When someone makes or distributes any game, that game will be competing against Nintendo's games. Being a fangame has no relevance. You might even be able to make almost a 1:1 clone without using any bits copyrighted by Nintendo, depending on the game.AeroMatter wrote:Nintendo owns Super Mario, Pokemon, LoZ, and all the rest and when someone makes a fan game without Nintendo's permission, that game will be competing against Nintendo's games
On the contrary, using images strongly associated with Nintendo increases Nintendo's sales.and hurting their sales in an unfair way because it's their product to begin with.
Let's just pick a random game: Star Control II. This game has absolutely no relevance to Nintendo, no references, nothing like that. So if someone chooses to play this game (and that means not playing Nintendo games, i.e. not paying Nintendo money), Nintendo isn't going to cross their mind at all while playing it.
Now let's consider a Nintendo fangame: Abducted Toad. Again, playing this game means not playing Nintendo games, meaning not paying Nintendo money. But it elicits thoughts about Nintendo throughout the entire game. You're basically playing through a massive, free commercial for Nintendo. So you become more likely to, for example, buy a copy of a new game from Nintendo that just came out, or talk about Nintendo to your friends (causing them to be more likely to buy a copy of a Nintendo game), or strengthen your entrenchment into Nintendo even more by playing some official Nintendo game you have in your closet.
You started out conceding my point but then ended by disputing it. Perhaps you don't understand.You could make the case that fan games increase profits because they serve as free advertising, and promote brand loyalty, however this does not change that the games are still in competition with Nintendo's and will cause undue harm.
You need to combine these points. Yes, all games are in competition with each other. If you are playing game X, you are by definition not playing game Y. This is not unique to fangames. What is unique to fangames is that they contain constant reminders of their source material (e.g. Nintendo), which is basically an extended advertisement for it. Therefore, fangames do not cause "undue harm". They cause less "harm" than other games would, to the point I would argue they become a benefit for Nintendo overall.
That's trademarks, and it has nothing to do with competition. The fact that trademark law is implemented as a ban on certain unauthorized competition is an implementation detail. Its purpose is to prevent deception and confusion, not to make anybody money (totally different from copyright law).brands
If a fangame was labeled in such a way as to suggest that Nintendo made it (such as by splashing the title screen with the Nintendo logo), that is bad. You shouldn't do that. But this is not directly related to being a fangame (it just so happens that some fangame makers get this ridiculous idea into their heads that putting the Nintendo logo in front of a game Nintendo is not responsible for is an acceptable way to "give credit"; it isn't, and Nintendo doesn't deserve credit for your work anyway).
No, it just has to be a game to be in competition. Heck, it doesn't even need to be a game; a book, movie, or toy can be in competition with Nintendo's video games, too.A fan game does not have to be a clone to be in competition with the source material, it just has to contain the source material.
But to be in direct competition with game X, it needs to serve as a replacement for game X. AM2R can serve as a replacement for Metroid II, so that is in direct competition with Metroid II. Abducted Toad cannot serve as a replacement for, say, Super Mario Bros 3 any more than Barbie Seahorse Adventures can.
Exactly. That's why all games are, and in fact all entertainment is, competition.If someone has an option of buying a Nintendo game, or playing a fan's creation, that is when competition arises because a person chooses whom to spend their money and time playing on.
Democracy isn't completely dead.I agree, but that's neither ours decision to make.
If enough people come to support an end to copyright, it will happen.
