Anyone ever read the instruction manuals?

[wParam]

I checked the book for Mario Paint and the SNES Mario Kart; I didn't see anything obvious one way or the other on this topic. However, systems more recent than that (N64, gamecube and wii) definitely DO have something to say. It actually says the exact opposite of what you suggest:

"Copying of any Nintendo game is illegal and is strictly prohibited by domestic and international intellectual property laws. "Back-up" or "archival" copies are not authorized and are not necessary to protect your software. Violators will be prosecuted."
-Inside front cover of Smash Brothers: Brawl for wii.

They actually manage to make the message even more infuriating by telling outright lies. (Not necessary? Are they seriously implying that their disks can't ever be scratched by anything? Or that an N64 cart can't be killed by ESD?)

So, while they may have once been cool about it, at some point they decided that being jerks was the way to go. It's been this way since N64, so I'm sure the DS games say the same thing.

Note: I looked in the book for Mario Kart 64, and found this exact message there, too. It's possible that third party titles don't have a message this ridiculous. I remember it being in the gamecube manuals, too, but don't have one at hand to check for sure.

Re:Anyone ever read the instruction manuals?

[bertoelcon]

"Copying of any Nintendo game is illegal and is strictly prohibited by domestic and international intellectual property laws. "Back-up" or "archival" copies are not authorized and are not necessary to protect your software. Violators will be prosecuted." -Inside front cover of Smash Brothers: Brawl for wii.

I see the same notice in Super Star Wars for the SNES, and Pokemon Yellow manuals. It is older than N64 but I don't have a NES manual handy to see if it older than this.

Re:Anyone ever read the instruction manuals?

[thetartanavenger]

The thing is some countries have copyright laws that explicitly allow copying for backup purposes. I'm pretty sure the UK is one of these, pretty certainly for software. Would a SNES cartridge constitute software or firmware and does it make a difference?

Of course Nokia aren't exactly a UK company and they clearly aren't using it for backup purposes, but frankly I don't see anything wrong with what they did (provided they own the actual cartridges).

Re:Anyone ever read the instruction manuals?

[Anonymous Coward]

Laws always trump the wishful-thinking fine print of corporations. I don't even read what some company wants to tell me, because it's usually bogus.

Germany has even less strict laws in some respect. You are allowed to copy for private purposes, if the copy is made from a legitimate source. That doesn't include spreading it on the internet but making a copy for your friends (real friends not twitter/myspace/facebook "friends"). We even pay a certain amount of money on blank discs, scanners, etc. for this purpose. Funny enough it is not allowed to bypass "effective" copy protection (whatever effective may mean).

No worries though, lobbyists are already bribing politicians to ban this right.

Re:Anyone ever read the instruction manuals?

[Mr2001]

The thing is some countries have copyright laws that explicitly allow copying for backup purposes. I'm pretty sure the UK is one of these, pretty certainly for software.

The US is also one of these. 17 USC 117 applies to any "computer program", even one for a special-purpose computer like a game console.

And for reference, Nintendo's Policy

[Psaakyrn]

http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp#roms

How Does Nintendo Feel About the Emergence of Video Game Emulators?

The introduction of emulators created to play illegally copied Nintendo software represents the greatest threat to date to the intellectual property rights of video game developers. As is the case with any business or industry, when its products become available for free, the revenue stream supporting that industry is threatened. Such emulators have the potential to significantly damage a worldwide entertainment software industry which generates over $15 billion annually, and tens of thousands of jobs.

What Does Nintendo Think of the Argument that Emulators are Actually Good for Nintendo Because it Promotes the Nintendo Brand to PC Users and Leads to More Sales?

Distribution of an emulator developed to play illegally copied Nintendo software hurts Nintendo's goodwill, the millions of dollars invested in research & development and marketing by Nintendo and its licensees. Substantial damages are caused to Nintendo and its licensees. It is irrelevant whether or not someone profits from the distribution of an emulator. The emulator promotes the play of illegal ROMs , NOT authentic games. Thus, not only does it not lead to more sales, it has the opposite effect and purpose.

How Come Nintendo Does Not Take Steps Towards Legitimizing Nintendo Emulators?

Emulators developed to play illegally copied Nintendo software promote piracy. That's like asking why doesn't Nintendo legitimize piracy. It doesn't make any business sense. It's that simple and not open to debate.

People Making Nintendo Emulators and Nintendo ROMs are Helping Publishers by Making Old Games Available that are No Longer Being Sold by the Copyright Owner. This Does Not Hurt Anyone and Allows Gamers to Play Old Favorites. What's the Problem?

The problem is that it's illegal. Copyrights and trademarks of games are corporate assets. If these vintage titles are available far and wide, it undermines the value of this intellectual property and adversely affects the right owner. In addition, the assumption that the games involved are vintage or nostalgia games is incorrect. Nintendo is famous for bringing back to life its popular characters for its newer systems, for example, Mario and Donkey Kong have enjoyed their adventures on all Nintendo platforms, going from coin-op machines to our latest hardware platforms. As a copyright owner, and creator of such famous characters, only Nintendo has the right to benefit from such valuable assets.

nintendo emulators on Nokia Phones

[naz404]

There's a company that made commercial console emulators for Nokia Series 60 phones:
Vampent - http://vampent.com
Their products are: VNES = NES Emulator
VBOY = Gameboy Color Emulator
VSUN = SNES Emulator
VBAG/VBAGX = Gameboy Advance Emulator

Re:Dear Nintendo

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

Nintendo are selling some of the more popular titles via Wii shop (and some DS shop?). Of course, they are not at all obliged to do this to keep their copyrights; they're free to cash in from their work whenever they like.

In fact, it's very possible that there would be more classic titles on sale if less people were downloading them beforehand. Some games, thanks to their demand drying up, might no longer have the demand necessary for Nintendo to be bothered making them available.

Re:Nokia Management Are Retarded

[Anonymous Coward]

Nokia Corporation is three times as large as Nintendo by revenue and assets, although Nokia's market cap is only 50 % larger.

Re:Dear Nintendo

[Toonol]

Why the fuck should we have to buy a Wii to play old nintendo games when we already own perfectly good computers?

The law? Any rom of a game you haven't bought is CLEARLY illegal; a rom of a game you've previously purchased may or may not be, it's a little bit of a grey area (in the US).

Re:Note that they haven't accused yet

[V!NCENT]

Or wait for the next GameBoy... Nintendo's explenation for only supporting the GBA cards is that the DS is not a GameBoy and the GBA would live in parallel with the DS. Supporting older GB cards on the DS would have cost Nintendo too much money.

Nintendo also said that the next GameBoy would support older GB cards again.

So I see no need to buy a 30 USD flash card if I have a tiny GBAsp :/