Nintendo Apologizes to SuicideGirls 423
As a follow up to the unfortunate incident on Wednesday, thanks to emfra (and others) who pointed out that BoingBoing has Nintendo's Apology Letter to the SuicideGirls site up. They even went so far as to offer up a free game system and game to the site owner. So alls well that end's well...but not before Penny Arcade had a chance to comment.
Can someone repost? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:2)
Man that was fast...
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:5, Informative)
We would like to apologize to you and to those who frequent the suicidegirls.com website for inadvertently contacting you about a fan posting on the website.
We know that many of our fans are old enough to make their own choice about what they want to view on the Internet. We value the support of our fans and we respect their decisions. The letter was sent as part of an ongoing Nintendo program to aggressively protect our younger consumers from the hundreds of sexually-explicit sites each year that use Nintendo properties to attract children. We are proud of our efforts in this area. Unfortunately, the site posting identified in our letter was targeted by mistake.
As a gesture of goodwill, we would like to offer you (and RuneLateralus) a free Nintendo video game system and game of your choice. (...)
In addition, we would appreciate it if you could provide us with contact information for RuneLateralus, or have him contact us directly, so that we may apologize to him. We would be glad to send him a game and system of his choice through you as well, since we do not have his contact information.
Sincerely,
Christie Hamilton
Nintendo of America Inc.
Consumer Service Department
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:3, Informative)
I believe the parent post is right, although I'm not entirely sure. I heard Nintendo commissioned Sony to help them build a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES after the "success" of the Mega-CD (or Sega-CD as it's known in America), then changed their mind. Sony weren't too pleased about this so went ahead with the system anyway, improved it quite a bit, and released it as the PlayStation.
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:3, Funny)
Let's give Nintendo a break, folks. (Score:5, Interesting)
It was a mistake, and they recognized it and fessed up. That in and of itself takes balls, and I salute Nintendo for it. I think the rest of us should calm down about it. I understand the desire to knee-jerk and think the man is out to get us, but I think the truth, in this case, is a little more mundane.
Not perfect (Score:5, Insightful)
Take the tinfoil hat off. First, it was a fuckup. That's clear, they admitted it, end of story. Second, "what they want" in this case is for pedophiles to stop using Nintendo to screw up kids. I think I'm on board there. Third, there's no case for indifference because they did everything they could to fix the fuckup.
I know it screws up the schemas of the slashdot crowd, but there's really not this global conspiracy to screw you personally.
Re:Not perfect (Score:5, Funny)
Well, really, there is, it is just that Nintendo is playing a smaller part than originally thought. hehe
Re:Not perfect (Score:5, Insightful)
The jerks using Nintendo character names and stuff on porn sites to pull in links probably aren't pedophiles, and they probably don't give a shit that children get drawn in as well. They're just crooks hoping to cheat the system so they can pull in more money from their porn empire. Labeling this type of stuff as pedophilia hurts cracking down on the real problems by diluting what people think of as pedophilia and/or child porn. Frankly you're part of the problem, not the solution when you say things like this. We're all against child porn but most of us want to be helpful in stopping it, not mislabeling things to confuse the issue.
Re:Not perfect (Score:3, Insightful)
The best part of that apology... (Score:5, Funny)
"Is that Rune or Ms. Lateralus? Ohh....ooook...."
You almost get the feeling that if Christie had asked what level her half-elven ranger was, she wouldn't have to stop and think before answering...
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:5, Funny)
Please bring the girls.
It's a trick! (Score:4, Funny)
It's just a ruse so that they can get RuneLateralus's home address and sue him directly...
DON'T DO IT!
(I'm joking, but if it were the RIAA or SCO instead of Nintendo, I wouldn't be.)
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, there are. Two examples:
My wife opened a URL that once belonged to Toys-R-Us. She bookmarked it a few years ago, but now it's a porn site. I TRU didn't renew it's domain registration for that particular domain, and the porn guys grabbed it.
Also, see my
Yeah, right... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:4, Funny)
I mis-typed this once in front of my boss and ended up with a picture of a vagina on my screen.
Luckily there were no customers in our shop at the time.
Going to the site now returns a 'search' page instead of the porn site it used to be. Maybee dslreports.com had it taken down?
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:3, Interesting)
If I were working in an IT department, and I found out someone set up a SSH proxie forwarding service, I would make a wild leap of logic and assume that the person was smart enough to keep their own machine spyware and trojan free. Most people don't even know what a port is, let alone how they work..
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:3, Insightful)
I immediately wanted to answer, "Uhh, why don't you try being a manager and tell them to lay off the porn if they want to keep their job?"
