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Nintendo decides it owns YouTube's Let's Play scene
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Currently playing: DI:Riptide, Eador:MotBW, FE:A, MH3U
Two things:
1: From my understanding, Rifftrax are JUST the audio commentary on an MP3. You personally have to have the movie, and sync it up properly. That's why they're pretty safe copyright wise.
2: Sony does have the whole "Share" thing going, but they also recently revealed that it can be locked by the publisher if they want, like for example locking endings or sensitive cutscenes.
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It's silly and harmless. People saying that there should be some sort of LP protest though are elevating it.
Unmotivate - Updated May 17th - "Let's Complain About Nintendo"
The PA Forumer 'Lets Play' Archive - Updated March 25th, 2013
Well, it is an entirely different medium, and Gears of War strikes me as specifically a great example of such. I think the small minority of people would consider a LP to be an effective replacement. Moreso, perhaps, with, say, Final Fantasy, which doesn't have multiplayer and relies on a lot of cut scenes.
That said, I think the whining about used products borders on histrionic, so if it were the same thing, I'd still have no problem with it. I can sell my Toyota used, and / or post a cell phone video of driving it through a snowstorm (preferably filmed by a passenger, of course), and no one seems to mind either in that case.
I don't think they get fewer evil points for trying to take the money and the incidental marketing benefits at the same time.
there's stuff like game grumps where there's TONS of commentary and original content; clearly while it's riffing on others' IP, it's more of a derivative work that can still stand on its own
then you have no-commentary playthroughs of the newest games, stuff that's pretty much expressly meant to offer as close to the actual-game experience without having a controller in your hand
both are good things, and the latter is something i especially enjoy since i don't own any modern consoles. without them, i'd never have experienced the uncharted series, journey, etc.
is watching a LP on youtube a proper substitute for playing the game? no way. is it still pretty threatening to games that are incredibly linear, offering narrative and often-shitty gameplay? heck yes.
the difference between watching a bayonetta LP and something like....i dunno, FF13 is that one of them is only offering a tiny percentage of the game's content despite you seeing the whole story.
so overall i can understand developers and publishers' concerns. they don't want to stifle the community, yeah, but at the same time there's definitely a contingent of people who don't have enough interest/money to buy but might still watch. it's not quite a market, it's a quasi-market, and i think nintendo's ok in trying to capitalize a little on it.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy | blog
Person B makes Lets Plays and has YouTube's ad partnership program running on their account.
Person C makes Lets Plays and does not have YouTube's ad partnership program running on their account.
All these people are Lets Players. The only person that "should" be getting mad is Person B. And I put "should" in quotes because they aren't in the right with their utilization of the ad partnership program in the first place. They're in for a wake-up call and have had a free ride. Good for them. Maybe it'll generally continue, maybe not.
Unmotivate - Updated May 17th - "Let's Complain About Nintendo"
The PA Forumer 'Lets Play' Archive - Updated March 25th, 2013
It is rather disingenuous to insinuate that LPs aren't free advertising though. Obviously there isn't going to be a nosedive, but there will probably be some effect(even if it's minuscule). I just doubt that whatever piddly money Nintendo will get from the ad revenue will be greater than lost sales.
Personally, I tend to look at LPs of games to decide whether I'll buy one, because reviews as a whole tend to be full of shit, and seeing the game being played is a better indicator of whether I'd enjoy it. There are many games I would never have played if I hadn't seen a part of an LP of them in the first place. This isn't going to have any dramatic effects one way or another, but it can't be called a smart move in any way either. At least it's not good for their PR, even if the effect is limited to a certain portion of their fanbase.
Did I not make it clear that I was describing Rifftrax in this way, or did people just not read my posts?
It was my use of "literally" in the next sentence, wasn't it? I should've used Basically, and then you wouldn't have corrected me on something I already said... Yeah, that's it, right?
NNID and many other services: Athenor or Myridiam // 3DS: 3883-5283-0471
I'm not saying LPs aren't free advertising. I'm calling into question how much of an impact they actually have.
Unmotivate - Updated May 17th - "Let's Complain About Nintendo"
The PA Forumer 'Lets Play' Archive - Updated March 25th, 2013
It was this.
