Products You May Like
You may recall that, last month, Nintendo introduced some new guidelines for small-scale fan tournaments. The guidelines were very strict, and very few people were happy with the new rules. However, you may be surprised to hear that a government agency is also not happy with this news.
The Norwegian Consumer Council has learned of Nintendo’s new rules, and Thomas Iversen, one of their senior legal advisors, spoke to Norwegian site PressFire about the matter. According to Iversen, Nintendo shouldn’t be able to make these new rules because they weren’t a thing when Super Smash Bros. Ultimate released. He also criticized Nintendo’s restrictions on game modifications, something that had been resolved when Nintendo lost a case against Galoob in regards to the Game Genie decades ago. Iversen said that “One would think that this issue was resolved then, as long as the use does not conflict with copyright”.
Lastly, he criticized Nintendo’s ban on custom controllers. Iversen said that he has “no respect for such a restriction”. Inversen feels that this rule prevents people with physical challenges from playing, and it simultaneously hurts competition. So, there’s multiple reasons why the Norwegian Consumer Council has a problem with the new rules.
As for what the Norwegian Consumer Council plans to do going forward, it was stated that they will be discussing with other European consumer bodies on how to proceed. That said, it is worth noting that this would not be the first time that the Norwegian Consumer Council has legally challenged Nintendo. It’s because of them that European users can now cancel digital pre-orders on the Switch, and that Nintendo has had to give free lifetime repairs of Nintendo Switch controllers to players in the European Union.