Nintendo Files DMCA Against Fan-Made 'Rhythm Heaven' Remix Software

You mean this custom song?

Nintendo needs to make their own Rhythm games like DDR or Beatmania IIDX by Konami.
Nintendo have a lot of tatented musicians so they can be assigned to provide their songs for their new Rhythm games.
Rhythm Heaven doesn't look very appealing for me if compared with DDR.

Luckly I grabbed it a couple weeks ago. Close one! Sad it's gone for now, though.

Saw this coming the second I found out about Heaven Studio.

Grabbing whatever version they’ve managed to get out before it gets fully stomped.

[returns to this tab] …well, crap. Guess I’ll just have to use the last one I got, unless anyone can throw them all up to a MediaFire or something…?

Let's hope they at least are releasing another Rhythm Heaven game in the coming year to justify this odd behavior. Right now you can't even buy a new copy digitally of this game series. It would be very strange to protect a dead franchise this hard.

Once it’s on the internet it’s everywhere ….
I’ll be googling this because Rhythm Heaven is one of my favorite IPs

Honestly, I'm surprised it took this long. Still sad though.

"The makers of the tool shared on Twitter that, despite receiving bogus takedown complaints from people purporting to be Nintendo, this latest one appears to be the real deal."

(note: domain name of the ("Twitter") hyperlink of this part of this article: x.com)

They keep trying.

1. Complain Nintendo doesn't make the game you want.
2. Make the game yourself.
3. Post it to the internet (ads, money etc).
4. Nintendo takes it down.
5. Cry about 4.
6. Post it all around the internet for others to also cry about 4.
7. Go to 1.

They never learn.

If you want to make a game, use your own creations (characters, music, etc.) and others will love it. Don't steal from others.

So, new Rhythm Heaven incoming?

Maybe Nintendo should make a new Rhythm Heaven then. That would be pretty cool.

Perhaps this is the push up the a**e that Nintendo needs then to see the series is still popular and get on and release a Switch version. 👍

It's a shame that all they have got is a DMCA.

@sanderev LOL you do know that the game is free right? But hey keep sucking up to corporations and maybe Nintendo would give you a PR job.

Cheapest free publicity and shortcut to Internet cred remains infringing on a Nintendo property. Funny though they all promise this isn't the end and they'll be back with something original before vanishing into the ether.

@JohnnyMind one doesn't have to defend Nintendo to call out first world "criticism" of business action within the established legal field coming from people who would almost invariably adhere to the same policies if put in the same seats'n'suits. It's the underlying legislations that should be the target of criticism and change advocation; until then, most people working in the area of contention have always just tended to bank on good ol' subtlety... but over the last decade or so, they have been [deeming themselves] pushed out into the open in pursuit of younger audiences seemingly illiterate in the conventional presentation/distribution venues of yesteryear.

On the other hand, one might also suggest that comfortably grazing among the aforesaid venues left creators and consumers too complacent to keep prodding the legislation for more optimal terms in the proper limelight. Perhaps the current trends will spur more action in this regard, but certainly not if everyone just keeps trying to vocally browbeat legally entitled corporate businesses on social media - especially when a large chunk of these businesses' target customer base - all the moreso in family-oriented entertainment like Nintendo - still lacks sympathy or even familiarity with derivative projects and conservation efforts (genuine or parenthesized) under the proverbial DMCA hammer.

Was thinking of trying that one, too...only way for them to fix it is to not make it Rhythm Heaven and it kinda ruins the whole point of Heaven Studio...

@sanderev A lot of great artists began by making art about IP they love. Novelists can begin by making fanfiction, your favorite bands may begin as cover bands, and a great developers' first games could have been goofy sonic games.
The fact is that Nintendo is behind the times. If only they started seeing dedicated fans making free fan games as the compliment that it really is, maybe then they would even be able to find someone who does it so well they'd have their own Christian Whitehead on their hands.

omg this song is an absolute banger!! great bass line!!!

Nintendo is super protective of its properties. With that said, though there's folk perhaps even more talented than their people, Nintendo's stance is "we'll take our chances", and down go the creators and their creations.
Similar to how Flipnote studio had a ton of Nintendo-focused content from creators, it shows that Nintendo is at least capable of allowing and curating non-Nintendo created content-- Nintendo does need to lean into that more as its fans have been nothing but loyal after all these years.

How dare fans expand on Nintendo games completely free of charge! Just shameful!!

Also, they have a discord if you guys wanna go hunt that down, you're able to ask for someone to give you Studio if they still have it.

That took longer than expected

See a lot of Nintendo IP in the userpics on this website. Y'all baying for blood might want to cease and desist.

@sanderev Since the Dev is rebranding I view this as a good push forward that the dev needed to move on. But it's still sad that it won't be available for a few months.

We need some time to make minor changes, aka we’re done using other people’s ip now and we will rack our brains trying to come up with our own, or find public domain stuff.

its such a cynical take to say you just skip to only doing original art, coming from people that arent even creatives. as if they dont wanna talk about how undertales creator started off with an earthbound mod, or how any creator in general starts off with fan creations

this wasnt some devious ploy that was even earning money. it was created by fans for fans, people who have supported RH in the past because why else would you want a RH maker. and i have no reason to be happy its gone while people who didnt even know it existed shame fans for it. its a fantastic project

I'm sure this was to protect the sales of Rhythm Heaven games that are currently being sold, right?? Right??

