Gladiators Assemble: What To Expect From The Big 3 At E3

Now we know all the gladiators that will be duking it out in the arena to crown the next winner of the console generation. The Wii U is the only one who’s seen battle and he has the scars to prove it, having taken big shots from developers and sales reports. The PS4 is stepping into the arena holding high the banner of community, depending on the arena crowd to give it’s social features and “SHARE” button the strength it needs. The Xbox One comes in hoping that a strategy of integration will allow it to fit seamlessly into living rooms and gain strength from a massive install base. The gladiators put on brief displays of their capabilities through small press conferences before going off to the side. The crowd is already in a fever pitch, taking their bets on who will win the war, but only a fool bets now before we've seen the most telling sign of a console’s success, the element that has supported the champions through the generations: the games.

That, my countrymen, is why talking about winners now is useless, because only a fool bets before E3.

Many people have been disheartened about the next generation with all the talk of features and little to no discussion about the games. Wii U has been out for six months without any real news of major game releases past what’s already been promised, leaving fans to comment on potential instead of substance. The PS4 gave a good indication what it’s launch lineup will be like, but showed nothing past a few trailers and the promise of more reveals at E3. The Xbox One reveal concentrated on the console’s features and left next to no information on what kind of games it might play, including a rather bizarre Call of Duty presentation talking about how fish scatter and action shots of a dog’s mouth closing. What people seem to be missing is that the lack of games is all part of the strategy. Everyone is holding back and this looks to be one of the most important E3’s in history.

The biggest announcement about E3 so far is what’s not going to be there: a Nintendo press conference. Yes, Nintendo looks to be forgoing the usual spectacle of the big stage for a more Direct approach, discussing a number of core titles such as Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, and the next Mario on 3DS. This approach has the risk of getting lost in the shuffle of shiny that is E3, but that does mean it can potentially pull the rug out from under the entire event. Really, does Nintendo need an auditorium to get us excited for their IPs? Would the announcement of a new Mario, Zelda, or Star Fox game truly go unnoticed by the gaming press and public were it not broadcasted on a giant screen? It feels like Nintendo is going to let the software do the talking with this style of presentation and it could be their secret in the long run in a generation more excited about tweets and voice commands than core gameplay.

Sony is still going to have a big press conference full of all the glitz and glamour one would expect from Sony revealing anything, but they’re in an interesting spot. They have already shown off some of the heavy hitters for launch day such as Killzone: Shadow Fall and Infamous: Second Son. What they haven’t really shown yet, however, is gameplay (or their system, for that matter). Yes, Killzone and Watch Dogs got to show off a little gameplay, but that’s pretty much it. The big challenge for E3 is not only showing off more gameplay, but how those games are going to be interacting with all the features of the PS4. E3 might be a good time to let some of the press not only play some of the floor demos, but let them press that Share button to flood YouTube with PS4 footage.

Now we come to the big One. The Xbox One (or the Xbone, as everyone should call it forever) was revealed to the world less than a week ago and gave us next to nothing game-wise. Why should they? E3 is right around the corner, why not save all your biggest game reveals for the biggest game industry trade show on the planet? All that talk about voice commands and exclusive NFL deals was just an introduction for E3. They didn't reveal anything in that launch lineup that would be considered a “system seller,” so I’m looking for them to try and come in with at least one huge game reveal to try and get core gamers to ask Santa for an Xbone this year. Actually, he’ll think you’re some kind of pervert. Stick with Xbox One for that.

We've got two big systems launching in the fall and Nintendo looking like they've got nothing to lose. It’s almost time for the gladiators to duke it out, ladies and gentlemen. This coming E3 is going to be a beautifully bloody battle with the early lead in the next console generation on the line, but only one can stand tall. Who among the big three will win E3? Perhaps a fourth warrior will step forward and pull a huge upset, like the Ouya or a debuting Steam Box? The fight begins in a week. I promise that you will be entertained.

How Nintendo's Ignorance Is Costing Them Youtube

Nintendo has taken steps to “protect” their IP by claiming Content ID on various Lets Play Youtube videos. Now naturally this has led to many crying foul about Nintendo being a big meany blocking out all that ad revenue from those poor Lets Players, but lets sit back for a second and think about this. Does Nintendo have the right to issue content claims on video and audio they created? Of course they do. Now, is it really that bad of an idea to issue copyright claims on your work that someone else is profiting off of?

Yes, yes it is. It’s a catastrophically bad idea in ways they don’t seem to realize yet. In order to understand why this is a bad idea for everyone involved, we first have to understand how YouTubers make money on their videos and how Nintendo’s actions affect them.

