RomUniverse Owner Loses $2.1 Million After Battling Nintendo's Lawsuit Without A Lawyer And Losing

[killamch89]

In this scenario, it's hard for me to feel sorry for the owner of RomUniverse because if he wanted to defend himself properly, he'd have gone out and sought legal aid to help him battle this case. Nintendo already had him on the ropes even before this court case and he ensured his demise by representing himself and losing. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[HolisticStorm]

I think that Nintendo would find that offering avenues to legally acquire older games and play them on modern hardware to be a much more effective approach than simply suing all of the ROM sites. It isn't fair to their loyal fans who have played their systems for decades not to allow them to enjoy the nostalgia of playing their favorite retro titles.

[Empire]

The funny thing is, Nintendo lost a lot of their original ROMs and downloaded them from some of these websites in order to sell them on the eShop again to you, lol. Eurogamer did an article on it awhile back. If everyone just left it up to the official rights holders to preserve stuff, a lot of things would be lost at this point. Not saying I agree with people trying to run a for-profit business on it, but yea.

[killamch89]

On 6/4/2021 at 6:29 AM, Empire said:

The funny thing is, Nintendo lost a lot of their original ROMs and downloaded them from some of these websites in order to sell them on the eShop again to you, lol. Eurogamer did an article on it awhile back. If everyone just left it up to the official rights holders to preserve stuff, a lot of things would be lost at this point. Not saying I agree with people trying to run a for-profit business on it, but yea.

I'm not really on anyone's side in this matter - what he was doing is illegal and you were sued by a multibillion dollar company. The least you could do is get some proper legal support - I mean they might have better lawyers but by getting some legal aid you may get a more favorable settlement but instead he went to court and represented himself.

[skyfire]

Sometimes I feel like Nintendo makes more money from the IP protection than games. 

[killamch89]

On 6/16/2021 at 6:44 AM, skyfire said:

Sometimes I feel like Nintendo makes more money from the IP protection than games. 

Most companies can't afford their lawsuits so most just stay clear of their property.

[skyfire]

Yeah possible. But a lot of limits and the control of their content kind of is too much limiting. 

[killamch89]

On 6/21/2021 at 12:12 AM, skyfire said:

Yeah possible. But a lot of limits and the control of their content kind of is too much limiting. 

I agree but at the end of the day, there's nothing that stops Nintendo from doing this as it's within their right to do so.

[skyfire]

I guess they have the brand, they have the right type logic. But I hope they mellow down on atleast people streaming their games. 

[killamch89]

On 7/1/2021 at 1:01 AM, skyfire said:

I guess they have the brand, they have the right type logic. But I hope they mellow down on atleast people streaming their games. 

Yeah, I don't get their issue with people streaming their games - I mean, it's free promotion for the game and will encourage more people to try it.

[Shole]

I mean you should've lawyered up, it's dumb that big companies can just abuse a lot of things easily just because they have a ton of money laying around.

[skyfire]

On 7/6/2021 at 7:14 AM, killamch89 said:

Yeah, I don't get their issue with people streaming their games - I mean, it's free promotion for the game and will encourage more people to try it.

I assume it could be issue with too much exposure and reducing the scarcity that has made them sales. They require revenue share for streaming which is kind of greedy.

[killamch89]

On 7/10/2021 at 5:07 AM, skyfire said:

I assume it could be issue with too much exposure and reducing the scarcity that has made them sales. They require revenue share for streaming which is kind of greedy.

Nintendo has always been on the greedy side but because their games appeal more to casual gamers, clueless parents and kids, they can get away with stuff like this as opposed to more dedicated players.

[Heatman]

On 6/4/2021 at 2:30 AM, killamch89 said:

In this scenario, it's hard for me to feel sorry for the owner of RomUniverse because if he wanted to defend himself properly, he'd have gone out and sought legal aid to help him battle this case. Nintendo already had him on the ropes even before this court case and he ensured his demise by representing himself and losing. What are your thoughts on this?

 

My question is why in world would one go to court without a lawyer to represent himself against a big company like Nintendo? It doesn't add up at all.