Super Mario 64 guidebook scans hit with takedown notice
Nintendo is at it again.
Remember those incredibly charming scans taken from the Super Mario 64 guidebook that is full of intricate 3D models of each level I reported on last week? Well, sadly the powers that be at Nintendo have decided to flex their muscles once more and issued the scan's uploader (Dave Shevlin of Comfort Food Video Games) with a takedown notice.
In a statement to Kotaku, Shevlin said:
"Sadly archive.org sent me their usual takedown notice email telling me Nintendo of America challenged the copyright of the scan and it was removed.
"Frankly I'd love to challenge the legitimacy of that and how Nintendo of America would have anything to do with a Nintendo of Japan licensed Gem Books guide from 1995 but I can't really fight the Nintendo legal team here. It's incredibly disappointing.
"While I fully understand protecting one's IP and copyrights, I didn't think I was hurting anyone by scanning and uploading a 27-year-old guide that is extremely out of print. Truthfully, I think it helps Nintendo while only hurting the people selling this guide for literal hundreds of dollars. All I wanted to do was spread my love of this incredible guide and to a larger extent my love for the company.
"I'm a rookie to the video game preservation scene but I can't think of anything more depressing than how it's a bunch of hard-working people spending their free time and money painstakingly archiving and preserving history while major corporations like Nintendo are doing nothing to help. In fact, they're actively hindering the cause."
This is hugely disappointing, but alas it is what has come to be expected from Nintendo. After all, the company has gained quite a reputation for its strict copyright policy over the years.
Other projects that have had to succumb to Nintendo's whims include Pokémon Essentials, a kit that allowed users to design their own Pokémon adventures, and Super Mario 64 HD, a free fan project that remastered the N64 game's first level.
More recently, Nintendo has been taking aim at YouTube channels streaming soundtracks from its games.
Then, at the start of this month, videos demonstrating emulation of Nintendo consoles on Valve's Steam Deck began mysteriously disappearing from YouTube.