Unmotivate - Updated May 17th - "Let's Complain About Nintendo"
The PA Forumer 'Lets Play' Archive - Updated March 25th, 2013
It's because of Nintendo's place in the industry. They are one of the leaders, and what's more they have the most historic nostalgia of any company out there right now. Now personally, I only prefer seeing LPs of semi bad to bad games, and Nintendo's made very few of those - thus about the only Nintendo things I see LP'ed are Mario Party games, which I have no interest in. But again, there are some people who literally unwrap a game, throw it in, and start recording.. I think those are who Nintendo is going after.
NNID and many other services: Athenor or Myridiam // 3DS: 3883-5283-0471
It's late, and I didn't give it the full attention I should have, so I apologise. I missed that little bit you posted. But yeah, from your use of "literally" it sounded like you were glossing over the "only audio" part, which I wanted to make clear.
But my bad, not yours. Sorry.
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I watch starcraft streams and youtube content quite a bit. Just imagine Blizzard suddenly deciding that the pro players have zero worth and that they should get all proceeds from their efforts. Actually, I can imagine it. I imagine it as: Nobody plays Starcraft competitively anymore.
"There is not a man of us who does not at times need a helping hand to be stretched out to him, and then shame upon him who will not stretch out the helping hand to his brother."
You're right, it's bullshit that Nintendo has officially given people consent to Lets Play their games.
Unmotivate - Updated May 17th - "Let's Complain About Nintendo"
The PA Forumer 'Lets Play' Archive - Updated March 25th, 2013
That is a REALLY strong leap to make. Starcraft has its community because there is the potential for cash money on the table if you get all the way to the top. Now, I can certainly see Activision asking for part of the ad revenue on televised events and tournaments. But them asking for revenue on strategy videos and analysis won't stop that analysis from being made because too much is on the line.
NNID and many other services: Athenor or Myridiam // 3DS: 3883-5283-0471
Actually, you're wrong. There's a big Starcraft scene because there's more money to be had than just winning tournaments. There's no way you can sustain a pro scene on that little bit of money.
Being a Starcraft Pro is a full time job.
"There is not a man of us who does not at times need a helping hand to be stretched out to him, and then shame upon him who will not stretch out the helping hand to his brother."
People making money from eSports aren't just relying on ad revenue and this is so far outside the scope of this thread.
Unmotivate - Updated May 17th - "Let's Complain About Nintendo"
The PA Forumer 'Lets Play' Archive - Updated March 25th, 2013
What if I LP'ed Limbo? A game that takes 1-2 hours to play, shorter if you know what you are doing. What benefit would the developer see from you watching that LP? The game is incredibly short, and relies very heavily on the narrative experience of the first playthrough being blind. It is full of moments and experiences that once you see the resolution or the event, you likely won't forget about them. Plus the game is nearly silent, so there isn't an audio track to miss out on thanks to the LPer's commentary. Oh, and the game was at least $10 when it was first released on XBLA, maybe more.
So what positives are there to my LP'ing the game, specifically to the developer of the game?
NNID and many other services: Athenor or Myridiam // 3DS: 3883-5283-0471
Right. And Craftsman is going to be sending notices that they deserve all proceeds from the sale of whatever you make from their hammers.
This Old House is in hock for millions by your logic.
"There is not a man of us who does not at times need a helping hand to be stretched out to him, and then shame upon him who will not stretch out the helping hand to his brother."
League of Legends is the same. A lot of the pro players rely substantially on ad revenue to help pay bills in between sponsorships or tournaments. Riot is very reasonable about the whole thing, as a comparison of how LP's should be treated.
Wrong. The lion's share of the money comes from sponsors, who rely on advertisements while streaming/competing. Several professional players do make a fine chunk of change from streaming as well.
"There is not a man of us who does not at times need a helping hand to be stretched out to him, and then shame upon him who will not stretch out the helping hand to his brother."
Raidcall is totally going to dominate skype/ventrillo/teamspeak for all your pro-gaming voice chat needs!
Actually, Craftsman and other vendors have to pay to have their products showcased on a show like This Old House. Hell, TV is full of cases where products are disguised (usually poorly) to get away with plausible deniability on free ad revenue.
