Kotaku reports that Nintendo of America is taking down scans for the Super Mario 64 Complete Clear Guide Book, which was first released in 1996. The Complete Clear Guide Book is an obscure Super Mario 64 guide that uses real-world dioramas as photo references. Kotaku had a previous article sharing these scan images, but now it appears that Nintendo has decided it didn’t want those scans out in the wild anymore.
Kotaku received a message from the uploader of the scans, Comfort Food Video Games on Twitter. While the uploader questions Nintendo of America’s legal ground to force them to get rid of the scans, the uploader didn’t want to go up against the Nintendo legal team.
As Kotaku and multiple other sites can attest to, this isn’t the first time Nintendo has done something like this. Nintendo is known for taking down many things that use its intellectual property without permission, including multiple fan-run things. The company is very stingy with its intellectual properties. Many fan-made games and emulations are often forced to shut down by the demands of Nintendo.
Taking away the scans for the Super Mario 64 Complete Clear Guide Book feels one of the most unnecessary take-downs from Nintendo. The Clear Guide Book is over 27-years old and has been out of print for years. It’s also very obscure. Nintendo wasn’t making money off of the Clear Guide Book at this moment, so it wasn’t as if the scans were preventing people from buying the book.
However, this is how Nintendo functions. Despite protests from fans and criticism from onlookers, Nintendo has the right to protect its intellectual properties in any way they see fit.
