The talented artist Philip Summers has created a series of hand-drawn guides for various Nintendo classics in recent years and has managed to raise around €270,000 through Kickstarter. That sounds like success, and Nintendo does not like it at all.
What happened? The artist Philip Summers has been working on his passion project for a long time: a series of hand-drawn guides to several Nintendo games.
- Metroid
- Zelda
- Contra
- Ninja Gaiden
The guides were meant to lead players through difficult missions and puzzles in colorful comic panels, as well as reveal secrets and collectibles. However, it seems that this will remain a dream for now.
Nintendo’s lawyers see this as yet another threat to their own IPs. They are threatening Summers with legal action if he does not comply with the demand in the cease and desist letter and does not stop the sale of his guides. The artist knew this could happen, but he took the risk hoping there would still be a happy ending.
Fans have long wondered what danger Nintendo sees in such projects. Financial enrichment from their own works could be one explanation. Philip Summers’ Kickstarter campaign (via Kickstarter.com) was able to raise around €270,000.
Summers halts Hand-Drawn Game Guides – but still hopes
This is what the artist says: On Twitter, Philip Summers gives his followers updates. Recently, however, there was bad news for fans of his work. The books in which the hand-painted guides were to be included are not happening. They have been canceled due to a looming lawsuit from rights holder Nintendo.
I pulled the plug on Hand-Drawn Game Guides on Kickstarter last night. Yes, exactly for the reason you think. I was hoping to avoid a lawsuit, but I didn’t make it. Of course, I’m disappointed, but I understand why this happened; it’s okay, I’m not mad.
Philip Summers, via Twitter
Unlike Summers, fans of the project are very angry. Some Twitter users are even threatening to cancel their pre-orders of Nintendo games. Others argue that Nintendo has no right to cancel the hand-drawn guides. Whether that is true or not, an legal tussle against the giant Nintendo cannot be financed by average people.
What happens next? For the moment, Summers has canceled all pre-orders of the books. All Kickstarter backers will also receive their donated money back. However, Summers has not completely given up hope: In the coming days, the artist wants to see if he can still publish and monetize the project.
Why is this not surprising? Nintendo is known for keeping its fingers on the gavel. Fan projects are repeatedly shut down rigorously, and creators or developers are bombarded with threats of lawsuits. This often involves fan-developed video games and less so about written art.
One of the most well-known examples is the Pokémon fan edition Uranium: Pokémon Uranium: After 1.5 million downloads, it’s over – Nintendo bans the game
