Not many may be aware, but a while back there was a Metroid 2 remake fan game that sought to bring a lesser known title, to the forefront of indie gaming. This remake was made in the style of the Gameboy Advance's Metroid Zero Mission, a legitimate remake of the first Metroid for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In less than a day after the Metroid 2 remake was released to the public for free, Nintendo had issued a take-down notice for the game. Another fan game was also issued a take-down notice less than a few hours after its full release. Pokémon Uranium was a completely new fan project that had been worked on for what seemed to be years. Nintendo has seemed to strike down many attempts to honor favorite game series, simply for the fact of that it was not their work. Both of the games listed above were not games made for profit, they were distributed as a labor of love. And yet, they were cut down before they could please the intended audiences.
A quick question for those who wish to think about it, should fan games be taken down because they are illegitimate games of an established series? Several game designers have started their careers making versions of their own favorite games. Tobyfox, creator of one of the best rated games last year, "Undertale," had originally started his game making with a ROM hack of the very popular Super Nintendo game, "Earthbound." He had released the modified game to the public and received much acclaim for his revision of the original story, creation of new music using sounds from the old game, and his delving into very rarely touched mechanics of gameplay. He later used the same ideas and mechanics he was praised for, and made an astounding game in October of 2015. Had his ROM hack been shut down in the earliest stages of its infancy, "Undertale" would probably never have been made and received as much acclaim as it has seen.
Fan games are not something to be feared and abhorred. Rather, they should be nurtured and praised. Without fans, nothing would be as popular as it is. Fans make the media, as much as the media is made for the fans. Too many media industries nowadays are too interested in what would make the most money in the littlest amount of time possible. If these industries would focus more on pleasing the fans with what they have done best, fans would be willing to put more money into projects and help make sure that what they love will stay as what they love. In closing, are video games not a work of art, and if so, shouldn't they be pleasing to the audience enough to inspire more artists?
