SuperPac
Member
This is what I assume too. If it was a quick homage/not full game, that would be one thing; but it's a fully formed game. Like fan trailers versus a fan producing a full 2-hour movie based on a thing.
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Reggie: AM2R killed because it was a commercial product without a charge
- Thread starter benny_a
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This is what I assume too. If it was a quick homage/not full game, that would be one thing; but it's a fully formed game. Like fan trailers versus a fan producing a full 2-hour movie based on a thing.
chrisPjelly
Member
It was a reputable remake that could've very well have (and did to some extent) sucked the hype out of Nintendo's own remake of Metroid 2. While it is shitty for the creator of AM2R, this is literally a textbook definition of why Nintendo is in their right to shut down this fan game.
I think Nintendo is allowed to do whatever they want with their IP's and from a business sense, I completely understand (Though I wish Reggie wasn't so PR about it lol)
But you can't expect people to say "Thank you Nintendo for taking away a good game".
Thankfully with it being on PC it will always live no matter what.
ROUGE_BLOCK
Member
AM2R is so good it scared the financial viability of Samus Returns which makes sense considering what do you when someone takes your IP and makes a better game out of it? Which could very well be the case with AM2R as it's a fantastic recreation.
At the same time though it was finished and is still out there, but the creators never made any commercial gain from AM2R. So well it's puzzling response from Reggie but it makes sense given Nintendo's history with protecting their IP, I mean hell in the early 90s they tried to kill renting their NES games in North America like they did in Japan.
At the same time though it was finished and is still out there, but the creators never made any commercial gain from AM2R. So well it's puzzling response from Reggie but it makes sense given Nintendo's history with protecting their IP, I mean hell in the early 90s they tried to kill renting their NES games in North America like they did in Japan.
Very lame of them to be absolutely disinterested in 2D Metroid for so long, to the point people felt the need to take the reins themselves, and then shutting it down when they realize there is still hardcore interest in the series and making their own. I get it but it's also pretty fucking lame.
Lights and Waves
Member
You sound like an entitled teenager. Are you really losing that much sleep over Nintendo's PR?
sixteen-bit
Member
cuz he's paid not to
RumbleHumble
Banned
It'd be real great if Nintendo picked up the guy who dev'd AM2R. That'd do a great job helping win some people over who got bummed out by what happened.
Giolon
Member
It's the law, and it's not going anywhere any time soon.
Good luck with that...
Stairouais
Member
Not really, it's just boring to have good interviewers withg good questions facing a brick wall.
QuantumBro
Banned
The reasoning for the takedown of the AM2R should make sense to anyone, Nintendo is basically making the same game so it would've cut into their profits if it continued to exist after their version came out.
Any other game company would've done the same thing if they had found themselves in this scenario.
Any other game company would've done the same thing if they had found themselves in this scenario.
Metroid: Samus Returns has been in development for around 2 years.
They could have (and most other companies would have) shut down AM2R then, if not sooner.
Instead, they let the creator finish it and release it before having the C&D issued.
Please note: They let the project be completed before they did what they had to do to legally protect their IP.
"Shutting it down" would have been killing it before release; not waiting for its completion.
Shifty1897
Member
I've never understood fan remakes. AM2R could've been sold for 15 bucks on Steam and would've sold hundreds of thousands of copies. All they would've had to do was change some art assets and some areas / mechanics.
And before you say "Shifty, it's not about the money, it's about making something for the fans." Well look what happened and what has always happened when you make a fan game based on a Nintendo property and release it, it gets shut down and now no one can play it. It would have been better to change it just enough and release it as a "spiritual successor" to Metroid because then Nintendo can't shut it down and people could legally play it.
And before you say "Shifty, it's not about the money, it's about making something for the fans." Well look what happened and what has always happened when you make a fan game based on a Nintendo property and release it, it gets shut down and now no one can play it. It would have been better to change it just enough and release it as a "spiritual successor" to Metroid because then Nintendo can't shut it down and people could legally play it.
more like, if the fangame is that good, they may as well go whole hog and make it their own thing instead of riding on the coattails of someone else's IP.
LightningXCE
Member
So tell me about Pokemon Prism then, please.
All it is is just a sucky situation. The game is a fangame with enough polish to at least compete with other games in the series. But not only that, it is a remake of an official game, not something 100% original. But the kicker is that they had M:SR in the works, another remake of Metroid 2. If AM2R had been allowed to stay on the market, for free, it is perfectly reasonable to argue it could have cut into the game's sales.
I'm just looking forward to when it comes out so I can compare and contrast them. AM2R is fucking amazing, so Mercury Steam really has their work cut out for them.
I'm just looking forward to when it comes out so I can compare and contrast them. AM2R is fucking amazing, so Mercury Steam really has their work cut out for them.