@AdolBannings-Laylee They're changing it into more of a game engine so people can recreate a minigame without getting a dmca

The irony is that the people on here saying that they should just make original content, as if it’s that easy, are the ones with not a single creative bone in their body. Anybody that works in any creative field knows that inspiration comes in many forms, especially through interacting with other media. Look how many ‘spiritual successor’ games there are, do you really think they used no copyrighted art in the design phase? How many singers got their start covering songs on YouTube without any permission from the record company? A lot of talented people get their start through this, and it’s the talentless who shame them for it.

It's disappointing to see Nintendo being so heavy-handed with these DMCA takedowns lately. I get that it's in their right, but if they aren't actively putting out games for a particular series, is it really detracting them that much profit from their other games?

If anything, taking down fan project after fan project just discourages the community and puts Nintendo in more of a bad view for said communities.

@nessisonett Exactly, hell one of the developers from this is now working on their own rhythm game.

Nintendo: And YOU get a DMCA takedown! And YOU get a DMCA takedown! And YOU get a DMCA takedown! And YOU get a DMCA takedown!

Well d’uh they ripped assets. Come on.

@RygelXVIII They actually redrew them to be higher quality

tbh imo it's tantamount to dmca'ing fanart

Never personally played any Rhythm Heaven games, but only because the music in the series is really good and so I prefer to hear it online played by people who would be much better at it.

This news is pretty unfortunate, in my opinion.

@27celsius So? They’re making software that ships with copyrighted characters. I didn’t see it mentioned but would assume audio as well.

There's still time for some Switch Rhythm Heaven. There's no February game yet, and there's usually a September Direct. The next console will perhaps be announced in the usual February Direct and would release perhaps in the summer.

@RygelXVIII They also included a few original mini games with original characters
One of them actually originated from a bootleg rhythm heaven mobile game funnily enough

Together now: "AAAAAARGH!!!"

@Thomystic We can dream. But I think there will be no more big direct for the Switch. Switch 2 will probably be announced in fall 2024 and released in spring 2025.

I think Rhythm Heaven is as dead as Star Fox, F-Zero (which at least got F-Zero 99) or Wario Land.

Lmao wow,people made animations on their flip note games but now all of a sudden they have a problem. Nintendo is power tripping at this point

@koekiemonster no,because they have done that with games they don't even sell anymore or ever will,they are power tripping and obsessive

@gabster4 You can look at my comment history and see how much I lick Nintendo's boot. Hint: I am not hesitant to criticise where it's due. But a company filing a DMCA for someone using their IP and characters without permission and shipping it with software is just simply how things work. Don't like that? Take it up with your elected representatives.

@RygelXVIII That's the thing they can't "take it up" they're literally a small team who is passionate about rhythm heaven

@Coalescence They have a discord where there's frequent dev updates if you want to see how they're doing

First off, I am im admiration with all the passion, from the guys who made the program, and from all the comments here, whichever side they're on. 🧡

Now, the only thing Nintendo is doing here is asking to not post this online. They're not criticizing the project, shaming the fans, or whatever else. Why not do this locally and distribute a couple USB sticks around in your neighborhood? You can still have all the fun, be creative and inspired, and enjoy the benefits of a community. Or maybe make a private online community, sharing with your friends and so. Just not publicly for everybody to know, see and participate.

And my opinion is that this is a fair request.

@27celsius I meant you. If you don’t like the laws and regulations around IP and copyright and how this all works, you take it up with your representatives. If you run a company as successful as nintendo you have to enforce these things. And like already mentioned, it’s a DMCA request. They’re not suing the people, they can still create in private like most fan projects do.

@Yalloo This doesn't work in this day and age. It's like making a Mario Maker without enabling online map sharing.

@dew12333 yeah they should be drawn and quartered in the town square

@infernogott It would be like Mario Maker but with sharing on a lower scale. Now if you're a developer and did IT school, chances are you're already part of a big developer community anyways, and you would still be able to enjoy this project and all of its community aspects. But you also want the drama, the center stage and be a victim at the same time.

It seems to me that people are just not reasonable anymore. They want both the butter, the butter money, the milk the butter came from and the cow.

But that's just my simple opinion. Like I said, I really appreciate all the passion around this. And I'm sure I could have enjoyed that program myself. But there's enough other programs out there (without the kind of problems that come with it) for me not to bother with this one.

@nessisonett I think it's the reverse in some cases, but maybe it depends on how you publicise it. I designed a card game and attempted to retheme it with Nintendo IP because that would be awesome to pitch it to them but I wouldn't think to promote it publicly with their IP.

@somebread maybe a little harsh that. Maybe just something to stop them putting it online. It doesn’t seem to be an issue if you don’t do that.

[Verse 1]
Young man, there's a need to feel down, I said
Fangames, can't pick themeselves off the ground, I said
Young man, 'cause you're not in a new town
There's a need to be unhappy
Young man, there's no place you can go, I said
Young man, when you're short on your dough you can't make
Fangames won't stay here and I'm sure you will find
No ways to have a good time

It's not fun to be D.M.C.A'D
It's not fun to be D.M.C.A'D
They have no fangames for young men to enjoy
You can't hang out with all the boys
It's not fun to be D.M.C.A'D
It's not fun to be D.M.C.A'D
You can't get yourself clean, you can't have a good meal
You can't do whatever you feel

Ninja's on fire, scared to lose their job.
“Cowabunga!”