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• 18May 13

  If I Were Making Games, I'd Want the YouTube Money Too

  So gamers everywhere are in an uproar (when aren't they?) that Nintendo has issued a copyright on the countless "Let's Play" videos of their games on YouTube. People are saying things like "Nintendo is stealing the income of Let's Players" and that Nintendo's decision to claim the copyright is "baffling." While I can perfectly understand some disappointment on the part of players who would want to make some money on their videos, is this vilification really necessary?

   

  Let's face facts here, these games were made by Nintendo, they're their product. The option of Nintendo claiming a copyright on them was always there. Should people really act like this is some slap to the face of gamers when Nintendo is simply making the business choice to gain some extra money from their product?

  
  

  
  I know this sentence will make me public enemy number one to the internet, but corporations are not the all-comsuming evil they're made out to be (except big tabacco, even I can't justify them). Corporations make products for consumers, and get money for it. Nothing 'evil' about it. And Nintendo, like any business, needs to make money, and claiming a copyright on these YouTube videos is just another way to get some extra revenue. They could have even put a copyright to have all these videos removed if they wanted, but they chose otherwise. Frankly, I'd be glad I could keep my videos up and still get some exposure. Sure, it would most definitely be disappointing to not get some extra dough from YouTube, but you can't act like Nintendo are a bunch of bad guys for wanting to get that same extra dough from their products.

   

  Again, I can completely understand gamers being bummed out that they can't make money from putting New Super Mario Bros. U videos on YouTube (though my more cynical side would suggest finding an actual job). I myself was hoping maybe something could come from my upcoming video reviews (and I suppose it still could, just not the Nintendo videos), but if I were in Nintendo's position, I'd probably do the same thing.

   

  If I were making video games (heaven knows I will be one day), I wouldn't mind getting a little boosted income from my games appearing on YouTube. I don't see it as a greedy, coniving thing. I see it as a way to get a little extra something out of my games.

   

  Go ahead, be disappointed. Be bummed-out. But you can't vilify Nintendo for making a perfectly logical business move. It's not "evil," and they aren't trying to undermine their fans. Its simply the reasonable business move we'd all probably make if we were in the same position. Nothing "baffling" about it.

  • Posted May 18, 2013 10:36 pm GMT
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• 17May 13

  The Mature Professionalism of EA

  EA was recently voted the "most hated" company for the second straight year. And now everyone has even more reason to hate them.

   

  Apparently, on Twitter, one of EA's senior engineers has gone on ranting as to why EA has no plans to make games for Nintendo's Wii U console. He's stated that the Wii U is "crap," and that Nintendo is "working like it's the 1990." He went on about how the Wii U is "less powerful than the 360" and that it has a "weird tablet." Claiming that Nintendo is "walking dead" at this point.

   

  Yes, this is a grown man, a businessman, acting like a petty child and using words like "crap" on Twitter. We're not even talking a random employee either, this man is their senior engineer. Granted, he may not speak for EA as a whole, but this is a man who nonetheless represents one of the biggest video game companies in the western industry.

   

  Gamers often have the stereotype of being petty man-children. And I'll actually admit that, as far as the American gamer is concerned, those stereotypes are more accurate than they should be. But is it any wonder when someone in such a high position in one of the western gaming industry's biggest names is a childish, angry man-child himself.

   

  Aside from his claims being outright bogus (he also claimed the online store provided by Wii U as being "poor" but I don't know, I find it easier to navigate than the labrynth that is the Xbox Live marketplace), this juvenile stance against one of the industry's leading names is downright baffling. I mean, crap? Really? That's what he's going with? Why not just call them a string of expletives while bragging about the size of your manhood while you're at it? That would be the perfect way to cap off Mr. Summerwill's stereotypical depiction of the American gaming scene. 

   

  Is the gaming industry really so petty? So disgustingly childish that a senior engineer at one of its most profitable companies has the temperment of a twelve-year old? I mean, using the word "weird" as a derogatory because something is different is in itself ignorant (what's wrong with weird anyway?), and using words like "crap" to describe something that doesn't fit perfectly into their clearly-limited vision is downright childish. The fact that he said all this on Twitter of all places only magnifies this.

   

  Is this really what the gaming industry has become? People complain about the gaming community because of the petty insults and offensive slurs you'll hear over Xbox Live, or the rampant bullying of fanboys over the internet. But it seems the industry itself is becoming equally as immature. When actual high-ups in the industry call differing parties in the gaming field as "crap," it only enforces all the negative stereotypes gaming has suffered for far too long.

   

  What a load of crap.

  • Posted May 17, 2013 5:32 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 16May 13

  Star Trek: Into Darkness is Really Good

  After the movie Summer got off to a horrible start with the painfully disappointing Iron Man 3 (more on that another time), Star Trek: Into Darkness has officially started the "good" side of the Summer movie spectrum.

   

  Like Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2 is a constant, non-stop action movie, but one that deals with some serious, real-world themes relating to terrorism. But unlike Iron Man 3, there's no stupid plot twist that spits in the face of these themes.

   

  I was a fan of J.J. Abrams Star Trek in 2009, but this one is probably even better. My hopes for Star Wars: Episode VII are now peaking (and if the rumors are true, and Brad Bird is to direct Episode VIII, my mind might just explode from all the awesome). I'll add this to my lineup of reviews, and promise to get to them post-haste.

  • Posted May 16, 2013 11:28 pm GMT
  • Category: Movies
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