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Nintendo Shuts Down Etikon Controllers

Etikon.jpg


It seems Nintendo has been making more and more negative decisions regarding their products in relation to the community. First was the Big House, then Splatoon 2, so what’s next? Apparently, Nintendo has shut down the manufacturer and distributor of custom-made Nintendo Switch controllers known as Etikon Controllers.


The Etikon Controllers are named after the late Desmond “Etika” Amofah who tragically committed suicide in June of 2019. He was a popular YouTuber with more than 800,000 followers and is famous for his over-the-top reaction videos. You can read our coverage of his passing here.


His passing was a very hard blow for the community so these controllers were created as a way to remember and commemorate him. The project was started shortly after his passing by Alex "CptnAlex" Blake. This design promptly featured the Nintendo Switch logo and the title “Joycon Boyz” which is a name Etika’s fans call themselves. According to Indiegogo, the controllers received more than $36,000 in which proceeds went to The JED Foundation, an institution that supports sufferers of mental health issues. According to CptnAlex, the issue isn’t the design itself but the use “JOYCON BOYZ” is what triggered Nintendo’s cease & desist due to the use of the trademarked “Joycon”. He is apparently free to remake the controllers but must remove any reference to “Joycon” in order to do so.

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While this legal action took place in September of this year, information concerning it has rapidly spread across the internet which comes off the heels of Nintendo's streak of bad publicity. The Official Joycon Boyz Youtube channel has condemned this action and had harsh words for Nintendo. The move has also been condemned on social media of many pointing that this kind of action goes against what Nintendo stood for in the past.


While Nintendo has been facing backlash from the community, there’s still a lot of unanswered questions from both parties - especially the case of trademarks and copyright law. Hopefully, Nintendo has watching and listening to what fans are saying concerning their most recent actions.

Credits:
Editing: @Zerp
Graphics: @Zerp
Social Media: @Zerp
 
Venus of the Desert Bloom
Venus of the Desert Bloom
Venus of the Desert Bloom
Contributor
I’m that person that moderates somewhere, writers articles once a year, and the don of the Smashboard’s Creates forum.

Comments

Janx_uwu
I can't think of a single reason why this had to be done.
I've heard people say "they had to!" because of the term Joy-Con. But like, other fan projects do the same thing. There are thousands of Sonic fangames, and several have a Patreon page. Why isn't Sega forced to take them down? And in those cases, most of the money is going to the creator, whether that be to cover expenses or to, you know, actually have them make a profit. In this situation, almost all of the money was going to charity, while some was going to him. Considering how expensive it must be to have these shells factory-made, I can't assume it's cheap.
This is supremely dumb on Nintendo's part. Call it IP protection all you want, but this is the wrong move for them, legal or not.
 
Janx_uwu
WarioJim said:
I saw someone else link to this discussion in response to why this may have happened. It may be worth asking your questions over there to see if there's a good answer to them.
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I've already read it. And now I'm rereading it. Still don't know why fangames get to use trademarks such as Sonic and make a profit yet Sega doesn't lose the trademark. I'd love to be proven wrong however.
 
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Ridley64
Janx_uwu said:
I've already read it. And now I'm rereading it. Still don't know why fangames get to use trademarks such as Sonic and make a profit yet Sega doesn't lose the trademark. I'd love to be proven wrong however.
Click to expand...
Maybe they have some sort of agreement?
 
Janx_uwu
Ridley64 said:
Maybe they have some sort of agreement?
Click to expand...
As far as I'm aware it's as simple as Sega is cool and loves to see what the fans make, and the fans can do whatever they want. And several of these fangames have a Patreon where the creator makes a profit. Not all of them and definitely not the majority.
 
Ridley64
Janx_uwu said:
As far as I'm aware it's as simple as Sega is cool and loves to see what the fans make, and the fans can do whatever they want. And several of these fangames have a Patreon where the creator makes a profit. Not all of them and definitely not the majority.
Click to expand...
Makes sense. If I ended up making a video game, I would love seeing fanworks.
 
Janx_uwu
Wasn't aware of this until after I posted here last. Apparently, according to this super helpful video by Omni, he recounts the Twitter thread started by CptnAlex, where he states there are multiple companies that are making hundreds of dollars in profit off of Nintendo's IP's with the same exact thing-Joy Cons. So yeah, it is pretty awful that they targeted Alex and not the people who were actually making a large profit.
 
WarioJim
Janx_uwu said:
So yeah, it is pretty awful that they targeted Alex and not the people who were actually making a large profit.
Click to expand...
I imagine there are a number of reasons for this.
For starters, there are likely a large number of other people that have also had stuff like this happen, but we never hear anything about it or they don't say anything. Might be that it's easier to deal with inependent workers than organized companies. It may just be that they haven't got around to others yet. Even for Alex it took around a year until he was given a C&D. Could've been caught in the crossfire of his other products.

So that's just some of the things I thought of. I do think it's a bit dishonest to say he was targeted specifically, as a result.
In the end though, Etsy, were he was selling his stuff before, still has a bunch of custom controllers and shells available. If he does an Indiegogo to redesign the Etikons like he said he would, then there should be no futher issues.
 
Ridley64
I just realized, this shouldn't be about anything but the fact that this guy is dead. And Nintendo still did this. That's....NOT ok in the slightest.
 
D
Woah, Nintendo is on drugs bro, they cancel a big tournament which involves a dolphin mod of melee. Then they cancel Splatoon for supporting the smash community, THEEEN they shut down Etika Inspired Joy-Cons. Honestly Nintendo needs to chill
 
D
This can't be happening.... are you kidding me.
 
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