Update: DidYouKnowGaming's Zelda documentary has been restored to YouTube. In a tweet posted yesterday, the documentary makers claimed victory with regards to the video, stating "we won" and posting a screenshot of YouTube confirming the Zelda documentary's return as proof. Original story follows below.
Original story: Nintendo has issued a copyright strike against a video created by gaming documentary maker DidYouKnowGaming. The copyright strike pertains to a video about an unsuccessful Legend of Zelda pitch from the early 2000s, which would have resulted in Retro Studios making a game called Heroes of Hyrule.
The DMCA is a pretty common tool for gaming studios to use. Crystal Dynamics issued one after leaked Tomb Raider scripts surfaced in August, and Konami used a DMCA to take down Silent Hill leaks ahead of official announcements earlier this year. Nintendo is no stranger to the copyright strike, either, and now, the Big N is turning its gaze towards DidYouKnowGaming.
The video in question was titled "LOST Zelda Game for Nintendo DS: Heroes of Hyrule", and was a fairly in-depth look at a pitch by Metroid developer Retro Studios made to Nintendo in the early 2000s. Said video was a deep dive into the project and revealed new information about what it could have been, but it seems Nintendo really doesn't want people seeing DidYouKnowGaming's documentary.
On Twitter, DidYouKnowGaming described Nintendo's DMCA as "an attempt by a large corporation to silence whatever journalism they don't like", as well as a "slap in the face for video game history preservation". The documentary maker says it's exploring all avenues available to it in order to get the video re-uploaded.
As documented by Eurogamer, the video showed info about Heroes of Hyrule, a DS game in which a Zora, a Goron, and a Rito worked together to rescue Link after he fails to save Princess Zelda from Ganon. It looks like it could have been an interesting project, and Retro Studios was at the top of its game at the time of the pitch, but now, Nintendo has stopped people from even learning about the game via DidYouKnowGaming. DidYouKnowGaming also just released a new deep dive into a series of lost Metroid games including a Metroid Tactics game, and more. At the moment we don't know if Nintendo will be coming for that next so be sure to check it out while you can!
We'll have to wait and see if this issue gets sorted out and DidYouKnowGaming's video returns to YouTube. Nintendo can be intensely protective of its IP, even when it might not seem like taking that attitude makes sense, so we might never see the video again. We'll let you know if and when the video is restored.
