Nintendo Fangames

[Exception]

There's a reason why Nintendo don't allow fan-games.

The reason for this is because their franchises are trademarked, NOT COPYRIGHTED. What this essentially means, is that their franchises are protected, but because of commonly used names, ideas, etc, it would not be legally viable to copyright them, and so, go for the next best thing: trademarks.

A trademark essentially protects the name and intellectual property alone. From the IPO themselves, they say:

Source: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-about/t-whatis.htm

> Trade marks are acceptable if they are:
>
> distinctive for the goods and services you provide. In other words they can be recognised as signs that differentiates your goods or service as different from someone else's.

And if somebody else is using their trademark, it isn't **essentially distinctive**, and if Nintendo were to do nothing about it, their **trademark could possibly become public domain, meaning anybody can use it and make money off of it**. Nintendo don't want this in any form, which is why they shutdown every fangame they know about.

[gdog12356]

@Crest:

> then is it really still a pokeball?

Yes.

[deathtaker26]

@Lenn:

> There's a reason why Nintendo don't allow fan-games.
>
> The reason for this is because their franchises are trademarked, NOT COPYRIGHTED. What this essentially means, is that their franchises are protected, but because of commonly used names, ideas, etc, it would not be legally viable to copyright them, and so, go for the next best thing: trademarks.
>
> A trademark essentially protects the name and intellectual property alone. From the IPO themselves, they say:
>
> Source: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-about/t-whatis.htm
> And if somebody else is using their trademark, it isn't **essentially distinctive**, and if Nintendo were to do nothing about it, their **trademark could possibly become public domain, meaning anybody can use it and make money off of it**. Nintendo don't want this in any form, which is why they shutdown every fangame they know about.

The copyright statement was towards the Pokemon Earth Online guy who had an (R) in his name representing right protection.

@Dieno: If it looks different, has different color, and is called something different, I can't see how it would be a pokeball It would be something completely different.

[gdog12356]

@Crest:

> @Dieno: If it looks different, has different color, and is called something different, I can't see how it would be a pokeball It would be something completely different.

I was joking. ¬¬

[deathtaker26]

@Dieno:

> I was joking. ¬¬

oh in that case, ho ho ho

[Kusy]

Breaking news. If your pokemon game was not yet shut down or you were not notified by Nin it means it's worth shit and you should feel bad about every second of your time spent "developing" it.

I'm sick and tired of this topic. Nintendo goes out of it's way to remove fangames that achieve ANYTHING. Kreator knows this from first hand, Cyrus got a similar letter but I think he choose to ignore it.

STFU>FO

[Gwen]

You can get away with making a fan game if N feels its worthy enough I guess.

I read an article that these guys did not get permission from Nintendo, but Nintendo liked the game so they allowed them to continue it.

[Abobo's Big Adventure](http://abobosbigadventure.com/)

[Growlith1223]

ok i am messaging nintendo to see if you're allowed to…

[Kusy]

Abobo is not breaking any copyrights I think. It's a parody, not using anything that was actually made by N.

[Gwen]

Kusy everything in Abobo is ripped from Nintendo games. they are all NES sprites, and levels.

also this is from its creators…
However both editors expressed doubts that the game would remain online long due to copyright issues and felt it was "legally questionable", in particular Mackey who called the game "The Adventures of Cease and Desist"

[deathtaker26]

@ZeroX8:

> ok i am messaging nintendo to see if you're allowed to…

Oh you mean like your last email to Nintendo? T_T Ya know the one where you were "Allowed to use whatever resources you wanted" you emailed the tech support and said you got a reply from the head chairman of Nintendo. - Y - if there's anyway you think ANYONE will believe you after that you're a moron

[Dark Crusade]

@Kusy:

> Breaking news. If your pokemon game was not yet shut down or you were not notified by Nin it means it's worth shit and you should feel bad about every second of your time spent "developing" it.
>
> I'm sick and tired of this topic. Nintendo goes out of it's way to remove fangames that achieve ANYTHING. Kreator knows this from first hand, Cyrus got a similar letter but I think he choose to ignore it.
>
> STFU>FO

Strong this.

[Rydo]

Glaceon speaks the truth, In nintendo's copyright over Pokémon they have a sort of agreement that fangames  are only allowed to use up to gen 3 Pokémon, any higher and they will be forced to take down their game.

[Rydo]

Another thing to somebody who says "Fangames arent allowed, nintendo are trying to shut down all fangames" I have to say that its complete crap, considering nintendo have and still are giving out licenses for fangames to people who ask for them.

