Nintendo

2025-02-15T09:32:25Z

Fctlctxl: I expanded upon the Joycon and Joystick Issue and put some problems and controversies that arise from the program

{{InfoboxCompany
| Name = Nintendo
| Type = Public
| Founded = 1889
| Industry = Electronics, Entertainment Software
| Official Website = https://nintendo.com/
| Logo = Nintendo.png
}}

Founded in 1889, '''[[Wikipedia:Nintendo|Nintendo Co., Ltd.]]''' is a multi-billion-dollar company established in Kyoto, Japan, and has multiple subdivisions outside of Japan. They are well-known for their massive franchises, such as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid, as well as their consoles such as the Switch, Gameboy, and Wii.

==Controversial Practices==

===History against emulation===
Nintendo is well-known for their extensive history of combating emulation, from them suing N64 emulator UltraHLE in 1999,<ref>[https://games.slashdot.org/story/99/02/12/0943207/nintendo-confirms-it-will-sue-ultrahle-creators "Nintendo Confirms It Will Sue UltraHLE Creators"] - slashdot.org - 12 Feb 1999 </ref> to more modern emulators, such as Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu in 2024.<ref>[https://www.romanolaw.com/ninten-dont-breaking-down-the-yuzu-emulator-lawsuit/ "Ninten-don’t: Breaking Down the Yuzu Emulator Lawsuit"] - romanolaw.com - 11 April 2024 </ref> Nintendo has also pressured for restrictions to access emulators, such as Dolphin's non-inclusion as a core for the Steam version of Retroarch.<ref>[https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2023/07/20/what-happened-to-dolphin-on-steam/ "What Happened to Dolphin on Steam?"] - dolphin-emu.org - 20 Jul 2023</ref>

===History against hardware modification===
<blockquote>Further Reading: [[Game Genie lawsuit]]</blockquote>Nintendo in the past has sued the creation of hardware modifications, such as the Game Genie<ref>[http://www.museumofintellectualproperty.org/features/game_genie.html "Museum of IP - Galoob v. Nintendo (the "Game Genie" case)"] - museumofintellectualproperty.org - 31 Dec 2007</ref> and 10NES circumvention<ref>[https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/summaries/atari-nintendo-fedcir1992.pdf "Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of Am. Inc"] PDF - copyright.gov - 1992</ref> which allowed users to enter cheat codes into their games and bypass the security lockout chip to prevent piracy.

===De-listing/destruction of access to games===
<blockquote>Further Reading: [[Storefront shutdown#Wii U/3DS eShops (2012–2023)]], [[Storefront shutdown#Wii Shop Channel (2006–2019)]]</blockquote>In late January of 2019, Nintendo shut down their first digital storefront, the Wii Shop Channel,<ref>[https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27560/~/wii-shop-channel-discontinuation "Wii Shop Channel Discontinuation"] - nintendo.com - 2019</ref> and subsequently on March 27, 2023 shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops.<ref>[https://www.nintendo.com/au/support/articles/wii-u-and-nintendo-3ds-eshop-discontinuation/ "Notice of End of Purchases in Nintendo eShop for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS - Update April 2023"] - nintendo.com</ref> These shutdowns have caused hundreds of games to become impossible to obtain new copies of and for some, additionally play which include Splatoon 1, Super Mario Maker, Pokémon Picross, and more.<ref>[https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/analysis-digital-only-wii-u-3ds-games/ "These are the 1,000 digital-only 3DS and Wii U games disappearing next week"] - videogameschronicle.com - 22 Mar 2023</ref> As of now, over 1,000 digitally exclusive games can only be obtained through piracy, and a subset requires additional modification to run.

===Nintendo authorized repair===
<blockquote>Further Reading: [[Nintendo authorized repair]]</blockquote>A man sent in their Nintendo Switch to Nintendo for repair of a broken charging port and was given an estimate of £132 (161.51 USD) to replace the entire motherboard, which would result in data loss and noted screen damage. This was despite the only damage to the console being to the charging port and a screen protector, and not the screen itself.<ref>[https://youtube.com/watch?v=UxKJn35DK8k "Why Nintendo authorized repair sucks: the incentives are at odds with a good repair experience"] - youtube.com - Louis Rossmann - 31 Jul 2021</ref> 
'''<big>Joy-Con and Joystick related Hardware Failures</big>'''

Joy-Cons are the included controllers (retailing for $80) for the Nintendo Switch, and they are prone to failure via "stick drift" within a few months of purchase. According to the 2022 study by the British consumer protection group Which?, 40% of Nintendo Switch owners experienced Joy-Con drift. This defect is also found in other official Nintendo controllers, like the Pro Controller (Pro-Cons), and the Switch Lite, a version of the Nintendo Switch that has its Joy-Cons built into the handheld system. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa apologized for the "inconvenience" and subsequently launched Nintendo's "free repair program."

The way the "free repair program" works is that the user will send the defective Joy-Cons to Nintendo for "repair," which, in most cases, involves replacing the defective Joy-Cons with new ones. The problem arises in cases involving limited edition Joy-Cons, where you have to sign off on consenting to the possibility of your limited edition or "non-standard colored" Joy-Cons being replaced with a standard color Joy-Con if they are sent to Nintendo for "repair." This leaves consumers with these limited edition Joy-Cons without a guaranteed way to get their products repaired if they use Nintendo's official repair service.

===Nintendo's lawsuit against Pocket Pair (Palworld)===
Nintendo is suing Pocket Pair, the developers of extremely popular video game Palworld,<ref>[https://x.com/Palworld_EN/status/1836692701355688146 Palworld's Tweet on X] - September 18, 2024</ref> for patent infringement, despite filing the patent after Palworld was already released to the public.<ref>[https://patents.justia.com/patent/20240278129 US Patent Application for STORAGE MEDIUM STORING GAME PROGRAM, GAME SYSTEM, GAME APPARATUS, AND GAME PROCESSING METHOD Patent Application (Application #20240278129)] - patents.justia.com - May 2, 2024</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4ZZx4wiofw "Palworld Lawsuit" by Pirate Software on youtube.com] - October 17, 2024</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}<ref>[https://gamerant.com/nintendo-anti-palworld-patents-uspto-infringement-lawsuit-implications/ Nintendo Anti-Palworld Patent and Seeks More] - Update Febuary 12, 2025</ref>
[[Category:Entertainment companies]]
[[Category:Film production companies]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies]]
[[Category:Playing card manufacturers]]
[[Category:Toy companies]]
[[Category:Trading card companies]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]
[[Category:Video game publishers]]
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Nintendo