You'd think for an industry that comes under as much fire as we do that people would be protective of how their IPs are used in-conjunction with making the industry look bad. Cases in point - 1up.com has an article about a calendar being produced with nude women posing with game stuff and Joystiq's PSP Fanboy has a post about a Maxim photoshoot where women are dressing up as characters from Tekken in various not safe for work ways.

Why aren't the companies who own these intellectual properties suing these groups making money off their IPs? I mean... look at how many mods based off existing IPs get shut down and yet this is different?

At the same time this blatant sexism is going on, four posts above the one about the nude calendar on 1up, is this article about a Nielsen study that shows that 64% of all online gamers are women. Granted, like 1up states in the article, many of these women are probably playing casual games through online portals. Still, as the industry grows out of its infancy and tries to reach a wider audience, shouldn't companies be trying to promote a healthy image for the industry?

It's in industry's best interest for more people to begin to identify with the label of being ' a gamer ' but as long as 'gamers' are seen as closet geeks who like to look at nude women and shoot up their schools - this won't happen. It almost seems to fall into a catch-22 where the industry wants more more people to play but isn't willing to stop catering to their male teenage player base out of fear that they'll end up with no one left. But if the companies that make up the industry aren't going to defend themselves in the courts of law and public opinion, the industry could end up with a bloody nose.

At what point are the companies responsible for the image of their customers? I mean, granted, no one is going to stop playing games because people think gamers are 'weird or creepy' but wouldn't a positive image make it easier to talk people into buying and playing games who might not normally want to give it a chance?

Shouldn't companies like Nintendo and Namco sew these groups using their IPs to promote things that perpetuate the 'gamer' stereotype? Or is the little bit of extra marketing press worth the damage it does to the industry's image? Are we just a step away from Temco turning around and announcing Dead or Alive Extreme Nude Mud Wrestling?

It is shocking....Shocking I say!! What's more Its...Oh wait grandpa, its past your bedtime, time to go.

heh... point taken... I think the point I'm trying to get at here is that the issues surrounding the industry run a risk of impacting the buisness. I mean, I'm not so nieve to think that the movie industry dosen't get attaked for ratings sometimes and blamed for the ratings it gives or the exploitation of certain hollywood stars to drum up lots of press for upcomming movies - but most of the time there is a limit to what the studios will take before they fight back.

Mabye this isn't crossing the line... but It just seems unnecessary to me...

"Free Advertisement"

Exactly. Ever hear the phrase saying that all publicity is good publicity? No matter how bad the publicity is, it still makes more people aware of the product/person/etc. and so it's actually good. It's hard to believe, but more people buy the product/watch the movie/play the game/etc. even if the publicity is bad.

Consider GTA's "recent" conflict. Do you really think that they were hurt because of that? Or did more people buy the game because of it? How many do you think got rid of it just because of the bad publicity? In the end, more bought it, few (if any) got rid of it... that's not a bad thing. They even end up getting supporters for all their products because people thought the bad press was so stupid. That means better sales for all their games for a period of time.

All that said, I think it's stupid to have those types of advertising, but that's just me. I always thought advertising like that was rather lame.

Okay, I'm no lawyer and even if I was, Fair Use and Copyright laws seem to be contested quite often these days, and in different countries. However, I think it's plausable that both these examples could fall under the parody and satire portions on Fair Use law (at least in North America). On the other hand, unless it were actually taken to court, the outcome would be doubtful... and would probably generate a lot of negative press for the companies involved. (I know I wouldn't think highly of Namco if they were to go after a calendar).

On the other hand, there have been companies, mostly in TV and Film, that have been very protective of their content. I wonder if there's been any examples of cases here that have gone before the courts. The only stuff I can think of is websites and projects being threatened with cease and desist letters and either pulling the plug voluntarily or ignoring it without much result.

All of this stuff is probably a case-by-case basis... I know nothing about any MOD cases for instance. It's my understanding that most companies simply deal with this by clamping down on code in a later patch. But there's probably value in a personal website for tracking what gets shut down and why.

I've complained a lot about the punishingly adolescent mindset of this idiotic industry, but I just can't argue with schoolgirls' outfits...