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Can someone repost? (Score:3, Funny)
Here's the HOWTO (Score:4, Informative)
There's even a tool for automating the process.
Nintendo (Score:5, Funny)
Oh wait.. this is Slashdot
Re:Nintendo (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Nintendo (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Nintendo (Score:2)
Re:Nintendo (Score:5, Insightful)
Corporations are big, confusing entities. They're byzantine. Sometimes one individual, or team, or department, or DIVSION, exercise a strategy inconsistent or in competition with the corporation's main objective. How many times have you gone to work, looked at a project, and wondered "what the HELL are they doing?!?!?".
In this case, cooler heads prevailed and the situation was rectified. I don't think that Nintendo should be penalised for correcting a mistake. They were even gracious about it.
Re:Nintendo (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Nintendo (Score:3, Insightful)
The reason I hate that quote so much is that it makes no sense. An eye for an eye means that everyone who goes around poking eyes out will be blind. Not the whole world. Just the eye-pokers.
Re:Nintendo (Score:3, Funny)
Let's assume that you need at least one eye to successfully poke the eye of another. After poking a single eye, the eye-poker is now one-eyed, having given an eye for justice, but can still poke. The eye-poker's eye won't be removed until he is caught. This is the key point, and it allows the one-eyed (or two-eyed) eye-poker to poke as many eyes as she can until someone stops her. So it is possible for a clever eye poker to poke many more eyes than her two eye quota that she would at first appear to be limi
Re:Nintendo (Score:5, Insightful)
I said it before... (Score:5, Funny)
"Hey, hot goth chicks like Nintendo games, how can we publicize this fact? I know, let's send them a nasty letter from our lawyers and 200,000 geeks will start to associate hot goth chicks with Nintendo."
And you all fell for it.
Re:I said it before... (Score:5, Funny)
Nintendo Marketing Guy #2: "GREAT IDEA!! Thats much better than Magic Mushroom munching italian plumbers.... get the lawyers on it"
Seems fairly sensible to me!
Re:I said it before... (Score:3, Funny)
Nintendo Marketing Guy #4: "Profit!"
The joke's been done before but I couldn't resist
Re:I said it before... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I said it before... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I said it before... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I said it before... (Score:2, Insightful)
Sounds like a win-win to me.
PS: nobody cares that it was a guy who wrote about it, all they hear is "suicidegirls.com" and "nintendo."
Touching Is Good (Score:5, Funny)
Nintendo Says 'Touching Is Good' in Sexed-Up DS Ads [reuters.co.uk]
Tell me again that the hot goth chicks connection isn't intentional.
Blame in the right place? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I said it before... (Score:2, Insightful)
How you know that, i'd love to know. The mentality around here of "If I don't like something, everyone else must hate it too" gets really annoying sometimes.
Re:I said it before... (Score:5, Insightful)
Damn, I never laughed so hard in my life. I don't know what bizarro universe you live in... but companies exist to make profit, there's no way around that unless you're a non-profit company.
You see, they explicitly make a type of company called "non-profit" to destinguish them from all the other companies who exist for profit.
You, my friend, need to rethink your idealistic subjective reality.
Whoa dude (Score:3, Insightful)
It hardly implies that he lives in some "subjective reality."
Re:No, businesses exist to serve the public good (Score:2)
well after RTFA (Score:5, Funny)
I'd like to know why Nintendo's Lawyers are looking at goth-porn. That would seem far more damaging than a goth-porn site mentioning they like Nintendo games.
but what do I know.
Re:well after RTFA (Score:5, Funny)
Re:well after RTFA (Score:5, Funny)
Re:well after RTFA (Score:2)
Of course, after a hard day of coding Super Mario Sunshine, I probably wouldn't mind kicking back with some lesbian goth pictures. So if it was a person, it was most likely NOT the lawyers.
Re:well after RTFA (Score:2)
Surely you just answered your own question...?
Re:well after RTFA (Score:2)
If I had a job that required me scanning porn sites for trademark violations I'd probably take much shorter lunches.
Re:well after RTFA (Score:4, Interesting)
It seems to me the Suicidegirls is erotic/nude art with a gothic twist and should not be confused for porn, although it may have the same effect on your penis.
Dear Nintendo, (Score:5, Funny)
Yours faithfully,
A.Nutter
Dear Nutter,
Yes you do need help. Mario 64 is crap.
Yours faithfully,
Your shrink
Re:Dear Nintendo, (Score:3, Funny)
Makes perfect sense to me (Score:5, Insightful)
I think they've handled this in a most professional, and logical manner. Something that cannot be said for most large entertainment companies these days.
