Pokemon’s New YouTube Rules Will Ruin All The Fun

Pokemon, like all major video game franchises, has a dedicated fanbase. However, Pokemon’s reach extends further than any other, spanning trading cards and plush toys and Primark pyjamas. These fans – myself included – lap up everything, but the games are still the top priority.

But modern Pokemon games just aren’t as replayable as the classics. Maybe it’s my nostalgia talking, but contemporary titles are easier, more mired in narrative over competitive battles, and, despite their open worlds, often feel more linear. But old games are hard to get hold of. I saw Pokemon Silver, unboxed, in the window of my local CEX this weekend for £50. The consoles cost even more. So many fans turn to YouTubers and content creators to get their retro fix.

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YouTubers, known in fan circles as PokeTubers, do far more than replay old games. Some, like former World Champion Wolfe Glick and veteran player Aaron ‘Cybertron’ Zheng, showcase their battling prowess with competitive content. Others play ROM hacks, fan-made Pokemon games created using the assets of old games, usually Gen 3 or 4. The final genre of PokeTuber are the hardcore Nuzlockers, who make the games as difficult as possible, either using self-imposed rules or tough ROM hacks. These are the most popular form of Pokemon content at the moment, at least in my experience, eclipsing the niche videos like themed escape rooms to capture the hearts of millions.

However, all that might be due to change. Nintendo has updated its rules as to what is allowable for content creators using its properties, and many Pokemon creators could suffer for it. Updated last week, the rules now make direct reference to the emulators that many creators use to play old titles or ROM hacks, and stresses the punishments for doing so.

The rules now state that using “emulators and/or other circumvention software” could result in a strike from Nintendo, which in the past has included demonetising videos or sending DMCA strikes due to the unauthorised use of copyrighted material.

So, what if Pokemon creators want to play old games? Well, unless it’s native to the Switch, which no game from before Gen 8 is, you’ll have to find some old hardware. The Nintendo 3DS is a haven for older Generations of Pokemon games, hosting Gens 4-7 natively and letting you play Gens 1-3 via the Virtual Console. That is, if you already bought them. Unfortunately, the 3DS eShop closed down earlier this year, so if you hadn’t bought your Virtual Console games before then, you’re out of luck.

Nintendo throws another spanner in the works in a different clause of its new rules. You can also be targeted by the company’s famously litigious lawyers if your video or livestream, “Involves cheating, cracking, unauthorised access, circumvention of technical restrictions, unauthorised modification, or use of objects, tools, or services that enable such cheating, cracking, unauthorised access, circumvention of technical restrictions, or unauthorised modification”.

You might think that’s all fine, because you’re playing these games legit, right? Wrong. To capture a 3DS’ screens, chances are you’ll need a modified console. Capture cards were in their infancy when the 3DS was in its heyday, and many of the things we take for granted when streaming our screens weren’t as simple back then. It doesn't help that Nintendo’s handheld uses awkward ports to ensure you have to buy and use Nintendo’s own cables, meaning you have to physically deconstruct your 3DS to capture the legitimate games that you play on it, or pay someone to do it for you.

This could easily come under “unauthorised modification”, as it’s the sort of technical hardware alteration that would immediately void your console’s warranty. Yet, it’s necessary to stream old games.

You can see Nintendo’s point of view. People are taking apart Pokemon games and rebuilding them like Mario Maker levels in new and creative ways – that’s Nintendo’s IP that people are using to shift thousands of games, albeit usually for free. Kaizo makes hard-as-nails hacks that test patience, preparation, and perseverance as much as they do skill. Regular Nuzlockers hack in Rare Candies so they don’t have to spend hours upon hours grinding on wild Pokemon, a tedious task boring for both creator and viewer alike. But it’s yet another scenario where Nintendo is lashing out at any ways fans are earning money from its games, and it’s clear the company doesn’t understand that fans are doing this out of love for the franchise.

Nintendo doesn’t know what it has with its YouTube creatives. These are people so dedicated to the brand that when the main series games get tedious and boring thanks to easy storylines and appalling performance issues, they come up with brand new ways to play. They love Pokemon so much that they will die time and time again at the feet of a souped-up Roxanne because a dude named Kaizo thought it would be fun to give her a Giga Draining Lileep to counter your Water-types, and her Relicanth just won’t die.

Pokemon fans decided a long time ago that they had to make their own fun. Playing, and watching others play, games like Emerald Kaizo or a Soul Link Nuzlocke of Scarlet & Violet are what keeps the Pokemon community alive. We’re not going to grind every Terastal event, it’s just not going to happen. The Raids are too bugged and the rewards too small. But playing a 2003 Pokemon game with randomised encounters and an obscene difficulty spike in every Gym? Count me in. Let’s just hope Nintendo doesn’t come knocking on my door.

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