Etika Fans Furious To Discover That Nintendo Banned Sale Of Etika-themed Joycons

Nintendo fans were furious to discover that the company had shut down yet another well-intentioned fan endeavor when news spread that Nintendo had sent a cease-and-desist to Cptn_Alex, the creator and seller of Etika-themed Joy-Cons. Cptn_Alex was donating all the proceeds from the sale of "Etikons" to the JED Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting mental health in teens and young adults and preventing suicide, in honor of Etika, the late popular streamer and Nintendo fanatic who had very public mental health struggles before committing suicide last year.

First campaign was not successful.

Second campaign was successful.

Remaining stock of Joycons were for sale my Etsy since last year.

Nintendo sent me a cease and desist at the end of September.

Here’s a picture of me with a bin of all the shells I can’t sell anymore pic.twitter.com/ytdWzObh9x

— CptnAlex (@Cptn_Alex) December 7, 2020

Cptn_Alex was also selling various custom Joy-Con designs which used a "JoyCon" logo very similar to Nintendo's trademarked "Joy-Con" logo. According to Cptn_Alex, this was what Nintendo took issue with, and Nintendo has not shut down his business completely.

That’s perfectly legal, because again, I hold a resellers license and pay taxes

Nintendo didn’t shut down my business completely, they just had me remove some designs and I’m modifying most of them.

Controller modification isn’t the issue, use of copyright is

— CptnAlex (@Cptn_Alex) December 7, 2020

While Nintendo's cease-and-desist seems legally sound, the altruistic intent behind the "Etikon" controllers, coupled Nintendo's controversial recent cease-and-desist to Super Smash Brothers tournament organizers The Big House for using a software that makes online Melee possible magnified the backlash against Nintendo. Further complicating matters is a rumor that Nintendo canceled a recent Splatoon 2 tournament stream because many of the team names entered in the stream referenced the #FreeMelee campaign.

The company trended on Twitter Sunday night and Monday morning as fans voiced their displeasure to the numerous perceived slights against the community Nintendo has made in the past month.

So, is this how Nintendo is during this year? pic.twitter.com/korRVzeLMh

— FlameOut56 (@nathbusia) December 7, 2020

Nintendo then: we’re a family company

Nintendo now: pic.twitter.com/AFTTjLznVo

— Ko (@Smuginator) December 7, 2020

Nintendo everytime their fanbase does something from grassroot or support them :#FreeMelee #FreeSplatoon pic.twitter.com/AeT1FqDGXo

— HG Otakuni – Road to Online (@CEW_Otakuni) December 7, 2020

Every day, it gets harder and harder to support Nintendo. #FreeSplatoon #FreeMelee pic.twitter.com/TB8MiuZDCy

— Huntgbunt (@huntgbunt) December 7, 2020

Some have argued the backlash to the "Etikon" cease-and-desist has been blown out of proportion due to the various other gripes Nintendo fans have with the company, but it seems the #FreeMelee fallout has started a domino effect of negative PR for Nintendo, and until the issue is resolved, there may be more backlashes like this in the future.