Nintendo's Youtube Plan

[Demon_Skeith]

Almost exactly a year after Nintendo sparked a controversy over the way it was forcing ads on YouTube videos featuring footage from its video games, the company looks like it's officially changing tack. It took to Twitter earlier today to describe a new "affiliate program" that will split revenue between Nintendo, Google, and the person posting the gameplay footage on YouTube.

First spotted by Gamasutra, Nintendo's statement came from a series of messages on its Japanese Twitter account that mentioned "several affiliate programs" for YouTube users that would allow them to "receive a portion of the advertising revenue" coming from videos featuring gameplay footage.

I reached out to the company for additional information, and here's what a representative from Nintendo of America had to say:

more here

Do you agree with Nintendo?

 

[VirusZero]

For the most part, yes.

I mean in cases where someone is talking over the game play (rather than someone who's just trying to monetize direct captured footage), they've actually contributed to the work. So it's fair that they still receive a cut of the profit for their work in that video.
Though I would be somewhat concerned by:
- What sort of a cut a user gets. I mean if they get only 10% and they did over 50% of the work (while Google and Nintendo absorb the rest)... It's certainly not fair to that user.
- How much footage a user can show before Nintendo starts taking a cut. I mean if someone shows a 5 second clip of a Mario game in their video, does that suddenly entitle Nintendo to take up to 50% of their revenue on that video? So where is the cut off? How much can Nintendo legitimately claim?

 

[Yoshi]

As brushed on above me. I think it'll depend on how much of the revenue can be claimed by Nintendo, and for what reasons. It's a step in the right direction either way, though. Let the Let's Players do it for fun, or profit.

 

[Lienx]

I sort of do. But I thought Nintendo had recently banned all video game content videos on youtube?

 

[Demon_Skeith]

I sort of do. But I thought Nintendo had recently banned all video game content videos on youtube?

I think that ban was lifted.