Those are words I never though I would say, but here we are. I also never thought I would consider Nintendo not just a terminally old-style company, but something I now straight up despise. But I'm getting ahead of myself. For those of you who do not want to read, Nintendo has finally done it. I already planned to skip the Switch 2, but I'm basically packing up my original Switch till the day I can hack it and play the games I already have for it on my PC where they will play better anyway. Nintendo can officially fuck off.
Now before we begin, this is not a choice without history... and history in quite the reverse direction at first. I was a tiny kid when I was introduced to their hardware in the form of the NES. I do not even remember if my parents bought me and my brother one for Christmas or we were toying with the displays in store first (it was a long time ago), but we were ENAMORED with it. I still to this day remember all five games of our initial library, and that library would grow. None of these would wind up my alltime favorite games of the era, but they are fond memories in their own. It would be here I would learn the thrill of beating several games and even discover several long-term franchises I still hold fondly today (and with Nintendo making one of them in particular).
But no machine lasts forever and tastes change, leading me to mainly be a PC gamer. However there was always room for Nintendo as a side-machine, and the only one I ever skipped out completely was the Nintendo 64. Hell I even bought a Switch ultimately, though a but earlier then I originally planned. (I wasn't going to pay Epic for any game, so the Switch's first game was Axiom Verge 2). But as Nintendo gets ready to release the Switch 2, they have changed in ways I just can no longer support.
Now we could go on about the Switch 2, but no... that is not what I'm talking about. They made enough bad choices there that I would have just skipped my second console of theirs and not given it another thought. No, I'm talking about Palworld and the lawsuit involved. At first it was kinda funny as I heard about the "Pokemon with guns" game and I fully expected them to be sued as they were. But the reasons I expected proved something Nintendo couldn't or didn't sink it's lawyers into, so they played dirty.
You see, the obvious art-style we all expected is NOT the target. Rather Nintendo has been targeting features of the game: features common to many games, I might add and admitted by Nintendo themselves.
"Patent analyst Florian Mueller subsequently shared an in-depth examination of the intellectual property central to the case, labeling the lawsuit as "a clear case of bullying." His fundamental argument is that none of the patents Nintendo claims Palworld has infringed describe any kind of technological innovation. Instead, they cover systems for capturing creatures and riding on them, mechanics that Nintendo itself acknowledged already exist in other games as part of its filings. Their only "innovative" elements are related to game mechanics, which are unpatentable everywhere in the world, Japan included." - Gamerant's Dominik Bosnjak
And unfortunately they have already had an effect on the game as PocketPair has had to change several features of the game, such as not being able to throw a contraption to capture or unleash captured pals in the past, but this seemed minor to the feel of the game. Unfortunately much bigger changes have been forced over legal action since then, the latest of which just dropped with the ability to ride your pals across the landscape and skies being removed from the game. Now you have a glider only, and all because Nintendo is doing their best to kill the game despite the mechanic being common across many games we have all played. If they can't win their lawsuit, they will do their best to make the game as unfun and uninspired as they can with the same lawfair and drive the audience they wish they had away.
I knew Nintendo was vicious, but this kind of underhanded bullshit is beyond anything I expected. To literally intimidate a team of 3 people into cutting their own game down over things they only got patents for AFTER they were used by many other games and even now seeking new ones they can hold over PocketPair's head is simply evil in it's own right. Can't compete, so they will destroy by all means necessary.
And on top of that should they succeed, they will set a precedence that could ruin any creativity in the gaming in Japan where these courts are letting it happen. This is no longer about art styles, but who's allowed to use commonly used game mechanics. This right here is the reason I'm done.
UPDATE: As I listen to Sidescrollers, Im hearing about the new terms of service when they tell you hacking the system gives them the right to brick your machine. Not ban your system, brick it. YOUR system.
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