34 replies to this topic

[Dart Zaidyer]

You know what? EVERYONE asks this question at least once, and everyone else proceeds to argue it into the ground.

The truth of the matter is this, which can be found in the FAQ thread at AGN's ZC forums:

Q: Does nintendo know you guys made this project?
A: Nintendo officially does not care about fan projects, as long as they are not for profit. (For proof, note that a Nintendo employee has actually said this about a Star Fox-related fan game.) ZC has been around for years and there are probably plenty of people telling them about it all the time, especially after being recognized on TechTV's The ScreenSavers and EGM magazine.
You may have heard about Nintendo "shutting down" fan projects in the past... These were lies perpetrated by disgruntled schemers and cowardly website hosts hoping to avoid the slightest chance of legal trouble. Unfortunately, these two root causes seem to perpetuate each other and as a result, it can get pretty aggravating.
The fact of the matter is that Nintendo only uses real, actual mail to deliver cease-and-desist orders. So if you see or get a threatening message in any other format, don't believe it. Nintendo has no interest in suing you for being a fan.

[MarioBrosCom]

They're not doing anything about it, so we can assume that they don't plan to press charges ever, unless we start making money off of it. Otherwise, we are protected as a publicly-known institution that is being allowed to exist.

[Limzo]

Actually, if you have something copywrited and anybody uses it in any way without your permission it is illegal.

Yes, but in terms of fan-made games, Nintendo allows the graphics to be used so long as no money is made from them.

[Mr. Pimpy]

Yes, but in terms of fan-made games, Nintendo allows the graphics to be used so long as no money is made from them.

That's just nintendo allowing it to happen, it's still illegal though, unless it's liscenced (that my not be the word I'm looking for) or ran by the person owning the copyright. I never said it's wrong or that nintendo cares, just illegal.

[Taco Chopper]

What? Project 64 and Visual Boy Advance are emulators that run N64 and GBA Roms. ROMS are illegal. On Nintendo's site, Nintendo brags about how bad ROMS are and bring up "people lose jobs" bs. Why would Nintendo give them permission. Yet, if Nintendo were to sue them, they would have less profit and more trouble.

Zelda Classic though, is not a ROM. It is coded different. The graphics are the only thing taken and Nintendo doesn't care about that. The only company that would sue for something like that is SquareEnix cause they already did with the CT remake and nothing was ripped. A bunch of people decided to make a 3D version of a game that Square isn't going to touch again.

I didn't know any of that. That makes a bit more sense now.

[Koopa]

If you think about it, ZC is a better advert for Nintendo and the LoZ series, plus a way of creating and keeping alive a large fanbase, than their marketing team could ever have dreamt up of their advertising budget paid for.

That, I think, is why Nintendo allows ZC - which it certainly knows about - to continue.

[Dawnlight]

Zelda Classic was on the June 2005 issue of EGM so I'm guessing its legal

[Taco Chopper]

Was it Trimaster? I'll have to look for a copy on eBay now...

[Link1]

Zelda Classic was on the June 2005 issue of EGM so I'm guessing its legal

'cept EGM isn't a legal magazine...

Edited by Link1, 27 July 2007 - 02:09 PM.

[The Satellite]

Other than classic, CGBZ, ALttP, and MC tilesets, the other tilesets are user made for the most part in the first place. Pure and DoR (the most used sets) are edits and own made tilesets, compiled from custom stuff, which is based on Nintendo's stuff, but not the actual stuff.

Again, it's not for profit, so obviously it means nothing to Nintendo.

Again, it's kind of a hack, a ROM rearranged into an easy to use program.

Where do we draw the line?

[Koopa]

Where do we draw the line?

As long as it's ok with Nintendo it's ok with me.

[Maximus]

I am glad Nintendo doesnt mind ZC. This is such a great program!

Sorry if my posts are stupid. I am new here.

[IaN]

Other than classic, CGBZ, ALttP, and MC tilesets, the other tilesets are user made for the most part in the first place. Pure and DoR (the most used sets) are edits and own made tilesets, compiled from custom stuff, which is based on Nintendo's stuff, but not the actual stuff.

Again, it's not for profit, so obviously it means nothing to Nintendo.

Again, it's kind of a hack, a ROM rearranged into an easy to use program.

Where do we draw the line?

That's the thing though, it's quite different from a hack. Zelda Classic and Zquest were coded from the ground up ,independently, which means that the only illegal parts of of ZC are the graphics, music, 1st and 2nd quest which are packaged with ZC, and the title screens. It's not an emulator that plays ROMs that we create with ZQuest, it's a program that simulates the same gameplay of Zelda, with graphics and music tacked on to reinforce the Zelda atmosphere that is expected with the program. It could just as easily be Moblin Classic, which comes with NeoFirst, and the Tileset/Music from said quest, and we would be free from any Zelda connection.

[Link1]

That's the thing though, it's quite different from a hack. Zelda Classic and Zquest were coded from the ground up ,independently, which means that the only illegal parts of of ZC are the graphics, music, 1st and 2nd quest which are packaged with ZC, and the title screens.

And the games' physics/core engine.

[Lemmy Koopa]

I thought Nintendo is ok with Zelda Classic.

And how the music, they're midis, they were composed, they're not from the game.