Saturday, February 22, 2025

Nintendo, Palworld, Disney, Artists And Content Creators...



I got a strange email last night, late. At about 3:00 AM EST and one that certainly caught my attention.


It was from Nintendo. claiming that My Nintendo Gold Points are being discontinued to quote them exactly, and given the recent change of tides, I have to wonder if something I wrote might not be connected. Obviously a lot of people got the same message, but it had a resounding impact upon me and for specific reasons.


Now first of all, you have to understand that I've been nothing but honourable and protective of Japan and its people for as long as I can remember, even in the midst of having a group of my own formerly trusted allies accusing me of stealing the identity of another of our friends, who had a friendship with a Japanese girl himself.


In 2002, I wrote the shortest poem I've ever written, and it went: 

There is no I in us or we

It was in reference to the way that a person feels when they're in love. Everything about themselves (with the exception of protecting those things one needs to survive in society), takes the back seat, and the one they love is the one most often on their mind and more often than not, all of the time.

For years, and especially since 2006, Nintendo and I have had a very special connection related to that poem, though long before I wrote that very short poem or had that connection with them, I'd always been very protective and honourable towards them. 

Much like the person whose identity I've been accused of trying to take over, I worked very closely with the catering staff of the Japanese themed meetings rooms in the Prince Hotel, all of whom were Japanese themselves, many of the chefs and caterers were hired through contact channels in the hospitality industry as the hotel placed a high priority on their visiting Japanese customers who often did business in the city and rented the meeting facilities within which to do business. They were a great source of revenue for our country as were we for theirs, though I know their good treatment here would have been regardless of such.


I recently undid that poem in the most recent Tales Of The Sanctum story: A Lady's Prerogative - Unfinished Bee's Wax, though I never intended that undoing to be symbolic or representative of undoing any affinity and care I have for Japan.


An unfortunate side effect of some social cults very prevalent nowadays is that anything you remember about your life or having done throughout, can be taken from you (something I've included as a plot element in Butterfly Dragon stories), and attributed to someone else. No matter the truth of it, there's a group of people who are willing to take from one's life and wear it as their own, then accusing you of having taken it from someone else. Like them accusing me of having tried to take over the history of an old friend of mine who also worked at the Prince Hotel.


I am certainly not going to grovel here at all, but I will defend my honour when it comes to my treatment and regard for Japan and its people, and I will not carry the weight for those who've done them ill or any sort of unfairness. I accept all aspects of their culture, and those of Southeast Asia, not just the sweetness, but the bitterness too.


So, I just wanted to say that if any are mistreating Nintendo or its employees as a result of this recent undoing of the: there is no I in us or we poem and stanza, or as a result of the Palworld case, that you have no right to direct any kind of ill towards them, and if you feel so inclined, then share it with me, because I stand with Japan, as I do Southeast Asia and have done so through thick and thin for a very, very long time.


I hope that Nintendo isn't receding given the Palworld case, where the company that makes Palworld (Pocketpair as seen in this link) were accused of using character designs and likenesses seemingly taken from Nintendo's own Pokimon property, then let me express something very important in that regard.


When it comes to artistic designs, artists use a consistent motif that spans the entire world their creating, not just one aspect of it. For instance, all of the scenery and props in the game or cartoon world in a solid cohesive design have the same esthetic as everything else in game world, and the character designs often adhere to this esthetic as well. In other words, the characters all look consistent, as if they all came from the same universe so to speak. This aspect of a property and the characters can be referred to as style or motif or any number of different labels, but ultimately they refer to a common themed aspect of the entirety of the artwork for a game world or cartoon or anime etc.


The characters however, have to contrast the background. The scenery and props that make up the world, and so artists use a number of techniques so that when the player or viewer of these worlds sees activity on the screen, they can distinguish between the foreground (what they need to have their immediate attention on) and the background (what they should be aware of, without distracting them from the foreground). Sometimes this is achieved with variations of style, such as using curved surfaces on the characters, while using straight/flat surfaces on the background scenery. Sometimes its done with colour ( the contrast between foreground and background) and most often with a combination of those and many more techniques.


When you strip all of these aspects from the world, you're left with a raw design that has no application of the methods that artists and designers use to keep the viewer engage and not confused by what they see onscreen.


These raw designs, especially for the characters are at the heart of a creative property. They often start as line drawings by a sketch and design artist, and have all of the elements, minus the aspects that distinguish forground and background in the final product. These designs are and could be said to be the character design. The character in its most simple form, and most often it is easily recognizable between the initial design and the finished product, despite the fact that in many productions, an evolution occurs that sees the first design very different from the final, though in most studios for whom character design and style is a primary aspect of what they're presenting, the character design will change very little from its initial vision.


This is where the character design becomes icon or logo, in the vernacular or so to speak. It becomes something real and discernible, even when drawn by two different artists. For example, almost anyone in the world would recognize the character Snoopy from the comic series Peanuts, even when drawn by a large variety of different people. Even those skilled in art and those not.


If on the other hand, those same people were told to invent a character that inhabited Charles Schulz' Peanuts world, most of them would likely draw a character that looked like it belonged in that world, without actually being a canon cast member designed by Mr. Schulz or his progeny. That is, the style of that world can be mimicked and others are likely capable of drawing and creating and adding to that canon as fans, but those characters are not a part of that world.


