Tag Archives: youtube

Thomas Was Alone Creator Responds To Nintendo’s Claim To YouTube Ad Revenue

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mario_party_characters2Yesterday we reported that Nintendo was filing content ID matches against those who generate Let’s Play videos with Nintendo-owned content on YouTube – taking a chunk of ad revenue from users on the website. Adding fuel to the fire and sparking up another bucket load of controversy is Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell, claiming that Nintendo is ‘doing it wrong’.

The indie developer shot to fame over YouTube after his puzzle platformer title ‘Thomas Was Alone’ was featured on Total Biscuit’s WTF series – a first impressions programme showcasing an array of titles from indie to triple A. Speaking on his blog over at Develop, Blithell slams Nintendo’s reasoning and says that it will, ultimately, hurt the company in the long run. A portion of his statement is featured below, do you agree with him?

“Nintendo seems to be taking a very literal approach to the scene. ‘This guy is making money from videos of Mario, that should be our money’. That is phenomenally silly.

“The guy in question is most likely not making much; even the big guys only get a tiny amount of money by international hardware company standards. Nintendo really, really doesn’t need their cash. By taking these sums away, they are massively dissuading them from continuing to make content from their game.

“But why should they care about losing an LPer? Well, put bluntly, marketing. The audience of these videos are an excitable, tribal group that go out and spend a great deal of money on the games talked about.

“I’ll close with an example from Thomas Was Alone’s sale history. The game launched in July on direct sales, and in November on Steam. The following Christmas I ran a 50 per cent off sale, which was doing rather well. And then, on January 1st, Total Biscuit did a WTF video about the game. Thomas sold eight times more units than on launch day. In a matter of hours, I was outselling Assassin’s Creed 3 on Steam.

“Nintendo. You’re doing it wrong.”

Nintendo Claiming Ad Revenue On Let’s Players YouTube Content

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luigis_mansion_dark_moon_ghostCat videos and internet memes are not the only content to have had massive success on YouTube, Let’s Play content has also shared in the madness, with Notch-born Minecraft taking up a whole whack of space on the user-generated website. But now it appears, Nintendo are allegedly beginning to monopolise on the success of Let’s Players who specifically play any Nintendo-owned content.

YouTube Let’s Player Zack Scott - who is currently playing through Luigi’s Mansion 2 - recently noticed that many of his Nintendo-related videos were issued with content ID matches, which prevented him from producing any money from ad revenue on his videos. Content ID matches are less severe than copyright claims, they serve a purpose to enable the publisher to monetize on content of and relating to what the publisher owns. With this in mind, Scott turned to Facebook, sending a message to his subscribers, and as an open message to Nintendo, explaining the issue. A portion of what he said is stated below:

“I think filing claims against LPers is backwards. Video games aren’t like movies or TV. Each play-through is a unique audiovisual experience. When I see a film that someone else is also watching, I don’t need to see it again. When I see a game that someone else is playing, I want to play that game for myself! Sure, there may be some people who watch games rather than play them, but are those people even gamers?

“Since I started my gaming channel, I’ve played a lot of games. I love Nintendo, so I’ve included their games in my line-up. But until their claims are straightened out, I won’t be playing their games. I won’t because it jeopardizes my channel’s copyright standing and the livelihood of all LPers.”

In a bid to set the record straight, Nintendo issued a statement to web publication Game Front, saying that they do not wish to block user-generated content from Nintendo material but will take ad revenue from Nintendo-owned content of a certain length. Do you think Nintendo should be monopolising on video content from YouTube? And what do you think this will mean for Let’s Players in the future? Let us know in the comments below.

As part of our on-going push to ensure Nintendo content is shared across social media channels in an appropriate and safe way, we became a YouTube partner and as such in February 2013 we registered our copyright content in the YouTube database. For most fan videos this will not result in any changes, however, for those videos featuring Nintendo-owned content, such as images or audio of a certain length, adverts will now appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips. We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube, and that is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property.

- Nintendo Representative

Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures Confirmed For Nintendo Consoles

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Many will be familiar with YouTube’s JamesNintendoNerd aka ‘the video game nerd’, but recently he’s been working with game developers FreakZone Games – who brought Manos: The Hands of Fate and Awesome Land to the iOS – to present an all-star retro 2D platformer for all your classic playing needs.

Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures was confirmed that it would be available for download on ‘modern Nintendo consoles’ – presumably the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS this coming summer. The game was officially greenlit on Steam earlier this month after pre-alpha footage was released in the game trailer above. The title, said to be influenced by classics such as Castlevania and Megaman, features 10 levels of fast-paced 2D action based on the popular YouTube series.

