Why Fan Games Are Crucial To The Games Industry
Dragon, a game developer, has recently garnered some attention for a video of a game they have been developing: a Pokemon first person shooter that lets you snipe at aggressive Pokemon with a rifle. And it looks, well, pretty darn rad. In their work-in-progress video, you can watch them blast several Pokemon with several well-placed shotgun bullets, taking down rampaging Pokemon, ranging from smaller ‘mons like Pikachu (which promptly keeled over after being shot) to Legendaries like Zapdops and Mewtwo. Unlike the bloodless Pokemon fighter Pokken, this Pokemon shooter is much more violent than that, even if not particularly gory; every gunshot is accompanied by a small eruption of blood from the Pokemon. It’s completely antithetical to the peaceful, pastoral atmosphere of the Pokemon series—and it’s incredibly refreshing. What could be up next? A Pokemon-themed cooking show where you can make Magikarp broth and whip up Tauros steak?
The comments on Dragon’s video mostly revolve around Nintendo and their litigious tendencies, however. Nintendo is famously protective over its intellectual properties, and Dragon has stated in a behind-the scenes video that they weren’t planning to sell this game, while adding in a wry remark to Nintendo lawyers to please not take their video down. And as luck would have it, these videos have since been taken down due to copyright claims (Reddit’s probably the only place you can watch one of the gameplay videos for now). But there are also just as many people who have pondered about the point of fan games—why rely on another brand’s existing IP and risk violating copyright laws, rather than create your own original characters?
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