[Ruins of Hell]

@Rydo:

> Glaceon speaks the truth, In nintendo's copyright over Pokémon they have a sort of agreement that fangames  are only allowed to use up to gen 3 Pokémon, any higher and they will be forced to take down their game.

Where does it say that in their copyright?

@Rydo:

> Another thing to somebody who says "Fangames arent allowed, nintendo are trying to shut down all fangames" I have to say that its complete crap, considering nintendo have and still are giving out licenses for fangames to people who ask for them.

I would like to see an example of someone who has received a license via Nintendo to distribute their Pokemon game.

[Rydo]

@Soul:

> Where does it say that in their copyright?
>
> I would like to see an example of someone who has received a license via Nintendo to distribute their Pokemon game.

Well I think I over exaggerated with "copyright" But I did read it online, and I'm sure many others have too since its something people generally read.

And second, there is no need for examples because it even states so in a LINK I believe you posted
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-05/5/investigation-are-fan-games-legal?page=all

[jcsnider]

Only problem is… Nintendo will NOT license any fan games. (If you haven't noticed... the only example it gave was Valve)

[Rydo]

@jcsnider:

> Only problem is… Nintendo will NOT license any fan games. (If you haven't noticed... the only example it gave was Valve)

If valve has done it, why not nintendo? There is an article stating Nintendo DOESN'T like shutting down games made from fans of that genre. Maybe they haven't gave out a license before because people are too SCARED to even ask them?.

[jcsnider]

If your "scared" to shoot them an email then your pathetic. The worst that will happen is that they say no and shut down your game before you have something worth shutting down.

Either way, at one point in time I actually had one of these damn fan games…

>! 
>! 

In the end… I had significantly over 10,000 players. I couldnt keep the server running for more than 5 minutes before it would crash because of all the people trying to play... I requested permission from nintendo and they instantly emailed back saying they could not and would not permit the use of their copyrighted material in any fan-based game.

[Rydo]

@jcsnider:

> If your "scared" to shoot them an email then your pathetic. The worst that will happen is that they say no and shut down your game before you have something worth shutting down.
>
> Either way, at one point in time I actually had one of these damn fan games…
>
> >! 
> >! 
>
> In the end… I had significantly over 10,000 players. I couldnt keep the server running for more than 5 minutes before it would crash because of all the people trying to play... I requested permission from nintendo and they instantly emailed back saying they could not and would not permit the use of their copyrighted material in any fan-based game.

Wow dude, sorry about your game, it must have sucked to have a successful game shut down (I dont know how it feels, since I am very limited with vb6..) It looked so awesome.
But me and glaceon still plan on creating a pokemon mmorpg, mostly for the experience of making a game, and for the enjoyment.

[jcsnider]

That is fine. But don't ever claim that it is legal or alright because truthfully, it isn't. Just like mine was not legal. They are a hell of alot of fun to make though.

[Rydo]

Yeah, Me and glaceon have been working together for years. We first made a project called Pokemon united nations, very simple game, but very enjoyable. Then we moved onto PMDU. Then Pokémon Royalé. And now Pokémon Dungeon Explorers. Strangely enough though, the first version was the most popular LOL

[Kusy]

I know about one fan-game based off Electronic Arts franchise. I talked with the creator and what he did was actually ask EA support what he should do and they specifically instructed him what he should put in the game credits to make it ok with them.

It was something about "All respective characters belong to bla bla bla" but I can't tell you exactly because the project's website is down… probably due to interest loss.

[Rydo]

@Kusy:

> I know about one fan-game based off Electronic Arts franchise. I talked with the creator and what he did was actually ask EA support what he should do and they specifically instructed him what he should put in the game credits to make it ok with them.
>
> It was something about "All respective characters belong to bla bla bla" but I can't tell you exactly because the project's website is down… probably due to interest loss.

Nice, and its good that they were ok with it, aslong as he gave them credit for some of the things.

[Ruins of Hell]

@Rydo:

> And second, there is no need for examples because it even states so in a LINK I believe you posted
> http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-05/5/investigation-are-fan-games-legal?page=all

@Article:

> "Fans who wish to make fan games can approach the owner of the original and request a licence," Tutty says. "The benefit of this is that a company has control over third party use of its material and generates a revenue from it.
>
> "**There is no obligation for this to be granted, which leaves the fans in an unenviable position**," Tutty says. **You'll have a hard job getting any of the famous game makers to grant you a license** – Streets of Rage Remake developer Link says the crew notified Sega, long before the game's release, but heard nothing back.

Also from the article:
@Article:

> **Nintendo killed off online Pokemon battler Pokenet** and fan-made Zelda film The Hero of Time

I am OK with you arguing a different position or deciding to create a fangame for fun, but please do not misrepresent my sources.