LogFAQs > #972725272

adjl posted...

It gets a lot less confusing when you remember that you're thinking about Nintendo in the context of the Internet. They... don't quite understand it just yet, and don't seem to have gotten past the initial impression of "people are using it to steal our products."

It's sort of this.

Basically, what it boils down to is that they are firmly convinced that their own brand name and IPs are more than enough to sell their products, so they don't see any value in using the Internet to advertise beyond their own marketing. Worse, because they can't really control how fans engage with their content, they see it as being worse than no marketing at all.

So what they're essentially left with is something they see zero value in that also borders on infringement. Of course they're going to go gunning for it.

They're not the only ones who see things that way - it's a very Japanese mentality in general. New Japan Pro Wrestling, for instance, has a draconian reputation for copyright striking pretty much anything even remotely related to their product (whereas larger companies like AEW and WWE actively court the Internet to fuel fan engagement).

It's not so much that Nintendo doesn't understand the Internet, it's more that they prioritize things differently.