Nintendo Launches Three New Family Commercials For Wii U

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Nintendo has launched three new commercials in the US to advertise the Wii U as, once again, a family console. Despite what Michael Pachter said, Nintendo has decided to market the Wii U as a ‘family orientated’ console, just like its predecessor. 

The first commercial, featured above, sees the Vanorsby family playing on the console and saying ‘we gotta upgrade’. The second and third families skate along the same line, exploring the main differences of the GamePad against the Wii Remote, emphasising that you can play both on and off-screen. The Haskins family even says that when you hold the GamePad it’s much ‘easier’, providing smoother game play. Do you think the new commercials will help bring in the family market and create a success similar to the Wii? 

Top 5 Nintendo April Fool’s Pranks For 2013

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google nesAfter last year’s Google Maps NES cartridge had us scrambling to play the ‘Quest’ game, April Fool’s Day has become more than an 8-bit joke for the gaming industry – from console mergers to fake releases, the internet has had it all. But can 2013 top its predecessor years by pulling the wool over our eyes, or have we finally ‘cottoned’ on? Here’s our Top 5 April Fool’s Nintendo Pranks for this year.

1. The Nintendo/EA Merger
Circulating rumours of a possible merger between EA and Nintendo were quite a shocker this year – apparently, they’d been in cahoots for quite some time with EA, who were attempting to buy out Nintendo between May and June. It was even corroborated by GameFAQs website, asking members through a daily poll if they thought the merger was a good idea. Of course, when the last poll option says, “not funny guys, I forgot what today was, and you [just] about gave me a heart attack”, we are almost certain this is false information.

2. WayForward’s New and Original Game
cat girlIt’s no wonder a game called Cat Girl Without Salad is a meal best served to a fool, as it satisfies every players’ whim, need and appetite. Promising to feature every genre in the gaming catalogue – from puzzler, platformer, shooter, RPG and even visual novel – WayForward says it’s a cut above the rest. Plus it’s even available on each and every console! The company, who brought us Duck Tales Remastered, tweeted earlier today: “We can finally spill the beans on the latest WayForward original! Head over to the blog for all the juicy details!!!” Blimey, they’ve clearly put a lot of effort into that. Look out for it on the Nintendo 3DS, DS, Wii and Wii U.

3. BA Hons in Pokémon Mastery
Let’s be honest, this isn’t the first time ‘Mickey Mouse’ courses have been offered at universities across the world, but this next one would definitely be the icing on the cake. The official Pokémon Twitter page for North America announced today (and so did we *wink*) that starting from September 2013, students could take up a degree in Pokémon Mastery. But who knows, maybe in the future this could be more than just avid fan speculation.

4. The Luigi Codeluigi_super_smash_bros_brawlSince 2013 has been dubbed ‘the year of Luigi’ it’s high time he gets his own ‘code’ to project onto various virtual consoles to be released this year. By all accounts, you’ll be able to transform Dr. Mario into a green-skin aptly named ‘Dr. Luigi’, and he’ll also get a suit on Super Metroid – cool, huh? The ‘Luigi code’ will be very similar to that Konami code that’s been kicking about for years, apparently. We think it will do well.

5. Satoru Iwata’s Apology on YouTube
This fan-made video has been making quite a spectacle on YouTube today. The video, which sees Satoru Iwata address the audience about recent Wii U sales and other such problems, is certainly an entertaining joke – even if it is a satirical one at Nintendo Direct’s expense. Luckily for Iwata, the maker of the video has noted an apology, detailing that it really is just an April Fool’s joke.

Let us know if you’ve seen any other April Fool’s Nintendo jokes this year in the comments below.

Black Ops 2 Takes Youtube’s Top Entertainment 2012 Trailers By Storm

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The incredibly popular Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has snatched four positions in Youtube’s top trailers of 2012. The live action trailer for the game which is titled “Surprise” managed to be the most watched entertainment trailer of the year, with 35,152,507 views —overtaking the official movie trailers for both Skyfall and The Dark Knight Rises. You can view the most watched entertainment trailers of 2012 right here.

YouTube Still Not Working Properly On Wii U Browser, Here’s A Workaround

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youtube_logoUnfortunately, Wii U users aren’t able to watch YouTube videos normally on the new console’s browser. However, a workaround is available.

To watch YouTube videos on the Wii U’s browser, select a video, go the URL and add “_popup” after the word “watch.” This launches the video you selected in its own window, which allows you to use the Wii U GamePad’s 6.2-inch touchscreen for viewing.

YouTube And Amazon Instant Video Are Now Available On Wii U

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Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video and YouTube are available for use on Nintendo’s new console, Wii U. The video streaming services utilize both the Wii U console and the Wii U GamePad. Nintendo TVii, which will bring together all the streaming services available on Wii U into a single application, comes to North America this December.