Now, if an aspiring artist decided they wanted to make cartoon or video game that looked like Peanuts, but lacked the same characters and presented a different background and situations other than a group of students living life day to day and getting through school, and if the design followed closely those created by Charles Schulz, most people would instantly recognize it as being a likeness, maybe even the tipping of the designers' hats to Charles Schulz, rather than them ripping off his designs.


Now if that same artist decided to include a dog character that was very similar to snoopy, but called him... Ralphie, that would certainly draw the ire of those watching protectively over Charles Schulz' creative properties, especially if they were being used to generate revenue, and certainly if they represented interets that were not in line with those represented by the cartoon and comic Peanuts.


These are the aspects that play into the fold when it comes to the Nintendo versus Pocketpair case. The characters in the video game Palworld have a similar design ethic to those in Pokimon, with a few characters being quite similar, not to mention that the case also involves technologies (in the form of software and algorithms) developed by Nintendo for Pokimon world, that they allege were reverse engineered or reproduced with enough similarity to indicate a violation of their patents.


This Reddit Post: A Lawyer Explains Nintendo V. Palworld, is very extensive and does justice to going into the complexity involved in this case, though at the heart of any case and especially where it involves specific aspects of design, both artistic and algorithmic, they are very important aspects of a creative property based company like Nintendo, as they are for any company, big or small. Nintendo came up with a design and style that has literally created its own genre, like the difference between cubism and pointilism. They're protecting their creative work, but this goes much further than that alone. Beneath the surface there are many hidden variables at play, including what Pokimon symbolizes at some fundamental level versus what Palworld symbolizes, possibly even entering into conflict with what Pokimon in some symbolic, yet important way. Something for which needed to be answered.


I certainly defend any artist protecting their creative rights in this world where people can essentially lay claim to almost anything published on the internet and present it as their own (maybe even handing it in as a finished homework assignment), but at the same time, innovation arriving from very humble beginnings and starving artists can sometimes be squashed by the bigger players on the field. As explained in the video on that reddit post, there's usually a lot more to it than meets the proverbial eye.


Regardless, I wanted to clarify that I still very much have fond memories of playing Wii, both with family and by myself (what a ground breaking way to stay in shape and play video games at the same time), and that Nintendo is very much a part of that and will continue to be (when I can afford a replacement Wii or Switch), despite my having balanced the shortest poem I ever wrote.


On the same note, I recently watched a video that stuck with me, but I didn't realize at the time of watching it that I could make a difference without being a jerk towards any of the sides involved, as I am quite protective of my writing and work, and the artwork of those who've contributed to Shhhh! Digital Media, I should use the reach when and where I can to help others whose plight I recognize. So I guess I could thank Nintendo for poking me from my slumber.


I recently watched a video detailing this artist, who sincerely presented their case in this heart felt video in which he describes how Disney stole his artwork:





Now first of all, and not in the interests of kissing butt, I want to make it clear that this situation, as with many situations involving creative property theft, did not involve a conspiracy by the entire Disney corporation, who through their dire network of agents stole and absconded with the artistic design of a solitary humble artist living in squalor who grew up inspired by the Disney artists that prompted him to pursue a career as a professional artist.


The situation as described in the video, occurred at the hands of someone within the employ of Disney, rather than a conspiracy involving the entire company. Very likely, this person acted on their own, and in doing so, pushed their career forward both in terms of notoriety and financally at the expense of the man in the video whose artwork was clearly used as the basis for what was sold for money by the company.


In this situation, we have to keep in mind that nobody working for Disney can likely respond to these allegations and that's probably at the orders of their lawyers, until they've decided what to do about it. There are a number of issues involved.


If Disney employees or management were to officially apologize, the lawyers would likely pull their hair out as that would open the doors to a much bigger lawsuit against them, and so there is definitely a lot of politics involved, but I'm surprised that given the attention this video has received in one month (one million views), that they haven't yet responded.


Here's the opportunity to make a big difference in the life of the kind of guy that Walt Disney himself would have likely hired out of his own pocket way back in the beginning, when they were working from his house and garage, and long before the lavish boardrooms and catering of corporate life Disney. 

The very heart of what made that entire company possible, to be feeding so many artists, who then go out and inspire others to persevere and keep going. Your boat will come in soon.


These two situations illustrate very different aspects about the creative process and the kinds of obstacles, small and large that artists at the top and the bottom (ahem) have to deal with all the time. 


I guess the point is to never give up.


I just wanted to use this space to clarify a few things, especially about Nintendo and my gratitude towards them and the part in my life the played in it.


I also wanted to use the underground tenacity of Shhhh! Digital Media to do something good for someone who was clearly wronged, but not in the way that it sounds, especially by branding it as a Disneyh conspiracy against the artist, when in all likelihood it was just one person who made a bad choice and very much absent of conscience, that had far reaching consequences. Even that person shouldn't lose their livelihood, but they certainly should be made to understand the harm their action caused, especially for the other fellow artist who was ultimately a victim of it.


Anyway, I was part way through writing the final chapters of Butterfly Dragon: Two Butterflies - Episode 13 when I felt compelled to write this post to address the situation with Nintendo and then the case of that poor artist who had their stuff ripped off. I know what that's like, but from a very different but related aspect. Having my writing credits ripped off, some of my ideas, and even a piece of music or two, and no, I'm not remembering someone else's life. I'm remembering my own.


Thank you all for reading my content and stories and I'll see you on Monday again, but not before I publish Butterfly Dragon: The Two Butterflies - Episode 13...




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