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Nintendo Nixes YouTube Videos of Super Mario Speedruns
The Boston Globe reports (based on Kotaku's story earlier this month) that Nintendo is cracking down on YouTube videos which show speedruns of its games -- computer-guided play that skips completely human hands pressing buttons on a controller. Why? The article notes that these play-throughs "require the use of ROMs, digital backup files of the original game that can be freely passed from computer to computer, or downloaded from well-known websites. Therefore, Nintendo reasons — and YouTube is clearly sympathetic to this reasoning — there are copyright issues at play, since players aren’t using the (ancient) original game cartridges, or newer copies sold directly online by Nintendo." Legally justifiable or not, this seems unlikely to build goodwill with some of Nintendo's most nostalgic fans.
What the deuce? Yes, there are *some* people out there who use ROMs, hacked or otherwise, for their speedruns, but there are quite a few people who do them using stock consoles and vanilla cartridges. I can understand Nintendo getting upset about hacked gameplay, but they should not penalize people who glitch games or simply try to play as fast as possible.
It's also bullshit because that's a handy way to get kids into the guts of computing. They see it and think "I want to do that!" And they can. They can get an emulator, they can get the ROM, and all of a sudden they're looking at the machine code trying to figure out how it makes all the bleeps and the bloops on the screen.
I think that's missing in this age of locked-down everything. Back in my day (THERE. I SAID IT. I SAID IT.) I got into programming by copying the BASIC code for games out of the back of magazines into my Apple IIe. You realize all the stuff on the screen and all action comes from things humans wrote...and it's not really that much...and this is neat and all but how I make the ships move a little faster? Oh, that must be this part of the code right here...I'll change that to a 5 instead of a 4 and look the ships go faster!
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
Not only that, but there are things like Retrode ( https://www.dragonbox.de/en/63... ) that allow you to make your own ROM - file from an original cartridge that you own or just play directly from the cartridge using an emulator.
They're not penalizing normal speedruns, the summary is baiting you into thinking that. If you read the article you'll see that they're targeting tool-assisted speedruns, i.e.: ones that use pirated software.
The summary and Slashdot headline are inaccurate; the story makes clear that it's only talking about tool-assisted speedruns, which do require a ROM. (And the concrete example in the Times article refers to a hacked ROM.)
1. Retards -- let's piss off the consumers ...who _used_ to buy your stuff; Keep it up and Nintendo will find they won't have any consumers left to sell to.
2. Can someone smack Nintendo's Marketing dept with a sudden-outbreak-of-common-sense please?
Speed runs are FREE publicity.
This is the best advertising money can buy -- when consumers _willingly_ advertise your product for you without it costing you a cent! /sarcasm Nah, can't have that -- let's waste money on bullshit DMCA and drive a wedge between consumers.
3. Part of creating something for the culture to enjoy is that it BECOMES part of the culture -- ergo, the limited terms of copyright.
4. Why am I _not_ allowed to use an emulator if I legally have a physical cartridge? The medium is irrelevant -- I already purchased a license by physically buying the cartridge.
And the reasoning behind the need to block these videos is?
Protecting... uhm... the princess' privacy?
Perhaps it's just the last tale of woe from the 'corporate bullying' department?
But you can dump your own ROM. Or at least, you can get the same version ROM that matches a cart you bought at the flea market. So that's not necessarily illegal, either.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
There is absolutely nothing about a speedrun being tool-assisted that requires pirated software. The Retrode I just linked, for example, is a really easy and simple way of using your own, original cartridges. Also, there are plenty of videos on the Internet where people are using original consoles and cartridges connected to automated, modified controllers -- ie. tool-assisted runs.
Or at least, you can get the same version ROM that matches a cart you bought at the flea market.
This is illegal, you know, for the reasoning described in the opinion of the court in UMG v. MP3.com . To take advantage of the necessary adaptation and backup provisions of US copyright law (17 USC 117), you have to dump the ROM yourself. And you can't just buy an NES Game Pak reader at the same flea market. Even the Retrode never supported NES format; it came with Super NES and Sega Genesis cartridge readers, and most adapters fit in one of those slots.
If you read the article you'll see that they're targeting tool-assisted speedruns, i.e.: ones that use pirated software.
They have absolutely no way of knowing if the software used is pirated or not.
They just assume that it is pirated since it is easier to use pirated software than licensed software in this case.
I also assume that Nintendo are illegally bribing politicians and should be considered a criminal organization since it is easier to get to a dominant market position that way. Just like Nintendo I don't have any proof to back my speculations up with.
Here's a list of tool assisted speed runs that are actually run on real hardware with a real copy of software : http://tasvideos.org/Movies-Ve...
Getting things to sync to real hardware is amazing that so much effort FROM FANS has gone into preserving these games in emulators that it works outside of those emulators.
