Nintendo: Broader, Awful Anti-Piracy Measures Are Sure To Turn Our Fortunes Around!

Business Models

from the save-the-princess-from-bad-policy dept

Nintendo isn’t having quite as much fun as normal lately, the launch of their Wii-U console not being particularly well-received in the market, over-shadowed by the launch of much more powerful and compelling hardware by Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo recently slashed the company’s original full-year Wii U sales forecast by nearly 70% to 2.8 million units. It’s not all sour; Nintendo’s 3DS unit has been a smashing success overall (at least according to my Animal Crossing animal friends), sales of the 3DS are up, and despite some piracy threats from recent flashcart advances, 3DS software sales are clicking right along, with Nintendo recently stating 2013 was a “record year” for both 3DS hardware and software sales, 3DS software sales in particular are up 45% year over year.

Still, low Wii-U sales leave Nintendo in a tough spot, forcing the game company into a bit of an existential crisis. What can possibly turn around the living room fortunes of one of the world’s most-adored gaming companies? Developing better games? Better scrutiny of third-party game quality? Developing a less gimmicky home console with enough power to battle Sony and Microsoft while retaining Nintendo’s unique charm? Leveraging the inexhaustible energy of your massive fanboy base to generate clean, renewable energy for years to come?

A large portion of Nintendo calories that could be directed to those pursuits are instead being directed at convincing the U.S government to pressure Brazil, China, Mexico and Spain into imposing tougher anti-piracy countermeasures. Nintendo informs the U.S. government they’ve suffered “heavy losses” in those countries, which should be encouraged to embrace blocking websites and turning ISPs into liable Internet content nannies (both things that have clearly worked so well up until now). According to Nintendo’s letter to the U.S. government, 16% of all online piracy of Nintendo products traces back to Spain:

“Since so many illegal video games are downloaded in Spain from foreign-based cyberlockers, and accessed through cyberlinkers or P2P linking sites hosted outside Spain, the IPC must address this issue by authorizing the blocking of linking sites,” Nintendo writes.”

Except that much of that Spanish content is hosted here in the States, where Nintendo hasn’t made the same recommendations. Nintendo would also very much like it if the United States would “train” and “educate” the Spanish legal system on how to properly treat piracy (read: a swift and heavy fist entirely detached from an operational brain):

“The Spanish Government should work with the U.S. Government and rights holders to provide necessary IP training to Spanish prosecutors, judges and IPC officials, particularly focusing on Internet piracy and effective online investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of criminal copyright infringement on the Internet.”

Which, again, should really be efficient since most of those sites are hosted in the United States, combined with the problem that these kinds of efforts don’t work (or wind up impacting legitimate businesses and websites). My Animal Crossing animal friends go on at nauseating length about how instead of wasting energy on bad anti-piracy policy, Nintendo could instead focus that energy on better hardware and games (and perhaps a new fountain for the Animal Crossing town square) — but what do they know.

Filed Under: piracy, video games, wii u
Companies: nintendo