YouTube has a revenue sharing program for videos that become popular or users that are apart of it’s YouTube Partner program. The gist of it is that when you upload a video that has revenue sharing enabled, an ad will be placed to the side of the video or one will play before the video starts. When someone clicks on that ad, the content creator and YouTube share the profits from that ad click. When you have only a few hundred viewers, this is usually a rather small amount. Get your video viewed over 500,000 times though and your profits become a sizable chunk.

What Nintendo has done is become apart of YouTube's Content ID system which allows them to find copyrighted Nintendo audio and video clips and tell YouTube what they want to happen to those videos that are using their content. What they've chosen is to allow videos to stay up that have Nintendo content, but anything gained with revenue sharing will now go to Nintendo instead of the original uploader of the video.

In an effort to explain their actions, Nintendo gave an official statement to Gamefront: 

“As part of our on-going push to ensure Nintendo content is shared across social media channels in an appropriate and safe way, we became a YouTube partner and as such in February 2013 we registered our copyright content in the YouTube database. For most fan videos this will not result in any changes, however, for those videos featuring Nintendo-owned content, such as images or audio of a certain length, adverts will now appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips. We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube, and that is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property.” 

Take special note of that last line where Nintendo compares themselves with other companies who would instead block certain videos. They've taken a moral high ground where they’re the user-friendly company who will let you post your Legend of Zelda walkthroughs without fear of reprisal. They do have a point about how restrictive other companies are (The WWE was so strict on YouTube that uploaders started reversing images and using code names like “Cheese Souffle” to try and stay under WWE’s radar), it shows how ignorant Nintendo is of why people watch videos from these YouTube personalities.

You see, people don’t follow people like JonTron and Zach Scott because they’re using in-game footage and audio. They've gained an audience by being personalities that are fun to watch. Nobody is watching these guys for the Nintendo games, but because people want to know their take on a product, what jokes they have to offer, and what insight that may have gone unexplored by others. Now that Nintendo is starting to take away ad money, these personalities are afraid to post anything related to Nintendo, which means Nintendo is now missing out on hundreds of thousands of views of their content they wouldn't be getting with their own trailers. YouTubers lose out on ad revenue and Nintendo misses out on free advertising for negligible profit. This kind of lose-lose situation is especially sad when you consider how this could have been a far more profitable opportunity for Nintendo.

There are many game companies who understand what an untapped market YouTube can be for them. EA has tried to promote Battlefield and Dead Space using popular YouTube personalities while Muse Games invited people like PBG, Angry Joe, Criken, and Totalbiscuit to play in a Battle Royal to promote their Guns of Icarus Kickstarter. Hell, Sony is putting a “Share” button on the PS4. It’s easy to see why popular YouTubers would seem appealing to an advertiser. Not only will these YouTubers do the bulk of the work for you, but the communities that follow these personalities are very dedicated and loyal. If they see one of their favorite users playing a game and having fun with it, they’ll be more likely to consider that game than if they simply watched a commercial. Not every effort to monetize YouTube views is successful, however, so what could Nintendo do to not only win back the YouTube community, but work with them to increase everyone’s profits?

The vague nature of YouTube's Content ID system is what is causing the most problems, so why not create your own system to regulate videos based on your product? Nintendo could create a program of their own to let YouTubers become official Nintendo reps and give incentives for creating videos for products that could use a boost of public awareness, such as a smaller or new IP. At the very least, Nintendo could allow videos to go unaltered as long as they follow specific guidelines about how much footage they can use, what kind of videos they can be presented in (such as no LPs, but top 10’s are okay), or even how far YouTubers are allowed to Lets Play a game for (something like no LPs that go past a certain point in the story if the game hasn't been out for X number of years). Just having a list like that would help clarify what is and is not okay with Nintendo and help ease YouTubers back into celebrating Nintendo instead of viewing it as an omnipresent entity looking to profit off of their hard work.

It’s always a thin line when it comes to policing your fans. Nintendo is showing a very old school business mentality of looking after their trademarks with the tenacity of a hundred wolverines, but the modern world is one where that’s become impossible. They think they've found a middle ground where they “reward” loyal fans by taking away their video profits, but this lack of understanding about the YouTube community will only serve to alienate their core fans even further and blind them from the opportunities of working together with people who know how to draw a crowd. They may not have blocked any of these videos, but Nintendo has blocked themselves out of YouTube. What a shame.