I'm not sure what Nintendo's exact legal claim is (of course they'd rather not specify it!), but to this armchair lawyer is seems odd.
Since these videos are derivative works of the games, they are probably legal because they are fair use of the games (they display graphics from the game but aren't a substitute for the game etc). I guess Nintendo is claiming that "fair use" doesn't apply if your source is an infringing copy of the work. This is not impossible, though I don't see why it should be relevant. More importantly, I think that the custom ROMs involve fair use of Nintendo's ROMs, especially since Nintendo isn't offering new ROMs for sale.
I'm not sure what Nintendo's exact legal claim is (of course they'd rather not specify it!)
A video game is an audiovisual work, and Nintendo has the exclusive right under copyright law to perform its works publicly.
Since these videos are derivative works of the games
Nintendo has the exclusive right under copyright law to prepare derivative works of its works.
I guess Nintendo is claiming that "fair use" doesn't apply if your source is an infringing copy of the work.
This is true. I remember some courts interpreting the "purpose and character of the use" factor to rule out fair use defenses by alleged infringers who have unclean hands.
More importantly, I think that the custom ROMs involve fair use of Nintendo's ROMs, especially since Nintendo isn't offering new ROMs for sale.
Since when were Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World removed from Virtual Console?
But if the device is no longer produced, how long will its stock last?
The original Retrode 1 is discontinued, that's Retrode 2. They do manufacture them still.
In other words, "lrn2solder".
Doesn't change the point in any way or form.
Just because something illegal was done somewhere in the process to produce the video doesn't automatically make the video itself illegal.
This seems like fair use and I don't see how the DMCA or any other law applies in this situation.
Let's start by acknowledging that piracy is a major issue for companies like Nintendo and that they should do something.
That being said I think they are doing the wrong things.
There was an article about a web browser playable version of the original Mario game whose developer got a take down notice from Nintendo. I understand Nintendo can't allow people to just post their games in a web browser format for free. The problem is that Nintendo should be hiring this developer and doing this themselves either selling access to consumers or using ads to support the effort. Very few people are likely to buy a 30 year old game but many people would sit through a short ad to play these games or pay a very small monthly fee for access to many titles.
Nintendo should have their own emulators and a ROM shopping site. With or without Nintendo people are going to use Emulators... Nintendo can still make some money on old games. I personally would pay about a dollar for any game before the Gamecube and a reasonable price for newer Gamecube and Wii titles. There are open source emulators for all previous Nintendo consoles, Nintendo should take the lead on this. For one they probably could have stopped the Dolphin Emulation community from emulating the Wii so quickly if they had more control over the community.
I use emulators for older games because there is no way I am going to carry 4 or 5 consoles around with me. I live in China right now and I like to play games with friends at coffee shops on my laptop. Even if I had a house I don't think I would want more than 2 consoles max in my living room...
I love games I'm willing to pay to play but Nintendo isn't making this easy, which is a shame!
Nintendo should have their own emulators and a ROM shopping site.
Nintendo has Virtual Console on the Wii, 3DS, and Wii U.
So the law is an ass, but those who seek to profit by it in the full knowledge that it is an ass, aren't?
"Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
As I understand it, early consoles (NES, SNES, Genesis) were so simple they didn't HAVE an on-board OS. Everything was on the cart, and they relied on the fact that physical carts were next-to-impossible to duplicate for the average Joe. I do know that some of the more advanced systems, Sega CD and 32X, for example, did have an on-board ROM and "OS", mainly because they had to come up to a stable and working state before data was loaded from the media, whereas regular carts were literally wired directly into the memory space.
Nintendo is being hypocritical here, since they themselves use ROM dump and emulator technology in their game systems.
Nintendo is allowed to distribute its own games because it owns copyright in its own games. The team responsible for Virtual Console didn't have to download infringing copies from the Net. Instead, they could have done one of two things. Either they found where Nintendo had saved the original files used to create the mask ROMs, or they pulled a copy out of the library where a copy of every licensed game is kept and dumped the PRG and CHR data out of that.
As much as you wish you could be, you are not Disney
Exactly. Nintendo didn't lobby for the 1998 copyright term extension. Disney did.
and can't just keep injecting adrenaline into that geriatric lineup of classic characters.
In 2003 and 2004, Disney killed Bill. How much more violent can you get than Quentin Tarantino?
What you need is fresh, original content.
And Splatoon isn't?
Encourage people to try speedruns on your hardware, by offering new versions (not just console dumps!) of old titles with new features that allow tracking of speedrun times.
Something like NES Remix?
Say HI to Atari for me while you are out there. They too went down the dark road of filling their console lineup with CRAP.
Incidentally, a lot of Nintendo's practices were intended to avoid the crap that associated itself with Atari's brand in 1983-84. That's why the NES had a lockout chip, for instance.