-phixxr
Re:Makes perfect sense to me (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Makes perfect sense to me (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously. They didn't even blame it on an intern, or outsourcing, or anything. They didn't try to pull the "Well, we know we were right, but we're going to do you a favor and back down anyway" thing. And in offering one of their products, they're letting the person choose what they want. As opposed to the RIAA, which dumps poorly selling albums in inner-city schools and calls it good.
Re:Makes perfect sense to me (Score:5, Insightful)
Kudos to Nintendo.
Re:Makes perfect sense to me (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Makes perfect sense to me (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, I am *really* sure they were *scared* of that one.
Why, of course they are. A site visited regularly by a lot of gamers - most between 15 and 30 years old? Sounds like potential Nintendo customers to me...
It was a PR move, of course, but they made it right. They deserve some credit.
Penny Arcade Comment (Score:5, Informative)
Fri, October 29 2004 - 4:30 AM
by: Tycho
I'd say it's better than even odds you've seen the story, either at VE or Slashdot. The long and short of it is that someone said they liked a couple Nintendo games in their SuicideGirls profile - and, in a parody of the reasonable universe, lawyers bared their teeth. I have a hunch we're talking about some kind of perverted spider application, an automated process with a bottomless appetite for filth, but it's funny to think tracking down meaningless infractions like this is some guy's fucking job.
I guess I should say a few things in advance of this discussion. SuicideGirls is a site where, among other things, girls take off their clothes. I'm not saying you should go there or not go there. They've asked to advertise here before, and while I don't have any great qualm with titillating media I didn't know if it was the best match for the site. It may be that my scheme for rating pornography has been damaged by the Internet, but the site is actually pretty tasteful compared to other sites I have subscribed to, many of which are filmed in barns.
Now, with the caveat out of the way, I am not without reason: I can understand why Nintendo as a corporate entity might not want their juggernaut brands associated with teen coochie. And indeed, if we were talking about photosets with explicit connections to their brands I would be less likely to ridicule them for it. I can even envision a scenario where a girl might have a Mario tattoo or something, and they might have something legitimate to say in that case, but honestly now I'm just indulging some kind of fantasy.
At this point, I don't care if it was a spider or some asshole at a terminal somewhere. When we did our Strawberry Shortcake comic, I was able to come to terms with the fact that there was an interpretation of my country's laws that prohibited what we had done. I didn't like it, but I could connect the dots and we relented. This, on the other hand, is merely stupid and evil. For better or worse, their company is built on these ancient, perennial brands that sprout up again on each new system. The reason it works is only partially because they tend to make excellent games - they deal gently with those classics, modernizing what they need, and somehow manage to retain a sense of wonder. But Nintendo's success hinges on the fact that their characters have become cultural icons - and being cultural icons means that we as gamers take an ownership in those franchises. They're a part of our language and, if you're the sort of person who reads Penny arcade, your culture.
It's not legal ownership, no - but we're heavily invested in those characters. Which I guess is a crime.
Update: Or, maybe it's not. Someone at Nintendo figured out this was stupid - BoingBoing has the letter they sent out.
(CW)TB out.
It's funny 'cause it's true. (Score:2, Funny)
The letter? (Score:4, Funny)
I see . . . . . (Score:2, Interesting)
Oh well, time to go help
E-mail address? (Score:5, Funny)
~D
Re:E-mail address? (Score:2)
I hope not too late... (Score:5, Funny)
I hope Nintendo's apologies don't come too late.
You know, these emotionally labile personalities (suicide girls) take these things to heart...
Don't do it! Life is so beautiful!
Re:I hope not too late... (Score:2, Funny)
Smart move Nintendo (Score:3, Insightful)
It was a loser but at least give them credit for recognizing it and trying to make amends. Short term it's ugly either way, but this will limit the long term damage. There's no story now.
Good job, Nintendo. Bite the bullet, apologize, move on.
Enough is enough.... (Score:2, Interesting)
WARNING NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:WARNING NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!! (Score:5, Informative)
That is because this whole story from beginning to end is fake. The whole of slashdot goes "WTF is wrong with Nintendo" and surf to suicidegirls or another pornographic site. This results in suicidegirls getting loads of free advertising... The whole thing is a ploy and they have done it before, just look at these:
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/11/26/1
and http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/11/27/1
Parent has merit (Score:5, Interesting)
What kind of business letter starts with "Hello,"?
No contact information provided for the SG owner to contact customer service with the system of his choice
Most people scan in their letters as JPGs or PDFs, not retype them
Attorneys usually send e-mails to supplement a cease and decist letter sent via mail. SG says they only got an e-mail.
