Joel Luther

Okay, now it's rant time.

No offense to anyone is meant through this post, I just wanted to express how I felt. After all, that's what blogs are for, right?

E3 has come and gone, and the screenshots and gameplay videos have started to pour in. Several of my favorite gaming blogs have jumped on the IGN bandwagon, mindlessly slapping their logos and watermarks on any official art or image that comes in. Now a watermark, correct me if I'm wrong, is a "transparent graphic or font that fills all or part of the frame that is used to show copyright or ownership of something."

Ownership or copyright. Do any unofficial blogs have a copyright on these images released to the press by Nintendo, created by Nintendo? The answer is quite simple: no.

You can't (well I suppose you technically can) just slap your logo or watermark on an image that you don't own the rights to. If the above definition of a watermark is correct, isn't claiming other's work as your own illegal?

And it's not just gaming blogs. Several film sites have begun this horrible practice. I was browsing for trailers for 'Order of the Phoenix' (which released yesterday, BTW. Go and see it), only to find that the trailers/interviews/promotional material had watermarks on them!

Now I have, on a few occasions, questioned a site about this practice. I usually get something like "Here at [site name], we work hard to maintain our contacts with the developers/creators and want to ensure that blah blah blah". Anyone with a brain in their skull knows that is a load of crap. It's sooooo easy to get the official unbranded versions somewhere on the web. Why are they truly adding watermarks/logos? Anyone know the answer?

It's shameless self-promotion. They know that people will share the images with their friends and they will get more people to join their site. Even better, some sites know that more users equals more ad clicks equals more money! Ah yes, money makes the world go 'round.

The truth is, people are less likely to view/share images with unofficial watermarks. They'll just go and find the original images, still with a bad taste in their mouth from the experience with the gaming blog. Why do some sites consider it an acceptable practice to drive their existing members away in an effort to create new ones?

I'm fine with making images and videos available to members only, but please don't be stupid. No, you haven't worked hard to obtain that image, no you didn't create it, no you don't own it.

Perhaps I shouldn't be complaining. After all, I did say earlier that it was easy to find the original images.

--Joel

Wow. Just wow.

Some of you may remember that Nintendo had previously told its employees in the sales and marketing divisions, based out of Redmond and Seattle, that they would be moving these divisions to the Los Angeles area and New York City. The employees were given an ultimatum: either make the move with Nintendo, or give up their job. They had until June to make the choice.

Now that the deadline has passed, we are starting to hear of the effects of this move. GameInformer is reporting that not only did 90% of the sales and marketing divisons quit, three of NOA's most notable figures have stepped down. The three key executives leaving are: Beth Llewelyn (Senior Director of Public Relations), Perrin Kaplan (Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Affairs), and George Harrison (Senior Vice President Marketing and Corporate Communications) (no, he wasn't one of the Beatles ).

It is not currently known when these people will actually step down (or when NOA will make the move), but GameInformer is probably right in betting that it won't happen until after this years E3.

This is pretty major news. What will this mean for the future of the company? Will they decide not to re-locate to keep from losing such major people? Or will they just be replaced in New York? Discuss it in the comments.

I have contacted Nintendo for a confirmation, and will post here either way.

--Joel

UPDATE: It may have just been a rumor. This text comes from an interview with Harrison:

Harrison, who is the senior executive in charge of sales and marketing, will be moving, with about sixty people from NOA. President Reggie Fils-Aime will remain in Seattle, Harrison said.

And from an interview with Kaplan:

GameInformer: Are you going to have to move?

Perrin Kaplan: Well I could choose not to. But we are relocating that part of the division down there [San Francisco, California]. And then also in New York.

GI: So what’s moving where?

Kaplan: Sales and Marketing is moving to Silicon Valley – San Francisco. And Online and some of my department is moving to New York.

GI: Would you take a different position if you didn’t move?

Kaplan: If I choose to stay in Seattle, I’ll do something else.

GI: For a different company?

Kaplan: Yes. The problem is that I love my job.

GI: Do you love Seattle?

Kaplan: But I love Seattle, so I have a little bit of a dilemma.

While Harrison made it quite clear he was making the move, Kaplan wasn't exactly sure. She did mention that if she didn't move, she would take a job with another company, and that she loved Seattle, but she also mentioned that she loved her job.

Still waiting for a response from Nintendo...

Here's some text from an interview with Bill Gates discussing the future of gaming:

Gates: Vision ... Software is doing vision. And so, you know, imagine a game machine where you’re just gonna pick up the bat and swing it or the tennis racket and swing it.

Mossberg: Yeah, we have one of those.

Gates: No...

Mossberg: The Wii.

Gates: No, that’s not it. You can’t pick up your tennis racket and swing it.

Swisher: Oh, your tennis racket.

Mossberg: Oh, I see what you mean, yeah.

Gates: You can’t sit there with your friends and do those natural things. That’s a 3D positional device. This is video recognition. This is a camera seeing what’s going on.

Can you say 'lawsuit'?

Other than the blatant Nintendo rip-off, which Mr. Gates denies, there are several issues with this idea. For one, if I don't have a baseball bat, tennis racket, or shotgun lying around at my house, I'm not going to want and go out and buy one just to play a game. I'd much rather have everything in one (cheaper)controller, but that's just my personal preference.

I can only imagine what FPS games would be like... If people broke their TVs with a WiiMote ... shooting a gun at it might do a little more damage.

--Joel