Sega Does What Nintendon't, Tells Fans 'Keep Making Good Stuff'

A week ago, aside from making an appearance at the iPhone 7 event, Nintendo took down over 500 fanmade games.

“Certain material posted on the website located at gamejolt.com infringes copyrights owned by Nintendo. This notice is provided pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 USC § 512,” the notice provided by Game Jolt said. It then goes on to name the properties being infringed upon – Mario, Zelda and Pokemon among others – providing links to every single game hosted on the website.

(Also see: Over 500 Nintendo Fan Games Hit With DMCA Takedown Notice)

One of those games is Another Metroid 2 Remake (AM2R). The developer, Milton Guasti, had already received a notice earlier in the year, and development had become “private” since then. Now, he seems to have thrown in the towel.

“Nintendo of America, Inc. has filed a takedown request under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA),” Guasti said in a new blog post. “I received the request on my personal email, so I'm complying with their requests.”

(Also see: Sega Hid a Funny Message on Arcade Bags for Two Years, Here's What It Is)

Meanwhile, Sega also saw its fair share of fan-created games. One in particular, Green Hill Paradise Act 2 caught the eye of company. Instead of slapping it with a DMCA claim, the official Sega social media account offered support and encouragement.

“Brb, DMCA time. Just kidding. Keep making great stuff, Sonic fans,” said the official Sonic the Hedgehog account on the YouTube page of GameGrumps - a duo who play video games and broadcast their exploits daily. The GameGrumps brought Green Hill Paradise Act 2 to light with a video of its playthrough last week.

Now Nintendo has every right to safeguard its intellectual property. The games taken down as they were monetised via advertising. But the company also ended a few superlative fan projects that were borne out of passion and were not being monetised such as Pokemon Uranium and the aforementioned AM2R.

Sega’s approach is likely to garner the goodwill of fans which should hold them in good stead. Then again, the company is known for its fan engagement what with bringing on a fan, Christian Whitehead to code on the upcoming Sonic Mania. On the other hand, while Nintendo did throw Metroid fans a bone with the so-so Metroid Federation Force, it’s done little else. Mario might be making it to the iPhone but he could learn a thing or two about keeping fans happy.