I could go on, but I think it's apparent now that SG did stage this.
Re:WARNING NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
So... will Nintendo pay SuicideGirls for... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:So... will Nintendo pay SuicideGirls for... (Score:4, Interesting)
This just in... (Score:5, Funny)
A spokesman for the Bar Association was quoted as saying, "Apologize?! If lawyers start giving apologies for simply doing their jobs, our entire legal system will collapse as everyone will simply get along rather than continue pointless and expensive litigation."
What's that sound...? (Score:2)
I can't think of a better way to get free consoles. Terabytes of pr0n is *way* better than any pyramid scheme
Why stop there? (Score:5, Funny)
Subaru
REI
Nintendo
Sony
Dell
Bank of America Loan Dept.
Of course it could backfire and I'd end up instead getting an apology letter from a pornstar with an offer for free...you know.
Response (Score:5, Funny)
This law offices represent SuicideGirls. Ever since your letter of apology, they have experience a dangerous swing of confidence and self-respect. As a result, they can no longer see themselves as 'SuicideGirls' and prefer the term 'MildlyDespondentWomen'.
We are asking for a settlement of one billion dollars for emotional non-stress, lack of pain and suffering, and character assassination.
And a pony. a Shetland Pony.
Dewey, Cheetham & Howe
They've always seems sensible (Score:3, Interesting)
From the letter, I can understand why they did what they did, after all, didn't zelda.com used to be (still is?) a porn site? For most kids, Nintendo is their first introduction to games, and it wouldn't be good for a kid to google for "pikachu" only to find out that some porn site had managed to come up high on the results list.
Somewhat off topic, but it seems to me that a lot of their newer games are targetting older gamers.
The recent entries to the zelda and metroid series seem to have been targetted at older players, mostly by virtue of their difficulty.
classy (Score:5, Insightful)
Kudos.
Good move by Nintendo... (Score:2, Insightful)
But, they did the right thing and fessed up to their mistake, something companies rarely do anymore. Way to go Nintendo.
Nintendo game system of their choice? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Nintendo game system of their choice? (Score:3, Funny)
Complete with the little robot guy to handle the gyroscopes! That thing was awesome!
Re:Nintendo game system of their choice? (Score:3, Interesting)
Only way they could have a harder time coming up with something is if you just asked for a shitty game that never had many copies made
Re:Nintendo game system of their choice? (Score:3, Interesting)
In related news... (Score:5, Funny)
Just to summarize (Score:5, Insightful)
Coverage on Slashdot, Penny-Arcade, etc on this debacle
Nintendo goes "oh sh*t" at the negetive PR, fully owns up, and offers free (Nintendo brand) gaming system of choice to some of those involved at SG.
SO basically, SG comes up with a whole crapload of attention, extra site traffic, and some free gaming systems. Now, since the site didn't get nuked I'm assuming that a full slashdotting didn't happen. If at least some of the visitors end up signing up - offsetting the bandwidth cost - they benefit not only from the free systems but also from the free publicity/extra signups.
Heck, I sent me GF a link to this, she was looking up some girls' on SG and found their profiles rather cool, wanted to sign up herself. I'd say that I score this one:
SG:+2 (traffic/signups/game systems)
Nintendo+1: or 0 (no harm no fowl, but perhaps bonus points for owning up where few would)
Idiot IP lawers:-1 (for doing the right job in the wrong place).
Re:Just to summarize (Score:3, Funny)
I have mod points, and wanted to mod this... (Score:4, Funny)
But "Obviously wearing tinfoil hat" isn't one of the mod options.
Re:"All's well that ends well" (Score:2, Interesting)
btw, anyone ever notice how much Nintendo stuff (clothing, stickers) is on the shelves at Hot Topic? They don't seem to mind alt.culture when there's a buck in it.
Re:THANK GOD FOR PENNY-ARCADE! (Score:2)
Re:website (Score:5, Funny)
Aha! It's all actually a part of the evil ploy! They want to know his address so they can dispatch black-clad agents to abduct him for nefarious purposes! Don't fall for it guys! Run away! Run
+++ATH
NO CARRIER
Re:website (Score:3, Insightful)
Granted, I am rather overtly paranoid, but did anyone else look at the last paragraph ("we would appreciate it if you could provide us with contact information for RuneLateralus") as a smooth attempt to get directly at the user without having to bother with a subpeona? I mean, come on. I'm Nintendo and I'm getting critized for attacking the website when it was an individual who posted (ignoring the context for a second here). So, I want to go after the user, but I don't know how to send the SaD letter.
Re:Fairly obvious what happened (Score:3, Funny)