But in those cases, the products are used as set dressing on a creative product made by others. LPs are further than set dressing; the majority of the video output is the product in question, being played through.
About the only exception I can see being justifiably made is for Machinima (where the game's assets are used to create a wholly different product) and things like VGCW, where the whole point of the game's tools is to create experiences like that. And lo and behold, those categories arent' what Nintendo is going after.
Maybe Nintendo should've done a 75/25 split or something. Maybe Youtube doesn't allow that.
NNID and many other services: Athenor or Myridiam // 3DS: 3883-5283-0471
People watching a 10 minute video deciding that it looks like something they would like to play - free publicity..
http://www.youtube.com/nintendo
Nintendo has turned to Youtube as their primary source of getting video game information out. Between Nintendo Direct, Nintendo game ads, and videos from their games - such as the New Super Mario Brothers U Super Plays that get fed directly to the Wii U -, all these things are based on Nintendo being bigger and bigger on Youtube in a way they weren't last year. In other words, they are producing content specifically for Youtube, and thus it was in their interests to become a partner with Youtube.
NNID and many other services: Athenor or Myridiam // 3DS: 3883-5283-0471
Exactly. You pay for advertisement. You don't demand a chunk of the revenue, especially when they're giving that advertisement away to you for free. Do you have any IDEA how much marketing campaigns cost these companies?
And they're shitting on free advertisement over (what is to them) completely chump change?
Idiocy.
"There is not a man of us who does not at times need a helping hand to be stretched out to him, and then shame upon him who will not stretch out the helping hand to his brother."
And sites like this: http://lparchive.org/ ? That is great content and not because they're just recording over some old Nintendo games. Sure they're only adding ads for YT LPs but what if they just shut down everything in the future like SEGA did a while ago with Shining Force? Even TotalBuiscuit's channel was closed till he removed them.
NNID and many other services: Athenor or Myridiam // 3DS: 3883-5283-0471
I decided I had to buy Limbo after seeing an LP video called "Oh shit, spiders!".
So pretty fucking good for them.
That's for Twitch and copyright holders to decide.
Unmotivate - Updated May 17th - "Let's Complain About Nintendo"
The PA Forumer 'Lets Play' Archive - Updated March 25th, 2013
Does twitch split its ad revenue with the people streaming?
NNID and many other services: Athenor or Myridiam // 3DS: 3883-5283-0471
Unmotivate - Updated May 17th - "Let's Complain About Nintendo"
The PA Forumer 'Lets Play' Archive - Updated March 25th, 2013
I thought not, or else Bazza wouldn't be asking for donations given how popular his streams are.
Again: Youtube is a case of a copyrighted product being reproduced for money without the consent of the copyright holder. And if you don't protect your copyright, you lose it. Expect to see more announcements in this vein going forward.
NNID and many other services: Athenor or Myridiam // 3DS: 3883-5283-0471
I think you're misunderstanding the purpose of a game.. people who only like to watch the game probably wouldn't have bought it in the first place. (I could make a joke about quicktime events but I'll refrain).
Yes, they do actually. There are certain parameters to meet in terms of total viewership or frequent viewership, and then you get a partnership with Twitch that entitles you to ad revenue.
And sorry Henroid, but I'm not running away from the logical conclusions your logical process heralds. This is a stupid idea for everyone involved. Dumb for Nintendo who loses advertising and word of mouth; dumb for the streamer; dumb for the viewer. WiiU is already under-performing by large margins, even their scaled down expectations. One of the main reasons? People don't even KNOW about it.
Awesome. Let's quelch the viral marketing as much as possible. I'm sure that will make the publishers who are already passing on the platform change their minds, or inform the customers out there that the WiiU is more than a peripheral.
[edit]- Don't guess on matters of fact. Take a second to look it up rather than spreading misinformation, please. That helps no one.
"There is not a man of us who does not at times need a helping hand to be stretched out to him, and then shame upon him who will not stretch out the helping hand to his brother."
Aren't the esports and such also publicly sponsored by the game makers themselves anyways, thus rendering this entire tangent moot?
I swear I also remember storiesy where there were a bunch of unofficial esport competitive scenes sprouting up for Starcraft 2, and Blizzard was shutting those down because they were profiting unofficially. At least I think there was, can't find anything on Google though.
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