Nintendo downs Metroid 2 remake, magazine archive
August 9, 2016 | 13:43
Companies: #internet-archive #nintendo
Nintendo has flexed its legal muscles to take down two fan-created projects: the Internet Archive's collection of Nintendo Power magazine scans and the Another Metroid 2 Remake (AM2R).
Another Metroid 2 Remake (AM2R) is, as the name suggests, a remake of Nintendo's classic platform title bearing the same name. The game, which features an improved graphics engine, fresh artwork, better enemy artificial intelligence routines, and even entirely new areas and bosses, was created over a ten-year period by fans of the series and publicly released for free to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the franchise. Unfortunately, the glow of critical success didn't last long: Nintendo has filed a request for the game to be taken down, using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to pull the majority of the project's website and all official download links.
The company's reasoning, explained in a statement to press, is fair: in order to protect its trademarks, it has to actively enforce them. Allowing the AM2R project to continue, even as freeware, would make it more difficult for Nintendo to cry legal foul should a competitor release a Metroid game commercially.
While that argument certainly holds water for Metroid, a franchise the company is still actively exploiting, it would appear difficult to apply to a request sent to the Internet Archive to delete its collection of Nintendo Power magazine scans. Originally home to some 150 issues of the magazine's 285-strong run, which ended in December 2012, the archive collection page is now entirely bereft of files. No explanation from Nintendo for the removal of the magazine, which is impossible to purchase legally beyond scouring internet auction sites and car-boot sales, has been provided.
Another Metroid 2 Remake (AM2R) is, as the name suggests, a remake of Nintendo's classic platform title bearing the same name. The game, which features an improved graphics engine, fresh artwork, better enemy artificial intelligence routines, and even entirely new areas and bosses, was created over a ten-year period by fans of the series and publicly released for free to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the franchise. Unfortunately, the glow of critical success didn't last long: Nintendo has filed a request for the game to be taken down, using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to pull the majority of the project's website and all official download links.
The company's reasoning, explained in a statement to press, is fair: in order to protect its trademarks, it has to actively enforce them. Allowing the AM2R project to continue, even as freeware, would make it more difficult for Nintendo to cry legal foul should a competitor release a Metroid game commercially.
While that argument certainly holds water for Metroid, a franchise the company is still actively exploiting, it would appear difficult to apply to a request sent to the Internet Archive to delete its collection of Nintendo Power magazine scans. Originally home to some 150 issues of the magazine's 285-strong run, which ended in December 2012, the archive collection page is now entirely bereft of files. No explanation from Nintendo for the removal of the magazine, which is impossible to purchase legally beyond scouring internet auction sites and car-boot sales, has been provided.
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