Wowfunhappy
Member
They would have had to redo almost all the levels, art, and sound. Basically the whole game except for the base engine.
funkystudent
Member
Everyone is OK with dinky little fan games once its cute and janky.
I feel most companies would NOT be OK when a fan game is on par or better then the quality of games you actually release.
I feel most companies would NOT be OK when a fan game is on par or better then the quality of games you actually release.
lord_of_flood
Member
The explanation is weirdly phrased, but the idea makes sense. It's basically a product using their IP that is of high enough quality, and had enough exposure, to directly compete with Nintendo's own paid product, especially because AM2R is free to download. As a result, AM2R's existence made Nintendo's product significantly less financially viable. Makes sense for Nintendo to shut it down, though it is unfortunate that it did get shut down.
Definitely stumbled over the wording but with normal comprehension you can see what he's saying. I think fan projects like A2MR are really unfortunate, I'd like to see the project live as homage than die as copy. Thankfully, many indie devs have been putting their nostalgic passion to use and building fantastic things and getting rewarded for it. Go buy Axiom Verge if you haven't.
Zennistrad
Neo Member
No, I understand perfectly why they would do it. That doesn't mean I think they should.
You'll have to forgive me for standing on a soapbox, but I think that IP law in general has been cancerous for a long, long time. It's not used to "protect creators" but to restrict creative freedom.
Whenever a corporate representative tells you that a fan project "threatens them," the question you need to ask is "threatens who?" Almost always the answer is executives and shareholders, not the people who are actually doing the creative work.
7DollarHagane
Banned
Yep and this whole thing just stinks of people looking for an excuse to be upset.
Nintendo did nothing wrong in this case and when all the news stories of am2r hit the internet they probably found out about it like everyone else, meanwhile Samus returns is probably just starting to be developed.
You would have to be utterly stupid or totally disingenuous to believe that they wouldn't try to shut it down at that point.
Besides, you can play and download am2r just fine. There is literally no way to stop that.
Honestly idk why anyone spends as much time as this on a creation that is unoriginal. The creator clearly has talent, why waste it on something that steals assets and design and IP? Why not make something of your own?
Stairouais
Member
I understand what PR is. Phil Spencer does a much better job at faking honesty in his answers.
Reggie has been saying "no comments" for 15 years. Cool, that's his job, right? It's still boring.
It's kind of weird they didn't just reach out to the guy, and figure out a way to package it with their own Metroid remake. Particularly considering Samus Returns appears to be a very expanded/redesigned Zero Mission-esque remake, vs AM2R which plays closer to the original. Also the naming would have fit perfectly too.
Considering the reception of Samus Returns... lol
I mean, the game even managed to slid into the Top 10 of the best games of E3 here on GAF
Oh GAF...
Never mind X_x
Like, who do you think is paying and financing the people doing the creative job? Of course they want to get paid after they risked their money.
I cannot.
Does it even get shade? Most people here absolutely loved it, and even the harshest things largely said about it is "it's got a few flaws"
Salty Rice
Member
Since they announced their own Metroid 2 Remake just some months later killing it makes just sense.
He doesnt even have to explain himself why they did it imo.
He doesnt even have to explain himself why they did it imo.
Zap Rowsdower
Banned
Yeah, really. This is one of the most cut and dry justified C&Ds a video game company has made in some time.
AM2R wasn't even that good to begin with
Well, it is a complete remake of Metroid 2. Even if assets are all changed, features are added and the game is improved, at the end of day you're still getting all of Metroid 2 for free. It flew too close to the sun. We should take solace to the fact it was C&D'ed after it was completed and leaked into the eternity of the internet.
I think anyone in PR who can't answer a question honestly and still make the company look good as a result is bad at their job.
There are so many other ways he could have explained it without sounding like a bullshit merchant.
Having said that, Nintendo also doesn't handle situations in the best way either which makes it more difficult to explain around their silly decisions sometimes.
and this shit is just embarassing
so anything that gets shut down is because there is probably a game from nintendo in the works?
no
no
TheDinoman
Member
If Samus Returns is any indication, it seems Nintendo/Sakamoto still do know how to make a 2D Metroid game. It's not like SEGA or Sonic Team who actually have absolutely no understanding of what made the original Sonic games work so they have to rely on Taxman and his gang, who actually do know what makes a Sonic game tick.
Basically. I mean, I guess it made even more sense once Metroid: Samus Returns was revealed, but it was always a justified C&D.
I'd be interested to hear what you believe to be the truth then.
It had me completely confused about who owned the Metroid IP, which I'm sure affected the 40 million others who downloaded. I don't think Nintendo would have made it another year with sending a C&D.
NOLA_Gaffer
Banned
It's pretty easy to see why Nintendo cut off AM2R at the knees. It was a competing product to their official remake.
whalleywhat
Member
OH NO!
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