YouTube channel Retro Game Corps was recently hit with a copyright strike, claiming its worst fears appear to be true.

Nintendo issued the copyright strike because the channel showed how a Wii U emulator could run. For the channel’s future, it decided that no Nintendo first-party games would be used to demonstrate how the emulation runs.

Now, most people will vent their frustrations of Nintendo’s difficult nature, giving their personal opinion about the company when it comes to litigious news. The thing is, Nintendo is in the right in this case because of the law. If people are breaking those laws knowing that Nintendo does not play when it comes to its intellectual property, hardware, and software, then that’s on them.

In this case, emulation outside of Nintendo’s control is a no. Some confusion can come from this because some who aren’t tech savvy or are unaware that Nintendo doesn’t sell its first-party games on any other platform (outside of China since they can buy Wii games on their mobile tablets) may think they won’t need Nintendo’s hardware to play its first-party titles.

Regardless of how you view emulation, Nintendo finds it a violation because it sees it as a form of theft. Since it is the owners of the IP people use, Nintendo has a right to stop the usage of their material that content creators may use. We know of Nintendo’s Content Creator Program that allowed its games to be used in exchange for shared revenue. The program ended in December 2018 and allowed creators to use its games as long as they followed the guidelines they provided.

With the Retro Game Corps situation, Nintendo might not have a problem if the games were running on original hardware. Since it wasn’t (according to Nintendo’s viewpoint), it was right to send a request to copyright strike the channel. I know many will disagree with me, but rules and law come into play, Nintendo has the lawyers compared to what a content creator could afford. Not being mean but let’s be real, can a content creator afford the lawyers that Nintendo has at its disposal? Nintendo is a company that is number one in Japan in having cash on hand, so the chances are unlikely.

I know Nintendo has a huge history in the legal world. The takedowns, lawsuits, and the wins and losses that come. I know it sucks, and people will always hate Nintendo for that, but that is its right and it has to protect its business and merchandise. Don’t forget, Nintendo has stockholders. If they caught wind of this, and it negatively affected business, the higher-ups running the company have to answer to all of that. Investments mean a lot to people when it comes to business.

We all don’t know the legal system from left to right. We only can make a personal opinion about a topic, news story, or situation because we love to react. I feel that Nintendo has the right because it is its IP and this isn’t anything new. We’ve seen how it is so why risk or continue to do it when you know you’re playing with fire?

Yes, I know about the Analogue Pocket. Why haven’t Nintendo gone after them? My guess would be since it is a portable device that is composed of various component that allows various handhelds like Game Gear or Neo-Geo Pocket to be played, Nintendo can’t do anything or doesn’t care. It has no emulation in the device and you need the physical software to play it. That is just a guess on my part. 

Retro Games Corp has decided not to use Nintendo’s first-party games. They can still use games that came to Nintendo hardware from a third party. If they want to show ZombiU running through the Wii U emulator, go ahead (most likely, Ubisoft probably wouldn’t notice or care). In this situation though, I believe Nintendo has the right, whether we like it or not. 

Do you agree or not? Let us know in the comments or in our Boss Rush Discord.

Feature Image: Fast Company

Pow Block Podcast – A Nintendo Podcast by Boss Rush

Pow Block Podcast (Nintendo Pow Block) is the Nintendo podcast from The Boss Rush Network. Each week, hosts Edward Varnell and Corey Dirrig, as well as their friends and fellow content creators from around the internet come together to discuss the week that was in the world of Nintendo, including recent news, rumors, new games, what they’ve been playing, answer listener questions, and the fan-favorite food segment, Snacktendo. Subscribing to Boss Rush Network on Patreon at any tier grants you access to the revamped Expansion Pass Post-Show.

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