pokemon uranium is one of the Nintendo-themed fan games that is no longer eligible for The Game Awards.
A few fan-made games based on popular Nintendo properties have apparently withdrawn their nominations from the upcoming Game Awards show. Both pokemon uranium and Another Metroid 2 Remake (AM2R) were initially listed as nominees in the award show’s “Best Fan Creation” category. Those titles have now been removed from the nominees list on The Game Awards website, leaving only Brutal Demise 64 and Enderal: The Shards of Order to contest the category (here’s the original list of nominees, courtesy of Polygon).
Nintendo told Ars that we could “contact the folks at The Game Awards” for comment, and awards representatives did not respond to a request for comment. But Nintendo has taken action against these fan creations in the past. Both AM2R and pokemon uranium were forced offline earlier this year by legal threats from Nintendo, as with hundreds of simplistic fangames on web portal Game Jolt. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime also serves on the advisory board for The Game Awards.
Nintendo is taking a particularly tough stance on the use of its properties in fan-created media, from strict limits on monetizing its games on YouTube to exercising authority over the use of its titles in public tournaments. Nintendo has also filed takedown requests for dozens of fan games in recent years, including an intriguing HD remake of Super Mario 64.
pokemon uranium community manager Cody Spielvogel didn’t seem surprised by the loss of the nomination when Eurogamer reached out to him. “I think that’s to be expected, given the tension between fan-made games and the creators of the series,” he told the site.
When I spoke to Ars in September, AM2R creator DoctorM64 said he was surprised Nintendo took any notice of its remake after its August release. “The game became very popular in 2008 and I expected a similar amount of attention upon release. I also expected the same amount of legal trouble as in 2008: none.” That said, despite destroying his creation, DoctorM64 said he has no ill will toward a company he says is merely protecting his work. “Please don’t hate Nintendo for all this,” he wrote in a blog post. “It is their legal obligation to protect their IP.”
This is the third year for The Game Awards, which grew out of Geoff Keighley’s previous work for the Spike TV Video Game Awards. The award ceremony with world premiere and trailer is scheduled for December 1.
Go to discussion…